Hilary Harkness interviews painter Marc Trujillo.

Trujillo comments: “Acting is the thing, we’re painters and are supposed to think with brushes in hand, right? This is one of the things that plein-air painting is great for, the clock is ticking, the light is changing, you are mortal and need to act. The deadliest trap is to separate the thinking from the making, to sit and stare at something blank and wonder what to do with it. Even active looking at other works of art can provide a needed nudge. There’s a three-part cycle to painting for me. First, looking at paintings, which makes me want to paint and defines what painting is for me. Why should something be a painting as opposed to something else? Second, going out into the world and seeing what I think might make a good painting based on what I’ve learned from engaging with other paintings. And then painting itself, making paintings is the acid test for everything I thought would work out going into it, which sends me back to other paintings. When I get stuck, I’ve found that any one of these three components can usually get me engaged.”