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

Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

As working artists, we are constantly learning to improve our craft and much of that education is self-propelled.

I received a BFA in Illustration back in 2012 and graduated with zero knowledge of painting. I could throw some watercolors around well enough, but “real” fine art painting was beyond my scope. In 2014, I followed a friend to a paint and sip company, which hired me to assist guided classes. You know the drill: help mix colors, replace dirty water, and clean some brushes. I didn’t love it. I wanted to teach painting, so I grabbed a few old canvas from the backroom and spent roughly 4 hours a day, 5 days a week on my bedroom floor exploring acrylic paint. After about a month, I felt prepared enough to take on a class! And after 2 years, I was managing and instructing full time. I worked that job for 5 years before I needed a career shift (art consultant at a commercial art gallery) which paused my art creation for two years.

My family deeply missed my art, and Christmas of 2019 my dad bought me an oil set hoping to reignite my passion. Short story: it worked. I immediately searched for instructional videos on how to use the medium and created an entire collection of art in 3 months, which was featured at a solo show in Chicago mere weeks before the world shut down from COVID.

I consider myself to a “self-taught” painter, because I never had any formal training with brushes or wet media. It comes down to practice. PAINT EVERYDAY. CREATE EVERYDAY. That’s the only way anyone improves. I firmly believe in achieving 10,000 at a craft, and I just hit mine this summer – and I’m nowhere near the artist I want to be! You just need to love what you’re doing, and people can feel that when they look at your work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Since the age of 10, I knew I wanted to pursue art, and my parents supported my passion without question. My dad in particular embraced my love for all things art, and invested in every material any creator could want. I painted on an adult-sized easel with long handled bristle brushes and sketched on the best Bristol paper our local art store stocked. At the age of 15 armed with a permission slip and a new set of charcoals, I took nude figure drawing classes outside my public school education, which was already beefed up with art courses including drawing, ceramics, digital illustration, and two years of AP Art.

I’ve come a long way from my elementary school art projects, and I am so proud of the amount of work I’ve developed in my lifetime. Very recently, I began offering private in-home murals for local clients and small businesses. Painting large and returning to water-based media were two massive fears I needed to throw out the window – and I’m so glad I committed to the projects! They may not be the hyper-fine paintings I create at home, but they are bold, impressive works that bring me joy when I remember working on them.

I’m a literal thinker. I must have an exact blueprint of what I plan to paint, and most of my clients require hard visuals to understand my idea. I use Photoshop to digitally mock up every single painting I create, and my clients appreciate the exact replica of what they will receive. Even if I choose to paint abstractly (which is once in a very blue moon) I still need a guide for color and shape when I sit down to paint. This process solves all my problems: composition, scale, color, shape, movement, you name it! I liken this to an illustrator’s sketch or thumbnail – I just need MORE than a rough sketch to iron out my concepts.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I am rewarded everyday from my work.

Every comment, every message of praise encourages me to paint. I am motivated by not only my own love for painting, but also from the support of my peers and clients. I paint an average of 3 commissions a month, and each special painting is the idea of my client coming to life. They cannot paint their vision, so they hire me to express what’s in their heads. I am ego-driven (as opposed to money-driven) and the accolade are an addictive high.

I am also rewarded by looking back at previous works from my early 20s – even my early 30s when I just opened my first tube of oil paint – and see how far I’ve come. I appreciate every wonky piece I created before honing my skills. Without those mistakes, I would never be where I am today.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As someone who does not know what happens after we die, and holds little hope for reincarnation, my driving force is leaving a stamp on this Earth. My art will outlive me. It’s a plain fact. I have drawings from my grandpa, who studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and with whom I share a name: George.

Grandpa George never saw my art. He died before I even knew I had a passion at all. But I am connected to him though his work. When I’m gone, my art will represent me and my name will carry on.

As for what drives me to create right now, it’s a mix of passion, a fertile mind, and habit. Yes, habit is important because when an artist takes a “break” from creating, it is hellacious trying to get back into it. Take it from me. I took 2 years off of all creation, and it was tough to make it a daily activity again (kind of like going to the gym.) Just keep doing it even when you don’t want to. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sgdecarlo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sgdecarlo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthadecarlo/