Haley Manchon, Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory member provides some fascinating insights into her practice and experience as a surrealist portrait painter, as she responds to the questions below:
- What do you think your art says about you as an individual?
- What do you do to help move beyond ‘Artist’s Block’?
- What materials/tools (including brand) can you not live without and why?
- What inspires your creative practice and why?
What do you think your art says about you as an individual?
As someone who tends to hide and keep things in, viewers might get a sense of that inner conflict within my drawings. I’ve referred to the work as a “gentle chaos”: emotionally complex but carefully controlled, with calm, introspective figures holding onto an inner turmoil.
My creative practice is inspired by personal experience and the ways memory can fade or distort over time.
What do you do to help move beyond ‘Artist’s Block’?
When I feel stuck, I’ll reflect on recent pieces to determine what I like and don’t like. What has potential, and what needs to change? I’ll gather inspiration by visiting art museums, reading artist books, or going on walks. Then I take the time to slowly build out rough ideas through thumbnail sketches and writing. It’s a cumulation of little steps that build toward new work when I’m ready to take it on. I think as an artist it’s really important to give yourself grace and have those periods of input.
What materials/tools (including brand) can you not live without and why?
I don’t know what I’d do without Grafix Arts Plastic’s matte dura-lar! It’s semi-transparent surface lets me draw on both sides to create layered, soft images with shallow depth. I’ve been using it for 10 years and still find new possibilities in it.
In terms of drawing tools, I rely on Prismacolor Verithin pencils for precision and detail. Aside from that, I use multiple colored pencil brands. Faber-Castell is my go-to for graphite, and for erasers I use a combination of kneaded eraser and Paper Mate’s Tuff Stuff eraser for soft and sharp edits.
What inspires your creative practice and why?
My creative practice is inspired by personal experience and the ways memory can fade or distort over time. I’ve long been drawn to transparency and distortion in my drawings, initially sketching technological glitches without fully understanding why. Over time, I realized this approach aligned with my interest in internal conflict, allowing me to engage more deeply with themes that feel more human and psychological.
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