Swimming to the other side of a painting

(Originally published on the Coffee and Creatives blog)

I’m a swimmer and a figurative painter. For years I have wanted to paint the transformative nature of swimming—not the meditative quality of water—but the sense of strength that comes from the physical practice of swimming. But painting this transformative feeling was intimidating and I didn’t have good visual references.

I’m on a master’s swim team and in late 2019 asked the coach if I could attend a local high school meet and take photos, explaining they would be inspiration for paintings. She said a meet was coming up that weekend, so I went to a pool in southeast Atlanta with my old DSLR camera. The meet was at an indoor pool with harsh lighting coming from all angles. Despite the bad lighting, I captured a few good action shots and rough sketches.

I started painting the series last year in 2020. My first attempts were painting from photos. I ruined several canvases this way. I was documenting swim meets but not capturing the spirit of transformation.

One of my first attempts. I liked the reflections in the water but it didn’t capture the feeling I wanted.

After a couple of failed paintings, I tried doing quick loose sketches, trusting my imagination a bit more.

These were created on loose sheets of canvas. Each one took about 1 hour.

I posted the image above on Instagram and a friend bought the one of the diver. It was my favorite and I decided to scale it up to a large size, 40 inches wide by 30 inches tall, hoping to keep a sense of playfulness but making a powerful statement at a larger size.

Work-in-progress. I liked the abstract and playful qualities but knew the anatomy of the arms needed work.

Unfortunately my reference photo of the diver was blurred and not helpful. I painted and painted over the arm until the painting looked completely dead to me.

I was ready to give up but was in too deep (so many water metaphors). I bought a new canvas. Despite the drudgery involved I knew this was the right thing to do: I started over.

Before the painting the next version, I studied dramatically foreshortened arms, from Michelangelo’s figures in the Sistine chapel to Spiderman. This helped my knowledge but still didn’t give me the specific information I needed. Because this was right around the COVID lockdowns it was challenging to hire a model. I finally set up a camera with a self-timer and posed myself.  

The final reference photo taken in my backyard. The colors would be distracting so I converted it to black and white.

With this new reference photo, I got the arms right and finished the painting.

The final painting has much abstraction but that quality may hide how much effort it took : from getting my own references to creating failed paintings. It was a process that spanned several months. I felt like I swam an exhausting long-distance race.

Ultimately though I was happy with the end result. The diver’s outstretched body and arms communicate a sense of power and freedom. I also gained confidence that I can make my ideas work, even if they’re hard. After this painting, a new mantra came into my art practice: I’m a strong swimmer and I will get to the other side. 

The final painting, “Flight” 30” x 40” acrylic and oil on canvas, in a juried show at the Atlanta Artist Center. I was thrilled that I got a first place ribbon!