Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ally Cotton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ally, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I have been oil painting for ten years now. I have been lucky enough to have terrific painting teachers throughout that time. Through them I was able to try out different techniques and processes that worked for each one of them. This past two years at the New York Academy of art has been especially enlightening. This unique program draws in people who are total technique and material nerds about oil painting. My knowledge has expanded ten fold when it comes to surfaces, mediums, solvents, pigments. etc. Being around other creative and passionate people, and a lot of practice on the side is how I’ve come to have the skills I have today. Knowing what I do now, I would’ve spent more time strengthening my drawing skills. I used to cling so tightly to my photo reference and worry about losing the lines from my underpainting. Now that I am more confident with my drawing it has freed up my painting so much. I can layer all the paint I need now and can redraw whatever is lost later knowing it’ll still look just as good.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Ally Cotton and I was raised in Austin, Texas but I now work and live in New York, New York. I am a figurative oil painter with a strong interest in color and form. I work to make images of volumetric, amorphic women-creatures. They are personifications of my own experiences of bodily sensations and failure. Their inflated-looking bodies envelop them like soft armor and protect them from the vulnerable scenarios I paint them into.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist to me is the feeling of learning new things about yourself through the creation of an object, and connecting with others on a personal level with just an image.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal currently driving my creative journey is to make work that is personal and surprising to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: ally_cotton_art

Image Credits

Tun Myaing