ZARINA SITUMORANG

With you being a self-taught Oil Painter, I wanted to ask about your journey and how you came across the medium? What is it about Oil Paint specifically that you enjoy the process of? Before oil paint, I had tried almost everything - digital painting, pencils, watercolors, gouache, pastel, markers and so on. Oil paint was always a Holy Grail for me - I can’t touch it until I learn how to paint. Mostly because it contains the wisdom of the most proficient artists. Well, at least that’s what I was imagining. Long story short, my friend (thank you, Lena!) bought me a small set of oil paints for my birthday. I thought it was disrespectful and wasteful not to use it. And what’s even more important, I won’t claim to be as good as great artists, I’ll just have some fun while no one’s watching. It turned out that I love the smell of oil paint and the feeling of mixing it. Not the wisest of reasons (mention technical aspects will sound more professional) but that’s the truth – I love to smell it.

I understand that the arts aren’t something that your family ever wanted for you to pursue, but what was the moment that you knew that it was the path that you wanted to create for yourself?

At one moment I had imagined my future life very clear. My mom told me - you should complete the education and then go and do what you want. Well, I was sure that I’ll have to find a job after university (or even sooner) because no one needs a journalist with no experience. And, well, someone will have to pay my bills. This means that in the best scenario I will have a couple of hours at the end of the day and a weekend for art. Most likely I’ll go to the courses to learn how to paint. The progress will be slow but steady. And at one point, something will interrupt my schedule - a deadline at work or health issues. And as the weakest point, I will remove art from my schedule. How many years artists have to draw and paint daily to become professionals? And how much time do I have? So the chance to become a professional artist is very low if it even exists. That’s why I’ve decided that I’ll better take this risk and fail than regret and blame someone else for persuading me not to take the chance.

Are you formally trained in any other art form or medium? Did you got to post-secondary for anything else unrelated to the arts? I’ve studied journalism at a university for a couple years but then decided to switch to art. After that I became a student at British High School of Art and Design but I left it after some months. Design is definitely not for me.

How many paintings do you find that you have going at a time? Usually I have one or two big paintings in progress and in between sessions I do small studies. Tell us a bit about the process of painting for you. When approaching a painting, what does that typically look like start to finish? It depends on the complexity of the painting. If it’s a big serious one, then I always start from a sketch. It doesn’t look anywhere near those beautiful sketches that artists usually show. It looks like a mess that only me is able to understand. After that, I create references and do quick small color studies. The color study is a must because without it I tend to waste a lot of time doubting and repainting. The next step is to create an outline on canvas using a graphite pencil. I fix it by adding a layer of burnt umber paint diluted with a white spirit on top of lines. The first layer of paint helps to establish the relationship between hues and values. No details, only big shapes. It never takes me more than a day. The next layer I work wet on wet, from big shapes to details. I choose an area that I can complete in a day and work on it from start to finish and then move on to the next part. And on the final layer, I fix everything that seems wrong. It can be hard to choose what needs to be changed that’s why I wait a couple of weeks before doing that. My process for small studies is simple – quick outline and alla prima painting on top.

What is it about people that you enjoy to paint as a subject matter? What typically draws you into choosing a model for the painting? Honestly, I’ve never thought about that. When I decided to become an artist, I started to try different things - from graffiti to concept art and, finally, oil painting. I liked everything but there was something about traditional art and people that I loved. What was that? Maybe the complexity of anatomy, or subtle color variations of the skin. It’s hard to understand the difference between things that you like and those that you love. The main reason to choose a model is accessibility. I’m too shy to ask unfamiliar people to pose for me, but I’m working on that! So, I usually choose my friends and family. The most accessible person that I know is me so I paint myself a lot. However, for small studies I usually buy references. I don’t have any certain preferences, I just look for something that will make my heart go faster. I can be picky and spend the whole evening searching. How to understand that I found the right reference? It makes me run to the easel and start painting.

Would you say that there is a theme or an emotion that you are trying to evoke or pull from more than any other in your work? I guess, everything that is psychology related – fear of changing life, self-bullying, depression. In most cases, hope. That’s what was guiding me through the process of learning how to paint and I can’t imagine my life without it. If someone will look at my painting and feel the warmth of hope inside – that will be the best present for me. However, I’ll be also happy if someone presents me a car. Just saying.

Your miniatures are certainly some of your most entrancing of works. It certainly shows off a lot of an emotion from a single isolated image. When you go to paint these miniatures, do you make the gestures knowing that they will be where you stop the image or do you often anticipate them becoming larger pieces? It depends on a situation. When I feel a courage (which happens rarely, to be honest) I have no plans of what I want to do and when to stop. Usually, the result is either a masterpiece (in my rating system, not globally) or a failure. However, in most cases, I imagine what to create.

What parts of Russian Literature inspires you and your work? What has been the most dominant thing that you have read that you often reflect on? I was always fascinated by what is happening on the inside world of the main heroes. And I always skip sophisticated descriptions of nature.For example, there was a battle scene in “War and Peace” by Tolstoy. And in the middle of the battle, the main hero fell and looked at the sky. And the contrast between the fierce battle and the calm sky struck him. Russian literature is full of philosophy and often shows inner experiences. It made me want to talk about feelings that are common for different people - hope, faith, fear, something that is inner and hard to describe with words. What brought you to decide on providing courses for portrait painting? What do you think has been the most valuable part of this? For almost everything that I’ve learned, I should be grateful to individuals who spent their time sharing information online. I’ve used it and my duty is to spread this information further. There were times when I felt that I’m not getting better and my progress has stopped. At those moments I was imagining that one day I’ll be sharing my experience with other people talking about mistakes I’ve made and worries I had. It helped me to move on. I’m trying to share as much as I can on my Instagram for free. However, courses give me the ability to see how people understand what I talk about, how they use it and correct them if needed. No matter how hard you try not to forget your journey you end up losing some steps. The course helps me to sort out a complicated process of painting into easy repeatable parts.

Is there anything that people should be looking out for from you? I’m almost 30, my life is changing and I can’t wait to reflect it in my art.

For years, Anti-Flag was a band who you would go to knowing exactly what they were about just from seeing their name on the bill. The band speaks loudly about their thoughts against Nationalism. Now their message is stronger than ever and can be heard on their newly released 20/20 Vision. As the band was setting up for the release of this record we were able to talk with Chris Barker about their release and, by extension, the current political climate that we are living in today.