Daily Inspiration: Meet Steve Wood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Wood.

Steve, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started drawing at an early age, but it was in high school that I became interested in portraits. I was given a set of Prismacolor colored pencils as a gift from my parents and I thought it was the best thing ever – I couldn’t put them down. I did baby portraits, pet portraits, and even tried my hand at celebrity portraits. I always did my best to make my drawings as realistic as possible and loved how creamy the Prismacolors were and how easily they blended to make drawings that almost looked like paintings.

Fast forward to my early 30s – it had been years since I’d made any serious attempts with art. I was at a bookstore one day when I picked up an airbrush magazine that had an image of a chrome robot girl, painted by the artist Hajime Sorayama, on the cover. The next 30 mins changed my life. It was the airbrush and what I saw people doing with it, that had me hooked. I read it cover to cover standing there in the book store before taking it home and studying it for hours. Not long after that, I bought a second-hand airbrush and began the adventure I’ve been on now for over 25 years.

One thing that has remained constant through the years is my interest in realism and portraits. With only a few exceptions, portraits have been the focus of my entire artistic practice. I love the challenge of capturing a person’s emotion or personality in a portrait – the life you see in their eyes. I started out doing portraits for people of their kids and other relatives, with paintings of my own choosing in between commissions. In recent years, they’ve mostly been rock stars and famous musicians. Since I also love music, that has always just seemed like a natural gravitation.

Even more recently, I’ve been studying the craft of painting wall murals and have been focusing on doing more of that. When I can combine portrait work into the murals, even better!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Being the perpetual optimist, my first response to that would be yes, it has been a pretty smooth road. I’ve always had the ability to pursue my specific interests and studies at a comfortable rate, allowing them to evolve naturally and intentionally. If there has been anything I could consider a struggle, it would be dealing with the time limitations that come with having a separate career. For the past several decades I’ve maintained an unrelated, full-time career that has kept my rate of progress slower by simply limiting the time I can dedicate to artistic goals. Fortunately, I’ve found ways over the last couple of years to ramp up productivity and in all aspects of my art.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I guess you would say I’m a monochromatic, representational portrait painter. I get asked a lot about my process. I start with a blank, white canvas, heavily prepped with gesso. Building up many layers of gesso, one at a time, I sand the last few layers individually before applying the next. When the canvas texture is buried and the surface is velvet smooth, it’s ready to paint. This will allow me to achieve higher levels of realism with my airbrushed gradients. After lightly sketching the image of my subject onto the canvas with pencil, the rest of the work is done with transparent airbrush paint. I use the airbrush and a number of different erasers and scratching tools to apply and remove paint, creating necessary texture and depth. This allows me to capture and translate the intricacies of expression, emotion and personality.

I’m also very excited to be building a business as a muralist and have begun painting walls in both residential and commercial properties. I love the larger-than-life aspect of turning boring, lifeless walls into art that makes people stop to look.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I love this question. Family/friends, personal growth and having a purpose in life.

First of all, what truly matters most to me, more than anything, are my family and friends. If it weren’t for those who have supported me for so long, I wouldn’t be who or where I am today. I’m forever grateful for them.

Continuous personal growth and learning are also so important to me. Whether it’s through a structured education or simply trying new things, I believe expanding my horizons helps me evolve as a person. Honestly, I have so many things I want to do or try, I don’t know how I’ll have enough years!

My art journey is more than just a means to an end – it’s a source of purpose and fulfillment. I’m passionate about my art, and with each day comes new challenges and opportunities. Achieving professional goals gives me a sense of accomplishment and drives me to keep pushing my boundaries.

Contact Info:

• Website: swood-art.com
• Instagram: swood_art