We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Libby Rule a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Libby, appreciate you 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’ve always been a fan of figure drawing! When I was little I would have a sketchbook with me pretty much constantly, and I would try to draw the people I saw in magazines. It would just be pages and pages of people! And that transferred over when I started painting. The face is just a bunch of shapes and if you know how to paint and color shapes, then you know how to paint and color people! The problem though, is that drawing someone accurately isn’t exactly a quick process. I took a painting class in college where I got to do a lot of figure painting, but these paintings were in oil and they took weeks! So when I first had the idea to start live painting, I knew that I had to be able to paint in under 8 hours. I did a few practice paintings and timed myself, but I wasn’t even attempting to paint the faces. I was trying to get all the guests, all the room details in– leaving nothing to the imagination. Early on, the crowds and the bridal party were the biggest obstacle for me. They took so much time and were more of an afterthought to the couple getting married– who were the REAL part that I wanted to look good. At first I started leaving out the officiant, and then the bridal party, and then the guests, and pretty soon my main focus was solely painting the couple. And they rapidly got better and better.

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’m a live wedding painter (and also a painter who does studio paintings from photos– but that’s a little less exciting)! Live painting is a pretty new thing in Kansas City. I learned that it’s been a southern tradition for quite some time, but it was popularized on TikTok, which is where I learned about it. When you book a live painter, what you’re booking is someone to come set up an easel with a blank canvas at your wedding and paint a scene (that you’ve decided on beforehand), and present a finished painting to you at the end of the night! Let’s say I’m working with a bride that wants her ceremony painted. I arrive around 4 hours before the ceremony, paint the backdrop, and then once the moment happens I spend the rest of the evening painting and making the newly married couple look as accurate as possible.

I started this in June 2021 after seeing it on TikTok and thinking “I paint… I bet I could do this!” and then gifting my first trial to a friend that was getting married. After a few more practice runs, because it was so popular at the time I started getting booked, and then when I myself had a few videos go viral on TikTok, I booked out for 2022, and I’m already almost totally booked for 2023. It’s been a wild ride, and I’ve even gotten flown out to other states to paint! There are some live painters that do try to get all the guests in, but I specialize in representing the bride and groom. At the end of the night I want it to REALLY look like them. It’s always my favorite thing when people bring their kids up and say “Who do you think that is?” and the kids can I identify who the people in the painting are.

I’ve been live painting now for a full year and a half exactly, even though I’ve been painting my whole life, and I’ve had the opportunity to capture the sweetest people on canvas. I’ve had all my supplies lost on the way to paint in Virginia, I’ve slept on the Detroit airport floor to get to a wedding on time. I’ve painted on the coldest day of the year when the bride and groom wanted to capture a moment outside (really, that’s props to them)! I’ve transitioned from carrying a little craft cart of paint around to entire industrial toolbox, and I’ve dropped more money at craft stores for paint than I care to admit! It’s been absolutely bonkers.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

In Live Painting particularly, the fact that I’m allowed to come capture some people’s most precious days will never not make my heart feel like it’s going to burst (in a good way)! On more than one occasion, relatives have come up to express their appreciation and have said “you’ve created an heirloom. This is going to get passed down for generations.” That’s a little hard for me to wrap my head around! I’m so honored that people treasure the way I have seen and translated a night that they’ll remember forever. I ESPECIALLY feel like I’ve done a good job when I reveal the painting to the couples, and there’s tears, or stunned open mouths. I always film the reaction and there are a few that I return to if I’m feeling overwhelmed. Anytime someone says “you’re in the right field”– that always means the world in chasing those imposter syndrome demons away.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

It’s so easy to support creatives! Especially in the world of social media. Interaction is everything to the algorithm, so even if you’re not in the market to financially support artists– a comment, a favorite, a story reshare can help the algorithm know, “hey, this is good stuff… I should show it to more people.” Over 80% of my bookings are a direct result of social media. People can’t participate in your art if they don’t know about your art. So every time someone comments or shares to their story, I’m SO grateful. And I try to do the same for my other favorite artists! If I bought sometime awesome at the very least I try to share it on my story, and sometimes even make a whole post about it!

Contact Info:

• Website: libbyrulepaints.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbyrulepaints/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/libbyrulepaints/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@libbyrulepaints?lang=en

Image Credits
Kaysen Photos Katie Wilson Photography Michelle Jahns Photography