We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Weston Hansen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Weston below.

Hi Weston, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I am a primarily self taught airbrush artist. In the beginning of my creative journey as an airbrush artist there were not many resources available to learn from. The resources that were available were generally other artists that were willing to teach, but the roadblocks to getting that training were plentiful. The classes offered were almost always in a distant city and expense of the training was significant. Being that I was fairly young when I started, I didn’t have the financial resources at my disposal to go those kinds of trainings. Additionally, this all took place in the days before platforms like YouTube where a person can find more information about how to do a thing than we ever dreamed possible. And so for years I simply struggled to teach myself the craft. At a certain point I had essentially topped out at what I could readily teach myself and did seek out instruction from artists that were respected in the medium. The time I spent teaching myself coupled with some professional guidance truly unlocked my talent and ability with an airbrush. These days, even though I am a professional myself, the process of learning and refining the craft still continues. Art isn’t a skill you ever fully achieve, you just keep practicing… forever.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was introduced to art at a very young age. My father was an extremely talented oil painter. I used to watch him paint for hours. The atmosphere inside an art space was one that I was immediately enamored with. Nothing quite beats being in your space with proper music, a good vibe and then entering the flow state. Airbrush is not what I would describe as a popular art medium or artistic disciple. The community of artists who do it, and do it well, is relatively small by comparison to other mediums. When you tell people you are an airbrush artist they immediately assume that you paint cars and motorcycles. This is where I believe I have come to set myself apart from other artists in this discipline. I can, and have done automotive painting, but by and large I have chosen to pursue the avenue of fine art instead of automotive art. I consciously chose this path as it has allowed me to pursue art projects that are more meaningful and impactful to me personally. The work is always better when you are working on something that you are personally connected to as opposed to a piece that is designed for someone else and executed to their liking. Without question the thing that I am personally the most proud of when it comes to my art is that I have continued to pursue it. I say that my father “was” a talented oil painter not because he is no longer with us, but because at a certain point his life became very complex and he had to choose his priorities and his artistic endeavors were sacrificed. I am at about the same point in my life that he was when he had to make the choice to prioritize other things. I know already that sacrificing my art is not a choice I’m willing to make. When individuals look at my art I hope they see something that connects with them. When you are at a show and you see that moment when someone truly connects with a piece the feeling is beyond comparison. While I always want people to connect with my imagery, I hope perhaps even more that there is a part of them that connects with me and my story. I am not a full time artist. I have had to grow my skills, my following, my business, and myself all why trying to work a demanding full-time job that many consider to be one of the most stressful in the world. I’m also a father and husband and I take those responsibilities seriously. I am a testament to what it means to never give up on a dream and to pursue something you love… even when it isn’t convenient or when it feels downright impossible.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Creative people have a way of making their skills appear very “easy” at times. Especially in the social media age where you can edit out all the difficulties and create a clip that looks perfect and seamless, it is important for non-creative people to realize that those clips are not reality. Creatives spend countless hours thinking about the things they create. Similarly, countless hours are often poured into a creation. Often times the final piece you see that looks amazing is only the final result of many failed attempts to achieve something. Every artist has a stack of “coulda been great” attempts hidden in their studio. Additionally, when you buy a piece of art from an artist a non-creative needs to know that you are buying a part of that artist. Watching a collector walk away with a piece that you poured part of your soul into is as heart wrenching as it is gratifying. It’s not uncommon for an artist to be overwhelmed with emotion when one of there works is gone.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

NFT’s may well be the way of the future, but as an artist I find them to be incredibly impersonal. As a result, to me personally they lack the most fundamental parts of art that a person is supposed to connect with and value.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.westonhansenart.com
• Instagram: @westonhansenart
• Facebook: @westonhansenart