Interview with @mikaldavisart of Sprayntings by Mikal

Mikal has been creating in a variety of forms for several years. Once he picked up a can of spray paint and aimed it at a canvas, he never looked back. Sprayntings are a combination of canvas, spray paint and creativity. Mikal started spraynting an exciting world of space, planets and stars across the institutional white walls of his bedroom. That opened up the world and he has barely put the spray paint down since then.

Snowboarding, music and painting are all influenced by Mikal’s unique perspective. He is constantly experimenting with color and texture to improve his creations. You can follow Mikal on Twitter @MikalDavisArt.

Tell us about Sprayntings.

I like sharing it with people and hearing how it makes them feel and their interpretation of each painting.

“Sprayntings” is the name I’ve given to my style of abstract spray paint art.

My style of art and the techniques I use with spray paint set me apart from graffiti artists and other abstract artists in that I combine them both into a new form of art. I leave my paintings to be interpreted by those viewing them.

I’ll have my own idea of what I see when I look at them, for instance a Dragon breathing fire in “Aerosol Dragon”, and someone else will see something completely different.

I love that about my work.

I like sharing it with people and hearing how it makes them feel and their interpretation of each painting.

It drives me to keep creating new and more elaborate pieces just to hear what the next person will say.

How did you become interested in art?

I’ve always been interested in art from the time I was a little kid.

I owe a lot of my creativity to my aunt.

When I was younger she would encourage me to paint or to color. She took a lot of time in letting me explore things on my own and encouraged me to just create. When I was 7 I wrote a series of short stories about my stuffed animal Pup and drew pictures to go along with them.

I think having such a creative influence in my life drove me to where I am today.

The thing that really set me off in recent years was painting my room in the attic. My aunt and I wanted to change it from dull white walls into something more aesthetic. I took the opportunity to give myself the universe and pained it on my wall. I painted my entire room black and added variations of blues, greens, oranges and other colors to make planets and nebula’s pop out of the walls of my room.

I had so much fun doing it that I decided to take what I had done on my walls and continue with it on canvas. I started out making 3 canvases with the paint I had left over and one of my aunt’s friends said they were good so I bought more canvas and continued working at it.

I love it; I spend hours a day painting in my garage.

To date I’ve created over 100 paintings and sold a dozen.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

I find inspiration in sets, most times.

The way the clouds blend together with different colors inspires me to blend colors together the way I do.

I also get inspiration on how I’m feeling at the time.

If I’m happy I tend to use brighter colors or use more subtle lines and blending than I will if I want a more aggressive piece with more emotion and energy.

Music also has an impact on how I paint.

The way you move your arm, the speed at which you move it and the angle all affect the paint as it makes its way onto the canvas.

Lighter sprays from farther away will produce a splatter paint effect while direct sprays from closer will produce thicker, more distinct lines.

The music I listen sets the mood for how I’ll attack each piece depending on the tempo and overall feeling of each song.

How do you use blogging and social media as a way to advertise your work?

I spend a lot of time on Twitter, Facebook and my website to promote my pieces.

I post pics to Facebook as I’m doing them, then I crop them and watermark them to put on my website.

My direct friends on Facebook are the first ones to see them and give me feedback. That gives me a general sense of how they will be perceived when they are in public on my website and for my twitter followers to see.

What’s the most difficult part of being an artist?

Apart from finding a name suitable for each piece I’d say supporting yourself 100% as an artist is the most difficult.

I’ve sold quite a few pieces but no where near what I’ve sunk into spray paint and canvas.

It adds up quickly.

What “feelings” do you put into your work?

From an overall stand point, not just each piece individually, I’d say there is a lot of feeling behind my work.

At the time I started painting my room I was going through a tough time with a loss of a family friend and the unexpected termination of my job.

I’ve also been dealing with depression for a number of years.

Everything culminated at one point where I felt I wasn’t going anywhere and I had nothing to hold onto. Once I started painting it felt like I’d been given a second chance; a reason to work for something, something to keep me happy, something I was meant to do.

Painting makes me happy.

Whether it’s finishing the edges of the paintings I did the night before or making a 32in x 40in painting that takes days to finish I love every minute of it.

I think that’s the most important aspect of it. The fact that I enjoy it makes it that much more free flowing to be creative and try new things I’m not sure will work.

It’s that way with everything in life.

The more you enjoy doing something, the better you tend to be at it.

If you were to give some advice to a beginning painter, what would it be?

My advice for someone who is just starting out in art is to find a style that you enjoy doing and want to improve on.

Make sure you’re painting because you want to not because you feel you have to.

If you feel you’re painting just for the sake of it you won’t take the time to think about how you feel about your piece which will detach you from it and it won’t be as good.

Also, make sure you paint every day.

Whether its for 15 minutes or 2 hours, make sure you find the time to do it everyday.

The more you surround yourself with your own creations the easier you’ll be able to create in the future; you’ll get better at with your techniques and it will also become a larger part of who you are.