Anyone paint as an outlet?

Adam Ladd
Adam Ladd Posts: 291
in Type Design Technique & Theory
Kind of specific, and opened a discussion similar to this a couple months ago...

But I'm curious, given the element of drawing involved in type design, if there are others out there that paint (or other forms of art) as an outlet?

I've tried to pick up a brush again from time to time, but tough to get myself to dive deeper into it and enjoy it as a way to get off the screen and have a more tangible expression. I think it's partly committing to the time and then cleanup involved (considering watercolors partially for that reason).

Similarly, curious if there are certain styles/movements that most inspire you in that area or even inform how you view type design and the shapes? For me, I've found myself drawn to impressionism and the semi-freedom of it to reinterpret but still be understandable.

Comments

  • Mark Simonson
    Mark Simonson Posts: 1,786
    edited May 11
    I have gotten back into drawing (drawing from life or photos, cartooning, caricatures) the last few years. Some of it is analog, some digital. I took oil painting classes when I was ten years old and continued to paint through college, switching to acrylics during high school. That experience has informed my digital painting, but someday I’d like to resume painting with the real thing. As much as I’d like to try oils again, I don’t think my wife would put up with the fumes. So, probably acrylics.

    As for styles/movements with painting, I mostly favor realism, although I dabbled with surrealism when I was in high school and college. I think at the time I was inspired by science fiction book covers and such, and thought I might try to become an illustrator.
  • Mark Simonson
    Mark Simonson Posts: 1,786
    edited May 8
    As for ways the skills of painting/drawing might have a bearing on type design, I think the biggest thing is training the eye to see visual forms. Type design (except for the sketching part) is more like sculpting than drawing or painting.
  • Adam Ladd
    Adam Ladd Posts: 291
    My wife tried to get into oils too (and did for a while—really enjoying the natural richness of it) but hard to pick it back up... we've talked about perhaps gouache as a possible medium, as it seems to be able to take on acrylic or watercolor tendencies depending on how you use it. (And I don't think has a smell or as much cleanup/dry time.)
  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,350
    I write a lot, with pen and ink, and my writing—even with the usual rollerball pen—is calligraphic, full of swashes, ligatures and flourishes. Making it into a font, well, that’s a long-term goal, and probably won’t happen.
  • Ermin Međedović
    Ermin Međedović Posts: 98

    Magnus turned to painting a few years ago. Abstract parts of (his) letterforms are his recurring motif. https://www.rakeng.no/kunst

  • Jany Belluz
    Jany Belluz Posts: 4
    I'm not doing type design exactly, but software development for type design, and I paint and draw on the side. I took classes several times, about ten years ago some one-off plein air drawing classes, and more recently regular oil painting classes. In each case it was a great experience, I would recommend it!

    I agree that watercolours is the easiest to setup and clean, and is small enough to carry around, dries quickly enough, doesn't smell, doesn't make a mess...

    I also did oil painting at home and the smell depends a lot on the solvent. Classic turpentine is very strong, but there are citrus-based solvents (or other plants, not sure exactly which) that are way less pungent. I use one like that at home, and the difference with turpentine is that it dries more slowly (which is tied to why it smells less). It also makes the paint remain "wet" during the whole session, which can be nice or annoying depending on what you expect.

    I have some blog posts with paintings and drawings:



  • Mike Duggan
    Mike Duggan Posts: 245
    now there is not so much demand for hinting, I have turned to my first love of drawing : )
    https://mdartoriginals.bigcartel.com/
    https://www.instagram.com/mikeduggan2020/
  • Dusan Jelesijevic
    Dusan Jelesijevic Posts: 79
    Not into painting, but recently into prints – linocuts: https://www.instagram.com/slinorezac/
  • Kent Lew
    Kent Lew Posts: 1,035
    I was an art major before I turned to graphic design as a career. Along the way to becoming a book designer and then a type designer, I took a brief turn as an illustrator. A year ago, I started posting some old work on Pixelfed, thinking maybe that would spur me to pick up painting again. But that never happened. A big hurdle is the setup/cleanup, since I don’t have room right now for a dedicated space. Maybe one day when I’m ready to “retire” (whatever that ends up meaning).
  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,478
    Being an old fart, I began my visual world with traditional art tools (brush, pencil, charcoal, pen, intaglio scribing tools, calligraphy pens). I feel no need to revisit them now in my eighties. To me, it is all about form. I get no nostalgic kick out of revisiting centuries old implements. I don't even think in terms of art periods and "styles". Form is form. You can arrive at it any way you wish. If I am cooking a meal, I just use modern appliances to create cooking temperature. I do not cut branches from a tree and build a fire in a pit. This is a personal choice so I make no claims for what others "should" do.
  • jeremy tribby
    jeremy tribby Posts: 287
    my background is in painting and drawing, and I worked at a couple of fine art supply stores when I was younger and feel lucky to have gotten a kind of second education through that. it's been a smaller part of my life lately but I've been thinking about setting up a little corner painting station somewhere or other to work on longer term projects..
    if anyone prefers oils but feels like there's a bit too much overhead or toxic stuff to inhale, Golden makes an interesting "open" acyrlic that dries evaporatively, which gives you a chance to rework things like you would with an oil medium - it's not the same but pretty close. easy to clean brushes too. when I used to paint with oil at home I'd run fans and an air filter and I think that was ok
    modern society is not really organized in a way that makes it easy to spend a lot of time on painting, and I admire anyone who does!
  • Jesse R Ewing
    Jesse R Ewing Posts: 12
    I went to design school for illustration and even made a bit of a career of it, until 2008 happened and wiped out all of the client work. I survived for a year after that until going into graphic design, which is still my primary source of income. I've found my illustration background to be useful and still manage to work a lot of illustration into my projects. I used to paint for myself quite a bit as a creative outlet in a more realistic style. Primarily water media. I miss it. But there just never seems to be time for it. Like Kent said, maybe when I retire (is that even possible anymore?). Here's a watercolor from maybe 20 years ago.


  • Adam Ladd
    Adam Ladd Posts: 291
    Some nice insights coming through so far, and learning more about others backgrounds in these areas. Seems a number have shared the inclination to pick it back up in recent times, but also the struggle it is to actually do so.

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