Many of us dream of doing art full time. For this reason, Sarkis Antikajian is a true inspiration. Sarkis spent a lifetime pursuing art, but it happened in the hours before and after a full time job. He understood the importance of making a living and still made time for his art. After his retirement, and without the stress of having to support himself financially from his art, he can now fully pursue it and whatever direction it takes him.

You were a full time pharmacist, did you study painting while working full time? How did you structure your learning while you worked?

Looking back, I believe I really learned how to paint while I was employed in pharmacy. I was focused then and made use of every hour of my free time—weekends, vacations, and holidays. I wanted so badly to get out of pharmacy and become a full time painter. But I stuck with pharmacy for 40 years so as to make a decent living and did well as a pharmacist. I was never out of work, but during that time my hope and dream was to be a painter.

At first I painted watercolor, so I took one or two workshops with nationally-known artists. Then I joined the Oregon Watercolor Society. In 1985 I saw a magazine article on the artist Sergei Bongart. His way of painting and colors very much appealed to me. I signed up for his workshop in Rexburg, Idaho, a workshop that changed my life as a painter. He looked at some of my watercolors and complimented me, but he told me that if I intended to become a professional artist I had better paint in oils and strictly plein air or from still life setups. So I bought oil paints and canvas and painted oils in the workshop.  He said once I got good in oils, I would be able to paint in any medium. I took that to heart and when I got back I was painting in oils—three painting a day. I painted everything that I saw around our home, and  I painted at locations close to home and also from still life setups. This I did on my days off. In addition I painted after my pharmacy shift was over or before it started. A few months later I wanted so badly to take another workshop from him since I learned a thing or two about painting and in the oil medium, and I thought this time around I could benefit much more from his teaching. Unfortunately he passed on six months after and I missed that chance.

How did your approach to painting change after you retired?

By the time I retired I had some confidence in my technical ability so it was a matter of painting the subjects that I loved to paint and in a way that expressed my feelings. I became more decisive in my paint application. How decisive the artist is what makes a painting look fresh with good paint quality rather than dull and tired looking. I found my interest in painting the figure from life was an important factor in my painting career, and I painted once a week from a model and once a week I drew from a model at the Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene. I did that for many years. Actually, I started doing that when I was still in pharmacy even when I was first painting watercolor.

 How has your style changed over time?

Over the years I tried many different styles from impressionism, German expressionism, abstract expressionism, to modern style painting, but I realized that what comes easier for me is some sort of colorful representational painting—not necessarily realistic. I take liberties in color and exaggerated gesture. I usually tell my students to do what comes easy for them but always try to do it better. And I follow that advice myself. The reason I say this is that I found out I can paint a lot of things, even abstracts, and I sort of enjoy doing some other styles off and on but I do that as a distraction. I hardly show these pieces to the public because I feel they are not me. I do not feel at ease showing them to the public even though some of what I have done in these other mediums I really like.

When you approach a subject, what are you trying to capture from that subject? Does that influence the medium you use?

I like to work fast. I have no patience in beating a painting to death day after day. I look at a subject and right away I can see what makes it interesting to me. I zero in on that, trying to get the gesture and color harmony that excites me as quickly as I can, keeping my enthusiasm at a high pitch. I exaggerate shapes and color to make the painting exciting to me. In figure painting, I try to get a likeness, but you have to remember that I do these in 2 1/2 hours time. So I have no time to think about what I am doing and it either works or it is a dud. But when it works it does not mean that it is a polished painting throughout or a good likeness of the subject. There are many young artists who do fabulous finished-looking work and come out with wonderful likenesses. The more sketch-like my work is the happier I am. Now I work mostly in oil. But I love to do sketches in watercolor. These usually are very small (7.5”x11” or 11”x15”). I call these therapeutic because I really enjoy doing them. There is no anxiety involved in doing these watercolor sketches. They are done in very short time and when they come out fresh and exciting and have the beautiful watercolor look, rather than a poor imitation of another medium, then they are very exhilarating.

Do you do any thumbnail sketches or value studies before you start a painting?

I do not do thumbnail sketches or value sketches before painting. I jump right into it and take a risk. I do lots of sketching, especially pen and ink sketching from life, but that is done for my pleasure and when I do this I do not plan on painting from them. If I have too many decisions to make or too many choices as to mediums then it would surely defeat the purpose for me and I would loose interest.

