I remember when painting (and I’m only talking a couple of years) was about sitting in front of a canvas, imagining the final product and just painting. Things are a little different now for my more abstract work as I start with preliminary sketches then use that as a framework for the real thing.

This sketch was the start of my “Architect (work life balance)” techart piece. The idea was to represent the work that I do during my day job but also show how both my work and personal life interlink to create me.

The large lines in the middle (or three strokes) are now common in my work as they have a couple of representations depending on the piece. This is either 3 parts of a technology algorithm; people, programming and processes or my family. I’ll use another post to explain these…

My full time role is a Solution Architect working in a large global telecommunications company that has given me great insights into how organisations deal with technology, globalised services and employing tens of thousands of people. This has shaped my approach not only to technical solution design but also to painting concepts by showing paths and transformations inside my work. Try it: my Machine Learning and Public Privacy pieces can be followed by lines or direction just like a technical diagram.

As I’ve said before I will eventually create published sketches rather than use them as a process to the final canvas but in the meantime I’m always happy to share not only the “what” but the “how”. My goal is to create paintings that tell a story, that explain who I am, show my thoughts and how I see the world.

The final version is available now.

-Manesh