Some may think that being artistically inclined is something individuals are born with, but to Seth Leininger, Wyoming native and local artist, it is much more.
“The whole 10,000 hours rule, I am a huge believer in, where you’re not a master in something until you’ve done it for 10,000 hours,” Leininger said.
Leininger discovered his passion for painting after graduating high school when he found himself hanging out with some friends who had a shared interest in it. Before this, Leininger had many “doodles” in sketchbooks from over the years.
“I had always wanted to paint and so they kind of took me under their wing and showed me what they did,” Leininger said. “I kind of learned a lot from them.”
Leininger creates his art using the media of oils and acrylic. Leininger said he started using oils in order to blend colors together easier, which happens to be his favorite part of creating his artwork.
“I’ve only been using oils for like two years and ever since I started doing it I kind of feel like it’s almost like sculpting with paint,” Leininger said. “Just like creating three dimensional things out of light and dark.”
Leininger has taken some painting classes but said he taught himself how to achieve the style represented in his art by working with light and dark through paintings of clouds. His paintings now take him, on average, 20-40 hours or more to complete.
Besides being “pushed into” the art of painting through his friends he met after high school, Leininger has also pulled inspiration from surrealists and the artist Mars-1. However, neither of these are entirely where Leininger finds ideas.
“Most of it kind of just comes from my brain,” Leininger said. “Just like, weird thoughts I have and I’ll come up with one little doodle and I’ll kind of build off that.”
Over the years Leininger has faced some obstacles with his art, including finding a purpose behind what he is creating.
“I mean a lot of it, like I said, is just from my brain and I don’t do it to make a statement or anything like that,” Leininger said. “And I think to be an artist in these days you kind of have to say something with your art or it’s not valid in a way, I think, so I kind of struggle with that.”
Leininger said he has also faced issues when it comes to making things look real within his paintings.
In the future, Leininger said he is hoping to create more art, get better at it, show his work more and find more of a direction with it. Leininger’s art was on display and for sale at Coal Creek Downtown for the month of January and will be moved to Coal Creek Uptown for the month of February.
Leininger also plays guitar in the local band Elk Tongue, allowing Leininger to create art in many forms.
“Art in any form is important because they are arguably the most meaningful and long lasting things humans have accomplished as a species throughout time,” Leininger said. “For me, visual art is something very subjective and almost a spewing of my subconscious, whereas playing music is more of an objective activity that has instant satisfaction.”
Since finding his passion for painting, Leininger said he has learned to be more patient with what he is working on and how to do things more effectively. However, there are still things Leininger is open to learning more about.
“Any art form teaches you about the way the world actually exists and why things look the way they do,” Leininger said. “And I am always striving to learn more about the world.”
Leininger’s artwork will be for sale at the Uptown location of Coal Creek off of Grand Ave.
