‍‍Almost all of my professional work involves photography and videography, but my journey with art didn’t start there.

I don’t remember the first time I picked up a pen and paper. The earliest drawing that still exists in my possession is from 1998, but I don’t even remember making it. That would give me an almost thirty year journey into art.

This drawing that I have from 1998, is a drawing of my Nana. It was me using the tools I had to the best of my ability at the time, to create an image of the world around me.

Art is an interpretation of life. The earliest cave paintings and the Mona Lisa have that in common. A recreation of the observation of the world around us.

In photo and video, you’ll often hear the term “Rembrandt Lighting” used to describe a certain lighting technique.

It’s one of the core fundamentals of lighting.

Rembrandt died in 1669. He never saw a camera in his lifetime. The level of dedication to understanding his world isn’t something that you can find even with modern painters, and the lessons that can be taught with his work will survive for centuries.

He understood lighting and composition so well that he is remembered today. Influencing many aspiring creatives on their journeys.

While I am not, and will never be the best at drawing, coloring, or painting, the fundamentals that I learned through traditional art have carried me through my career.

I’m grateful to live in a time where access to the world’s knowledge is at my fingertips. I can learn almost anything I would ever need with a google search.

But with that you can also get swept away with junk knowledge. You can get the perfect tutorial on how to create something, but you’ll miss out on the understanding and the motivation behind it.

You will be able to recreate, but not able to create.

There is value in understanding the foundations of art that got us to where we are today. Foundations that are muddled with infographics about how to emulate a certain style, instead of understanding how that style came to be in the first place.

If you don’t understand where you came from, you can’t possibly understand where you are.