We had the good fortune of connecting with Thomas Carroll and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Thomas, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
There wasn’t any way around it! I’ve loved drawing for as long as I can remember, and the chance to actually do that as a career seems too good to be true. It’s not an easy field to break into, but the end goal seems worth the stress.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
At the end of the day, my current skill level is a culmination of all the work I’ve put into my art over the years. That’s not unique in and of itself, but what I think makes my work unique is the specific choices I’ve made in what to study and focus on. I like fantasy and sci-fi art, like so many others, but I want my takes on these subjects to be a little… off. A bit strange, which hopefully helps set my designs apart. I’ve got a long ways to go though! I doubt I’ll ever stop learning, and that’s the beauty of being an artist. That’s probably the biggest and hardest lesson I’ve learned about art, to be honest! It’s hard to wrap your head around the fact that you’ll never be finished growing and improving.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Depends on the friend, but I’d probably want to paint some of the landmarks of LA- places like the Watts towers and the Griffith Observatory. Lots of good hiking to be had in those hills too, and with good hiking comes some good spots for painting! I’m also a sucker for some of the LA art museums- obviously the Getty Center/Villa and LACMA are great, but there’s so many other fabulous ones (like MOLAA in Long Beach)!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
All of my fellow students deserve a huge amount of the credit- without them I wouldn’t be half as motivated or competent as I am now! Every day and in every class, seeing their work both teaches me and gives me the push I need to work harder and strive for better results. We learn from our professors, of course, but I think the largest gains in our technique come from working alongside our peers and growing with them.

Website: https://www.artstation.com/tfinnbart

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tfinnbart/?hl=en

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