If you’re a visual addict like me, then I’ll bet you know exactly what this title is talking about. But if you’re new to ASMR for your eyeballs, well, welcome to a little thing I like to call: art. Heh. But no, seriously, a lot of times what I enjoy about something is watching the “how it’s made” part. I don’t think I’m alone. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a show called “How It’s Made.” You don’t even have to look it up, “It is known, Khaleesi!”
Think about it, how delicious is it watching someone pouring art resin?
Or the way alcohol inks mix like pastel clouds?
In fact, some of that organic effect we so love in art happens over time, in too much subtlety, I think, to be appreciated completely, without seeing the sublime development. And that brings us to the single most satisfying type of art video to watch:
Speed Painting videos.
Speed Painting Videos
Speed painting videos were the god of youtube for a while. There’s an art to making a work of art out of making a work of art. No, there’s no typo. There are tons of these out there now, and some may dare to say it takes a LOT of effort to make a bad speed-painting video.
Really, no matter what happens, unless you’ve got the same blank canvas at the end of the video that you started with at the beginning, there’s always going to be some mystery revealed throughout watching the process. So already, speed painting videos land on most people’s baseline enjoyment factor. But, you don’t have to take our word for it. It’s in a book … no, it’s on YouTube, actually.
Agnes Cecile
Some of the earliest great speed painting videos come from an artist named Agnes Cecile.
What’s really inspiring about this artist’s videos is the blend of artist manipulation with the chaos of the medium that is watercolor painting. If you’ve never watched a work of art actually drying “in front of you,” it may seem remarkable that so much of the beauty of the finished piece comes simply from the organic swirl of pigments under the influence of water, but could only be possible by so few skilled strokes of the artist.
Cynthia Sheppard
Another great speed painting collection comes from artist Cynthia Sheppard.
One gets the sense of great personal introspection from Cynthia Sheppard’s work. There is also a delightful nod to mythologies from multiple cultures in her art. Sheppard’s videos obviously lean toward viewers interested in creating art themselves or learning how to paint at one level or another, which is probably the original intention of time-lapse videos. Whatever you call these types of videos, Cynthia Sheppard has some great ones, and oil painting is a lush medium to watch as a blank canvas becomes a polished likeness of various fantastical scenes.
James Gurney
Speaking of Speed Paintings, real speed painting happens for artists like James Gurney.
Gurney evolved far beyond the rest of us dinosaurs …Heh … a long time ago and does not need fancy time-lapse video tricks to make a painting appear in a matter of minutes. They call this method alla prima. I call it inconceivable.
Mark Webber
This next one isn’t so much a speed painting as a speed cutting.
Artist Mark Webber shot this video of himself over the 5 months it took him to finish what turned out to be a 16-month project. This complex recreation of Berlin must have been a graphic design nightmare, but damn if the result isn’t a beautiful dream. If you like Mark Webber’s work, you can actually have a chat with him on Twitch . The platform cleary isn’t just for gamers!
Ryan Pancoast
Ryan Pancoast is an illustrator with some great speed paintings filmed during the creation of real artwork produced for Magic: The Gathering Trading Card Game.
Also, an oil painter, Ryan Pancoast, must be one of those savants because his work is so tight and controlled for the fantastical subject matter of his work. His speed painting videos stand out because they’re filmed just as professionally as the paintings are created, and you can really learn a lot about lighting and color balance from the channel.
Turner Vinson
The last speed painting video collection we’ll mention come from artist Turner Vinson, a plein aire, mostly alla prima impressionist oil painter.
Want to see a gallery artist at the top of their game? Then you’ve got to check this guy out. What’s that? It’s breaking the rules to be a landscape painter somewhere as beautiful as Montana? Yes, you’re certainly right about that. Nevertheless, cheating seems to get you everywhere and nowhere but Montana, so consider your options.
That concludes this short list of examples of the most satisfying type of art video. Care to comment? Drop us a line.