Albert Einstein once said, “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Artists are often admired for embracing the gift and talent of imagination and incorporating it into their personal daily rituals. We explore this concept with San Francisco-based artist Shane Izykowski. Shane is a multimedia artist, whose works include painting, drawing, photography, filmmaking and special effects makeup.
1. The Storyteller
Shane’s work as an artist focuses on creating narrative stories. His goal is to make work that can be attainable for anyone observing the art. If you find yourself in a moment of contemplative thought, it is intentional. “At the root of my work, it can be broken down to something simplistic: a portrait of a person or an animal, colors, hands or a different world. These simple concepts, at face value, could be all that you take from my work, and that is perfectly fine. But, if you want to delve deeper into the themes, the narrative portrayal or the characters in a larger story, the thought process is there and the tools are within your reach.”
2. The Process of Manifestation
In having a day job, Shane finds moments within his schedule to create. “My current situation forces me to be an early bird, but I am a night owl at heart.” That being said, if an idea sparks to procure his next creation, the process begins. “If I have the opportunity to make or create early in the morning, I will. But, that’s not always the case, and I don’t always have the opportunity to do so. My job allows me to paint in the morning most days, but not my own work. If I have a day off, I sometimes try to work on my artwork earlier, sometimes later.”
3. The Birth of New Anecdote
Sometimes, the ritual is broken by a creative block — an artist’s nemesis. This, however, drives Shane to dig deeper into his idea. “I actually will keep at it until I have a solid foundation of an idea. I will continue thinking about it until I’ve explored more ideas and found something that will work.” Once he has succeeded in this, the next step in his process would include seeking out a model and/or shooting his references, and later drawing out the idea. “In relation to my paintings, I would shoot reference or decide what I would be drawing inspiration from. Every day would be slightly different, as the paintings progressed. I normally would do an underpainting, then begin to block in color from there. I would start to bring in tighter details, the closer to the finished product.”
Shane’s work is prolific, fun and a great example of using your imagination to the fullest. His inspiration, Frank Frazetta, is one of many artists that Shane found a similar relation to in both the style of his work and technique.
“Frank Frazetta’s work has inspired me for as long as I’ve known it. I was fortunate to have worked for his son and also to have known Frank before he passed away. His work will be an inspiration to generations forever. I wouldn’t say that I’ve implemented any of his style into my work, except that he would sometimes paint horrific things or fantastical creatures, as I do too. I would also say that I am constantly studying other artists’ work, and when I see a very successful technique that looks like something that I could achieve within my own style, I have tried different approaches that look intriguing to me.”
All images contained in this article belong to Shane Izykowski. To see more of his amazing work, visit his website.
Which artists rituals have inspired your daily creative routine? Share them with us on PicsArt photo editor with the hashtag #ArtistRituals.
