Hi, my name is Stephen Kneipp and I am a self-taught artist. My paintings are mostly oil on canvas because oil colors are more vivid, and canvas is very forgiving and easy to work on. Oil paintings take several weeks to dry to the touch, even longer to completely dry. That may be why many artists tend to gravitate to using acrylics which dry extremely fast.
I tend to like impressionism techniques because they are less demanding than painting "realistic" paintings which demand a higher artistic prowess in my opinion. Creating an image on canvas should invoke an emotional response from the artist and from the viewer. Impressionism has enough realism to attract a "look-see".
Colors! Art to me is color. To me painting is like playing as a kid in the sandbox or swinging as high as you can on the playground, or when you first learn to ride your bike in the driveway. It is a challenge, it is a mystery in the sense that it is part you, and part chance whether the painting you are doing will invoke a feeling due to some arcane ability or stroke of luck.
Update: 2019.10.16: Since my initial writing of this ‘About’ page, I have for lack of a better term, ‘evolved’. It would appear that my painting is like a journey in a sense because I am constantly learning as I go. There is a mystery to painting which is ‘key’ to my passion for it. As I learn and try different things, my understanding of ‘who I am’ as a painter becomes clear, then dim, then clear, etc… In this process I hope to grow and produce more than a painting, and utilize this undeserved ability for the benefit of all.
