Conversations with Lucas Farlow

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucas Farlow.

Lucas, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Seoul, South Korea but grew up in Colorado. I am adopted and I have Cerebral Palsy Left Hemiplegia. My disability never hindered my love for creating art. Though it did somewhat dictate the kind of art I gravitated toward. I started out mostly drawing, especially because of my passion for cars. I thought I wanted to become a car designer. I knew I wanted to get an education with art as the main focus. I graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Art Education. I believed teaching was what I was meant to do, but after seven-plus years, that path was not right for me. In 2015, I tried acrylic painting on canvas and I showed them to family and friends. I had caught the eye of people who wanted to purchase my paintings. This professional journey has been full of learning as I go. Over six years later, I have sold artwork around the world.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life is never just a smooth road. Being an artist and making a career out of it has been full of ups and downs. I had known selling my paintings would not be easy, especially to make a living at it. There have been many times when I think I need to put this aside and go back to an “everyday job”. My family has been very supportive and encouraging. To make it as an art entrepreneur, your work ethic must include savviness and an understanding of social media and the intricacies of creating an online presence. A strong work ethic has helped me be as successful as I have been. Learning the business side of the art marketplace has been a difficult and tedious endeavor but I have been given helpful guidance by my parents and friends. Along with making the art, I set up my own company and LLC. That side of entrepreneurship was something I did not expect to be as important or as involved.

As a business owner and artist, you have to be willing to think and do business-related stuff at all hours. Social media responses, messages and inquiries about commissioned paintings or pricing can come anytime. Also, booking and finding locations to show my paintings and networking is a huge parts of the art world. It’s about knowing who to talk to about my art and asking about display opportunities, to help get exposure. Having dealt with limitations because of cerebral palsy and a learning disability my whole life, I am pretty good at gauging my working hours. I paint as often as my body and mind will physically and mentally allow. I try to paint every other day. I have found that I need a day off usually after painting to give my left hand, back and neck some relief. But, I know my best working hours are afternoons and evenings. I am most creative and motivated. Knowing that about myself is very helpful in my success as an artist.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I sit down at my easel and listen to music while I paint my emotions, hopes, and memories on canvas using my paintbrush. My artistic style is bright colors and the use of light and shadows whether it is from the sun or streetlamps. I love using neon colors in my normally serene scenes to make them pop and add a bit of whimsy. Adding emotion and movement are important to my modern impressionistic paintings of everyday life: busy cities and quiet natural settings. They are snapshots of nights out on the town or out in the countryside. Most of my landscapes and cityscapes show people going about their days, rain or shine.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Like many others, the Covid-19 pandemic was a real eye-opener for me and taught me that life is not meant to just be monotonous and repetitive. We need to take value in the little things and keep our family and friends close. Nothing and no one is permanent. I began to really enjoy the fact that I get to make art as my career even more. It was really hard at times being isolated from my family and people in general. I forgot that being near and interacting with other humans on a daily basis without fear of getting sick and or passing around viruses was something to be treasured. I’m a pretty solitary person and I’m good at entertaining myself but the two-plus years we dealt with the intense pandemic was hard on my psyche.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.crayonbreaking.com
• Instagram: crayonbreakingart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crayonbreakingart