Today I will be talking about an artist that has had a major influence on my own work and paintings. Robert Stacy is an art professor at Laguna College of Art and Design. However, his main project is a youtube channel that he runs under the name of Sinix.

There are many aspects of Sinix’s channel that inspire me and push me to be a better and more cognizant artist. One of the things I find most engaging in terms of this channel is how much of the work that Robert makes is able to tell a story. For example, a lot of the characters are spontaneously conjured from Robert’s creative stylings and would likely never exist in an actual story. Yet somehow these characters have a captivating quality which exude a sense of whimsy that only occurs when the artist is having fun. Another part is his approach to creating art that captures my attention, is in a way an incredible design sprouts just from his playing with brush strokes, color, values, etc. One example of this is the level of improv in his painting approach in which the viewers of his channel think they have a good sense of what the piece is and what it wants to say, only to be fooled as something completely unexpected begins to emerge. 

One overarching theme to Robert’s art is the heightened sense of authenticity, which is a theme that that inspires me to apply this same level of genuineness in my own work. If I do not enjoy something that I am painting or I feel like it could be better then there is no reason why I shouldn’t learn from what I have done and restart. The more time spent on a piece I don’t enjoy, then the more I am deceiving myself just to make me feel better about wasting time. Another theme is acceptance, in that it is valuable to let go of something you’ve created even if it sparked joy or proved to be an improvement. This allows a more present-minded approach to painting and leaves behind motives that detract from the process of creating art.

Besides these more abstract lessons, Sinix also provides fantastic fundamental knowledge that is beneficial to anyone who wants to improve their art. His design theory videos about big medium small, shape appeal, visual library, and conceptual contrast all are great videos that I always come back to when I’m looking for guidance in my work.

I highly recommend taking a look at some of his videos. Even if you’re not looking to improve, I think they provide a lot of good advice and a fun, interesting viewing experience to say the least.