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

Hi Eric, thanks for joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

As an artist, I’ve had to figure out almost everything by trial and error. I’ve always loved creating art, painting and drawing, but earning a living as an artist is not clear cut. After spending many years studying traditional painting, it’s not just enough to get “good” at painting. The entire business side of the creative pursuit is full of ups and downs. I think the main thing that has allowed me to pursue a living as an artist is that I’m not afraid to reach out and make a connection. I think sometimes people get intimidated to write to others and make a connection, but it’s the best thing that you can do as an artist. You never know what opportunities might be available and waiting for yourself.

Eric, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Eric Alexander Santoli and I’m a painter and teacher. I’ve been painting for about 16 years and teaching for almost 10 years. I love painting for myself, but I also do a lot of commissioned portraits, which I love. I became a working artist while I was still in school and started doing commissions to earn money since I was a “starving art student”. Now as a professional artist, I show in galleries and also do a lot of teaching. during the summer of 2023, I lived as Artist-in-Residence at Claude Monet’s estate in Giverny, France; this was an amazing experience and something that I will cherish for the rest of my career. I am most proud of my teaching since I myself struggled in school. I didn’t study education and organically became interested in sharing information with students. I started by teaching art history (which I love) but my goal was to teaching studio art (painting and drawing). Teaching is extremely rewarding and I plan to teach as long as I’m able to. I’m currently planning to teach more workshop-style classes which can be 2 – 5 days and in various locations.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

For me, my main goal and mission is to paint from life. By this, I mean not using photo references to create paintings; this is especially important for portraits. Nowadays, many paintings are painted from photos so they end up feeling static and lifeless. Artists have been using photographs since about 1840 so it’s not a new thing by any means, but it was never a goal to mimic a photo or painstakingly copy a photo. Our culture is totally dominated by digital photos now and many artists feel the need to turn themselves into human photocopying machines. Studying nature is really my main motivation. My other goal is to encourage people to see artwork in person. Go to museums, galleries or anywhere and see it as a full experience. To me, it’s like listening to live music vs. a recording. I think taking a few minutes to really look at a work of art can change your life.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I know that supporting artists is related to other economical issues, but if you see a work of art that you like then it benefits everyone to purchase it. Things made by hand whether it’s a painting, furniture, clothing, pottery, or anything are so precious and I worry that people will forget that as we get used to increasingly mass produced products and services. I have some antiques and vintage items that are so well made that it actually makes me sad that we can’t have things like this anymore. Most things are made to fall apart so our creative ecosystem can really benefit from supporting true artisans.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ericsantoli.com

Image Credits
M. Jean Gaumy