Meet Tanner Steed | Oil Painter

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

Hi Tanner, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My overwhelming passion for drawing and painting made it absolutely necessary that I begin to sell my work. I was working a full time as an Elementary School art teacher, which required many hours of not only teaching but also planning for lessons. Every moment that I was not working with students or planning, I was pushing my own artistic goals. I would eat lunch as fast as I possibly could, so that I had time to work on an artwork on the easel behind my desk. I would stay late after school and even come in early to work on my art. I definitely saw progression, But it was happening slow and I was not living a well balanced life. My wife, girlfriend at the time, rightfully felt that she was not appreciated as I was spending all of my spare time at the easel or talking through problems and goals that I had for the project I was working on. I knew something had to change, so I decided to make the jump to start my own business and move on from the Elementary School.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
From the moment that I wake up to the moment that I fall asleep I am thinking about Art and how to improve. I am 26 years old and I feel that I have had a late start, so I have my pedal pressed firmly down to the floor.

In hindsight, it is obvious that I would end up down this path, but in the moment growing up, I had no idea of my passion for art. As a kid I would draw often in my free time. I would pause cartoons to copy the characters, or bring a few sheets of paper to sketch at the natural history museum with my grandparents. I loved drawing. To this day, when I draw, I feel an overwhelming focus akin to a something close to a runner’s high. It’s a level of focus that I only learned about in my college years, when studying the psychological and physical development of humans at MSU Denver This sensation is quite common, and is known as a flow state. To me, this flow state that I experience when I draw and paint is intrinsic evidence of the necessity to continue honing my skills in Art for the rest of my life.

A paradigm shift occurred when studying in college. When studying Human Development, we focused on the physiological process of learning and all of the mechanisms enabling novel connections, a lightbulb went off as the professor lectured on neurogenesis and particularly the subject of neuroplasticity. When I was growing into my adolescence I began to recognize that my peers had a variety of skills. Some were physically stronger, faster, slower, better at different sports, etc. I was naturally very competitive but seemed overwhelmed by comparison in certain categories. I assumed that they were naturally gifted these talents by some sort of gene. Of these innate competencies some of peers seemed naturally gifted in they skill to draw. I decided that because I saw the level of talent of the peers that could draw, I must not have had the “artist gene’. So I kept most of my sketching to myself, When I heard that there is essentially no such thing as talent gene and progress in any endeavor is possible due to something called neuroplasticity, my life changed.

My biggest challenge was getting out of my own way. It was time. At this point I was no longer amongst my friends from childhood, which gave me the blank slate to pursue an artistic endeavor that I had eating away at me since childhood, My girlfriend at the time, granted me the ok when out of the blue I suggested heading down to the local art store to pick up some colored pencils. From that moment on, my life was transformed.

I paint every single day. I feel the most alive when I am moving charcoal across a canvas preparing and under drawing for a painting. Drawing is my first love, painting is my second. My paintings are the result of drawing with paint, I paint realistically but I hesitate to give to restricting of a label to categorize myself. I take influence from the Naturalists like Jules Bastien-Lapage, Jules Breton, and Many of the Russian masters like Nicolai Fechin, Ilya Repin. There are too many painters that I appreciate to name. I paint anything that I find beautiful, but usually any thing can be beautiful. I’ve learned to appreciate the abstract relationships of shapes and value that creates a painting just as much as how beautifully it’s painted. Composition is most important for the success of a painting, and trust me I’ve learned that the hard way. No matter how well you’ve rendered something, or how elegant a brushstroke is, if it is in the wrong place it doesn’t matter. Creating a successful painting is an extraordinarily complicated feat, and I plan to go at it with all my passion for the rest of my life,

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.
I would pack my paints and head for the hills. I love painting out of doors and foraging for mushrooms. I would go to The front range for morels in the spring, a little higher for Porcinis in mid summer, and painting all year long. We’d paint all day and eat our booty when we arrive back home in Denver.

We’d also stop by the Denver Art Museum and the Kirkland Museum next door to do some master studies, and maybe grab a bite at one of the many pho restaurants in Denver. My favorite is Tony Pho.

If this friend was a painter, we’d definitely get together with my mentor Daniel Sprick so we could all go paint and humble ourselves a bit while painting with a living Master.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would not have been able to make the jump without the emotional support of my wife and parents. Their belief in me and my goals created the supportive environment that made this transition successful. I would also like to shout out Dan Gomer, who coached me through the transition. He provided a solid framework to build my lifestyle with his masterful program that he c’reated to help everyone choose to live they’re best lives. Without his couching and structure, I would not have been nearly as prepared to make the jump, especially so rapidly. And lastly I want to thank the Artist Daniel Sprick, my mentor in the art world. He continues to give me respect, encouragement, and most importantly, the opportunity to meet an incredible group of friends at his figure sketching group. I have met the most incredible people and artists through this group, and I would not be nearly as successful without this high caliber of Artists inspiring me to progress every week.

Website: Tannersteedart@gmail.com

Instagram: Tannersteedart