At what age did you decide to become an artist?

I decided to become an artist at eighteen, about two weeks into my first semester at university. I took a foundation art class and fell in love at first sight. By the end of my first homework assignment (a charcoal self-portrait), I decided that this — drawing, painting, making something out of nothing — was all I wanted to do, every day, for the rest of my life.

How did your parents react when you told them you wanted to be an artist?

To be honest, I don’t think they took it very seriously. They were relieved I found a direction but thought that I would grow out of it eventually. They are also incredibly smart, curious, generous people, and once they did realize I was serious, they were very supportive.

Who are your favorite artists?

There are so many. I particularly like the Northern Renaissance, and the idiosyncratic, odd, compulsive painting that came out of it. The Van Eyck brothers and Albrecht Dürer and Holbein.

Who is your favorite artist whose work is unlike your own?

Raqib Shaw — his work blows my mind every time I see it.

Art book you cannot live without?

Honestly, I mostly read fiction, which informs my art and the way I think. I could live without every art book, no matter how useful, but can’t imagine my life without Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey.

What is the quality you most admire in an artist?

Perseverance and attention. I can sometimes feel an intense focus that comes through in the work I like most, whether figurative or abstract. The focus itself isn’t enough for art to be good, but I find that all good art has it.

Do you keep a sketchbook?

Yes, all the time. My sketchbook practice is at the core of everything I do as an artist.

What’s your favorite museum in all the world?

Definitely the Prado in Madrid.

What’s the best exhibition you have ever attended?

The Holbein exhibition at the Morgan library, and a Luis Meléndez exhibition in Dublin I saw in my early twenties. 

If you were not an artist, what would you be?

I don’t have an answer to that question. I can’t imagine anything else that would have sustained my interest over the course of the last two decades. I never had any hobbies or interests that lay outside of making art.

Did you have an artistic cohort that influenced your early creative development?

Yes. After I finished graduate school, I spent several years working as a studio assistant for another artist. There were about ten of us working in that studio, and all my colleagues were excellent artists. That became my cohort, and they remain my friends. Together we founded a curatorial collective called Paint Anyway, that gave us a chance to curate exhibits around our interests, and show the work that we felt was important.

What is one thing you didn’t learn in art school that you wish you had?

That waiting for your career to happen will most likely get you nowhere. I thought if I just worked hard, and became the best painter I possibly could, the business/career part of my life would happen on its own — I would get discovered by galleries, found by collectors, etc. It took me ages, many false starts, and many dead-end jobs to realize that in order to make something happen, you have to do it yourself.

What work of art have you looked at most and why?

Vermeer’s Woman With a Water Jug. I made a copy of it at the Met over the course of a few months, trying to replicate Vermeer’s techniques, so I spent more time with the original than any other painting, and then lived with the copy.

What is your secret visual pleasure outside of art?

Not that secret, but — beech trees — looking at them, thinking about them (drawing them as well)- I think they’d absolutely amazing.

Do you listen to music in your studio?

Yes, recently older Irish punk bands, and Russian bard music from the late seventies.

What is the last gallery you visited?

Hollis Taggart, to see Alex Kanevsky’s latest exhibition.

Who is an underrated artist people should be looking at?

There are hundreds, but maybe the first that comes to mind is my sister, Maya Brodsky, who is an absolutely amazing artist.

What art materials can you not live without?

A ballpoint pen, a sketchbook, and my travel gouache set.

Do you paint/sculpt/create art every day?

No. I have small kids who frequently need all of my attention and leave very little time for painting. I try to do something in my sketchbook—draw, write, paint—as frequently as I can.

What is the longest time you went without creating art?

Probably a few weeks, but I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t working on anything at all.

What do you do when you are feeling uninspired?

I don’t have periods of feeling uninspired (and I believe that inspiration isn’t important, perseverance is). My problem is the opposite: there are so many things I want to paint and draw, there isn’t possibly time for it all during one life.

What are the questions that drive your work?

My work isn’t really driven my questions. I’m not trying to solve anything, rather to observe and document.

What is the most important quality in an artist?

Patience—good art takes time, both to make the work of art itself, and the years it takes to learn your craft.

What is something you haven’t yet achieved in art?

Art for me is a process rather than an achievement. In a way I haven’t achieved anything because there are no milestones or gold medals along the way. Art is a decision that you make, to live a life learning and doing a specific thing.

What is the best thing about art in the era of social media?

The ability to look at the work of others. There are so many amazing contemporary artists, and not being limited by traditional gallery gatekeepers in terms of what you see is fantastic. Also, having more control over your art career, rather than having to depend on the gallery system.

DINA BRODSKY (@dinabrodsky) is the co-host of Art Grind Podcast, curator for @thinkingwithpaper, and creator of the Instagram for Artists seminar.