Growing as an Artist – Steve Huston Interview
Steve Huston is one of the best artists and teachers of our time. His advice has been helping me figure out how I should approach making art and why I create art in the first place. In his interview, Steve Huston talks about how to grow as an artist, how to develop your style, how to find what calls to you, and much more.
Figure Drawing for Artists: Making Every Mark Count
Steve recently published an instructional book on figure drawing. I think it’s a must have for every artist learning how to draw.
Topics
00:00:33 – Steve’s new book
00:00:45 – Going to Art Center*
00:01:21 – Drawing Comics as a Kid
00:02:15 – Illustrating after art school
00:03:36 – Teaching at Art Center*
00:04:21 – Taking over the classes of famous teachers
00:06:28 – Learning paint and color
00:09:00 – How did you learn color?
00:13:28 – Finding your style
00:14:34 – Working after Art Center
00:15:44 – Becoming a better artist
00:19:49 – Growing as an artist through teaching
00:21:20 – Making a finished art piece
00:26:25 – Thinking critically about the art you’re making
00:27:58 – Good copying vs bad copying
00:28:59 – Art as philosophy
00:30:26 – Developing an art style
00:33:34 – Creating a truly unique style*
00:46:36 – Drawing and painting better by asking question*
00:53:27 – Steve Huston’s inspirations
00:58:39 – What does an artist do if they don’t have any good ideas?
01:01:23 – How do artists balance idea and craft?
01:02:55 – Being afraid of drawing something “wrong”*
01:09:58 – The tools for creativity
01:11:40 – What is the purpose of creating art?
01:16:28 – How do you find what calls to you?*
01:27:00 – What was your creative learning schedule like?
01:33:52 – What would you have done differently in your art education?
01:36:16 – Did you study more from life or more from masters?
01:37:48 – Consistency in your artwork
01:39:13 – What do you enjoy more: quick-sketch or longer drawings?
01:41:09 – What medium do you want to learn?
01:42:02 – Any new books coming up?
01:43:18 – Where do you see your art going in the next 10 years?
01:44:44 – Where can we get your book?
Filed in: Critiques / Q&A • Videos
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Great work
What a beautiful guy.
Great interview! I appreciate the in depth and thoughtful questions. I’ll be listening to this multiple times!
Interesting discussion about how the choice of subject matter contributes to personal style.
When I was a younger artist I struggled to choose a style but then I realized I already had one, I always had one, and it was just a matter of letting it happen and emphasizing it. We each have a style and it doesn’t have to be drastic.
Awesome and helpful. Stan, you’re a gawd for creating this site and vids.
I want to know more about your site. i am a illustrator
Thank you for this interview! It has given me a lot, not only within the are of drawing, also about understanding better what is important in life and in art, what is value, what to focus on.