While many artists like to slowly bring a canvas to life, 麻豆传媒映画creative Dimitri Sirenko is the complete opposite.
He likes to paint fast.
鈥淚 want to get it over with as fast as I can, because I want to have 100 per cent passion from the start to the end of the painting,鈥� Sirenko told 麻豆传媒映画.
It鈥檚 one of the reasons he鈥檚 had great success in the live art tournament Art Battle.
麻豆传媒映画Artist Dimitri Sirenko painting at an Art Battle event. Photo courtesy of Dimitri Sirenko
The fast-paced competition allows painters 20 minutes to create a work of art. Artists are split into three rounds and rely on the audience for votes to push them through to the next stage.
This week, Sirenko will travel to Toronto for the Art Battle Canada National Championship. He鈥檒l be competing against winners of the Regional Finals from across the country to defend his 2018 Championship title.
The 31-year-old, who studied at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, only recently made a splash on the fine art scene after rediscovering his love for traditional painting through Art Battle a year and a half ago.
鈥淚 was an art director in the animation industry," he said. "So, I was doing art but it was all digital 2D and 3D characters.
鈥淭he funny thing is I hadn鈥檛 touched paint in years."
He said he spotted the live art competition event on Facebook and decided to check it out.
鈥淚 went as a spectator at first and I really enjoyed the atmosphere,鈥� he said.
鈥淪o I thought, 鈥榳hy don鈥檛 I try this?'
鈥淚 kind of took that as an opportunity to come back to traditional art.鈥�
麻豆传媒映画Artist Dimitri Sirenko at an Art Battle event. Photo courtesy of Dimitri Sirenko
He won his very first battle in 麻豆传媒映画and he was hooked.
鈥淚t kind of took off from there,鈥� Sirenko said.
The competitive artist continued to win rounds until he took home last year鈥檚 championship title, battling against 17 artists for the win.
鈥淚t was pretty crazy,鈥� Sirenko recalled.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really expect it. I kind of felt like I could do okay but I didn鈥檛 expect to keep going and win everything.鈥�
Because Sirenko won last year, he automatically goes through to this year鈥檚 national final.
The competitors are a mix of veteran professional artists and emerging talents.
Sirenko said he wasn鈥檛 fazed by timeframes or crowds and enjoyed the excitement of the competition.
鈥淚 know a lot of people struggle with it [the time frame] but for me it is pretty natural,鈥� he said.
"I usually like to paint fast. For the official competitions I definitely practice at home. I choose the subject I want to paint and I time myself."
A painting by Dimitri Sirenko. Photo courtesy Dimitri Sirenko
He describes his artistic style as intuitive impressionism and spontaneous realism.
鈥淪pontaneous realism is being confident laying down colours that you wouldn鈥檛 otherwise see in pictures in real life and being able to make it all work,鈥� he explained.
His brightly coloured pieces are mostly of people and wildlife, but he also likes to create fan favourites such as Game of Thrones and comic book characters.
The success he has had in Art Battle has given him the confidence to quit his job in the animation industry and become a full time artist.
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鈥淭he positive feedback from the audience gave me more passion and I started painting more and more,鈥� he said. 鈥淎bout half a year ago I started thinking, 鈥業 enjoy painting so much that I鈥檇 like to make it my career.鈥欌��
Leaving the stresses of his old job behind four months ago, Sirenko said he鈥檚 enjoyed every minute of his new creative freedom so far.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the best feelings ever,鈥� he said.
鈥淒oing this is the opposite of stress. When I鈥檓 painting it鈥檚 just the canvas and me.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no one breathing down my neck telling me when it鈥檚 due or what I need to change.
鈥淚鈥檓 in full control and I鈥檓 at peace with that.
鈥淪ometimes I think, 鈥榳hy didn鈥檛 I make this choice earlier.鈥欌��
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Sirenko said his competitive streak always came out during Art Battle and even though he鈥檚 won before that didn鈥檛 mean he wasn鈥檛 going to give it his best shot.
鈥淢y goal is to make something beautiful,鈥� he said.
Artists will compete Thursday, July 25, for a cash prize, a trophy and the title of 2019 Art Battle National Champion in Toronto.
You can follow Sirenko's work on and .