How long does it take you to finish a painting? Do you work one until it is finished or do you work on several at a time. Do paintings sit for awhile before you put on the final touches?

Usually 2-3 hours maximum unless I get into trouble. Then I either spend a little more time or else scrub it. Sometimes I bring it home and decide it needs something fixed that can be done with a brushstroke or two. If the problem is more extensive then I would rather forget about it and scrub it off. Otherwise it would sit there and haunt me. I do not like to touch the painting the next day if I can help it. I lose interest in messing around with it after the session is over.

Many artists worry that if they don't develop a recognizable style in a single media they won't be able to sell their art. What's your philosophy about working across subject matter and media?

I have heard someone say that if the artist is to be taken seriously he or she must be proficient in one medium and in one style. This, supposedly, is important for collectors. Since, fortunately, I do not depend financially on sales, then this theory does not mean anything to me. If you look at the artists of the past they all worked in many mediums. I enjoy working in many mediums and various subject matter. It breaks the monotony and in doing so, my work is energized and stays fresh. As far as style is concerned, I believe if you paint hundreds of paintings, the chances are that you end up with what you really are as an artist. It is like handwriting. I have bad handwriting and all my life I have tried to have good penmanship. With good intention, I can write one word well. Then if I write a sentence, my handwriting goes downhill. If I write a paragraph, I am back to my horrible handwriting. And that is the way with painting. You see lot of artists paint just for shows. Actually they are imposing their will on what they can do and many win awards. I would like to see these artists paint one painting after another and do a hundred. Then you can see who they really are as artists. Also if you paint a lot, then chances are that you are not thinking about how another artist would paint that thing you are trying to paint and there is no chance to think or emulate someone else so hopefully your work will be recognizable as yours. For me I hope it is “a continuity in look” in my work that makes it recognizable as mine and it does not look intentional or forced. I do not worry about style.

Often people say they want to learn to paint but don't have time. How did you find time when you were working fulling time?

It is a matter of priority.  A lot of people want to paint or learn a musical instrument, or write, but it turns out to be too much trouble and they would rather take the easy way out and procrastinate or quit. What defeats students is the expectation of a finished product to hang on the wall. The idea in learning anything that is worthwhile and becoming proficient at it is to put time in doing it diligently and with much effort and hard work. The student should want to do it above any other more enjoyable activity. I am talking about the intention to become a professional artist and make it a way of life. Of course, one can take it as a hobby, which is also wonderful, but that is a different matter. Then they can dabble in it but their progress will be limited. All I needed is ask myself what would make me happy and fulfilled for the day. Painting is a way of life with me. If I do not paint I am unhappy and feel I am wasting my life away. Sometimes I paint for hours and at the end of the day I scrub what I have done and it does not bother me at all. In any other activity, such a mishap would have made me very depressed. I accept it as a hard profession to master. Is it fun? I do not think so, because it is very demanding and one has to make decisions and solve problems with each brush stroke. And that can be very exhausting. Often I get up in the morning and I say I want to go to a movie today, have fun for a change. But I rarely do. I end up painting instead and the movie is forgotten by the end of the day. The same with vacation time. I do not have real vacations as most people do. I am not a sightseer. Even if I am sitting at the beach I am sort of painting in my mind.

You mention abstract painting in your artist statement. Even though you are mainly a representational painter, what role does abstract painting play in your artistic process? What is the importance of abstract painting?

It is said that beneath every painting regardless what style it is, there is an abstraction. And I believe that. If you forget about what it is you are looking at so far as subject matter. One way of doing this is to turn it upside down and force yourself to forget what you see as the subject. Then chances are, you see an abstract form. I love to do abstracts and it takes just as much know-how as any other style. The thing is that I do not see myself as an abstract painter in other words I do not want to paint abstracts every day throughout my life in order to feel good about calling myself an abstract painter. I leave it to other wonderful abstract artists. I do enjoy doing abstracts. It helps me keep my eye on good composition, color, and value relationship, which are so important with abstract painting.

By the way I also love to sculpt in clay and sometimes I like what I come out with. But like abstract painting, I would not feel good calling myself a sculptor.

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Sarkis Antikajian lives in Cheshire, Oregon and teaches workshops around the state. You can find some great articles about Sarkis at his website. Oregon Art Beat also did a wonderful profile.  If you love Sarkis' paintings, you might consider getting his book. Looks incredible!