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This month we’re featuring one of our Royal Ambassadors - Justin Vining! Justin’s been a Royal Ambassador since 2016. Visit his links below to see more of his amazing art!
Website: http://www.justinvining.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinvining/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justinvining Twitter: https://twitter.com/justinvining YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC65aiW3C_ivYkVUlRldN03Q
From Justin: "I’m a full-time artist living and working out of Indianapolis, Indiana. I’ve painted professionally for 8 years now, but when I first started selling paintings back in 2007, I was working primarily in acrylics. Admittedly, I didn’t have the best brush care routines and I went through a lot of brushes. For this reason, I was drawn to the Royal Brush Soft Grips as I could get the performance of high quality brushes without breaking the bank. At this time, I was living in Valparaiso, Indiana and coincidentally had a friend from Munster who worked out of the distribution warehouse. He connected me with Royal & Langnickel back in 2009, stayed in contact, and officially became an ambassador in 2016."
A: I studied art education at Purdue and then taught elementary art for 3 years. It was at this point I decided to go to law school with my little brother. In law school, 2007-2010, I ended up selling over 400 pieces all over the world. I graduated, passed the bar, got a job, but after 7 months back in the real world, I decided to quit that job to paint full time. That was the summer of 2011 and I have never looked back.
A: Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, George Jo Mess, T.C. Steele, Andrew Wyeth, Edward Hopper, and so many others.
A: My early work is whimsical, very much inspired by my time as an elementary art teacher. The last several years though, I have transitioned into a more traditional landscape painter and have been pursing impressionistic styles.
A: I’ve already had one. Back in 2015 I completed a 12’ x 40’ mural at Urschel Laboratories in Valparaiso. After months of research and planning, over the course of 5 months, I created a historical timeline of their 100 year old company. It’s hard to describe how surreal that process was, but I hope to be able to do something like this important again in the future.
A: Oils is my daily medium, but on vacations I love working in Gouache.
A: The majority of my work is plein air. Most times I have no idea what I am going to paint until I get to the location and scope it out, find what I am drawn to and then dive into the painting.
A: I don’t think I did. I didn’t really realize that painting full time could be a viable option for my financial future until the success I built in law school. It was that experience that gave me the confidence to just go for it.
A: Many... but a moment that stands about was about 6 months after quitting that last job in 2011. I was struggling financially and the fact that I had career options that didn’t involve being poor really messed with my mind. Thankfully, I didn’t cave and just kept pushing forward.
A: Persevere - I believe success is the combination of sustained effort and passion.
A: This may surprise some, but it was to sell my work for as cheap as I can for as long as I can. After 8 years of leaning on this idea, I don’t know how I would have been able to build any type of predictability and sustainability without it.
A: For acrylics and watercolors, the Aqualon 1/2 & 3/4” flats are my go to brushes. I have used them for years. Oils, I really like the Supreme Filberts and the Imia long flats. In particular the #4 1 AT Supreme & #6 R21AF Imia Long Flat
Royal & Langnickel - Art & Craft
