THE GOOD LIFE

By: Ciera Mckissick

Life is good for 32 year old artist Eric Goodman. When he’s painting life is better. Goodman got into art through the graffiti scene of punk and skateboarding, fascinated by the underground culture. He said if he never would have picked up a skateboard he may never have found punk rock and underground publishing which led to his interest in design and art.

He simply describes his style as “pop art,” but really it’s more intricate than that. His pieces are like swirling mazes and blocks and segments of colors and characters with a graffiti edge.

One would wonder if his pieces are planned out ahead of time because they appear to be pieces working through a stream of consciousness.

He said he usually sits down and gets comfortable with “good” music that will last a long time, avoiding his phone and other distractions, and begins painting.

“Sometimes I have a full plan when I approach a painting and sometimes I just sit and start and something comes out, I don't even think about what I am doing. I do my work from a place of ‘no mind,’” he said.

He uses acrylic and paint markers for canvas, and every now and then for larger scale pieces he uses spray paint. “I really love the opacity of spray paint and the quick drying. I love the coverage,” Goodman said. “I think it is a very legit medium for art.”

He said he never really considered drawing or painting until he was about 20 years old. He started painting canvasses for fun and his friends loved them and all of a sudden he was hooked.

“When I am in the zone painting or creating music or videos I often do not think. It is almost a meditative state. Once I realized that I have been addicted to it. I fiend for it,” he said.

The slow paced life of Sacramento pushed him to create bursts of color in an otherwise mundane life in California’s “small and humble” capital city.

“I think Sacramento has kept me honed in on my craft,” Goodman said.

“I don't get sidetracked. I stay focused and constantly create. It is kinda boring here, so I am forced to stay in my zone. I don't go out, I don't socialize too much, I am focused on my art. The fact that there is not much going on here helps me and gives me room to open my mind,” he said.

Goodman said he is obsessed with privacy, time, space, and order. “I like a clean work space that is well organized,” he said. He said he often imagines paintings or songs in his head and zones out while he’s doing something like driving or shopping. “I think I am simply obsessed with painting and creating.” he said.

“I am willing and wanting to paint on anyone throws my way,” he said, even basketballs and baseballs.

And create he does. He makes murals, paints moving trucks, makes his own music, music art videos, buttons, paints railroad tracks, and drives miles every Sunday to Safran Ranch in Fiddletown California to paint barns, where he films his process in stop motion.

Music is always a part of the process, as it is one of the biggest driving factors behind his work. He said it takes up a large portion of his day. He listens to soul music eight hours out of his day, and many of his portraits are of great music artists like Nina Simone, Otis Redding, and Sade. “I think it fits. I do them together,” he said. “While paint dries I work on songs. They coincide perfectly,” he said.

Goodman said music is an entirely different side of him. He produces instrumental hip hop and soul music, and recently came out with his first full length album, Creative Persuasion. He also makes art videos to accompany his songs to marry his two passions. The music evolves along with the art.

Goodman said he finds it fun and challenging to make videos, especially those in which you don’t see the artist directly. “I think it looks amazing to watch something evolve without seeing the person creating it. It is fun to watch things transform,” he said.

He said most people find out about his artwork through his music videos, which are then posted on various blogs. He said he doesn’t push his work, he just allows people to post it if they feel inclined or inspired. “I feel like pushing it is not my job. I create,” he said.

Goodman is a lone wolf when it comes to his art, when he’s not busy with his three year old son Noa. He said he paints everyday, “painting every night after my boy goes to sleep.”

His son influences his work quite a bit. He said his work hasn’t changed per say since his son’s birth, but he does say that since he was born he has felt a stronger pull to create constantly.

“He sees me work hard and he works hard. He has been painting since he was born,” Goodman says. “He now paints really well and it is hard to pull the brush away from him all the time. He also showed me what true unconditional love is, and I am sure in ways that influences my art,” he said.

He said his friends inspire him. His fans walking into his studio for Second Saturday Art Walks at the Sacramento Art Complex inspire him and give him confidence, especially when young people feeling his work make comments like "this is the raddest room here," and "I love this room.”

Stories of artists that work really hard inspire him the most. “People that pay dues, people that don’t waste time and really dive in all the way, those artists inspire me,” he said. “Hard workers— goal oriented artists.”

Goodman wants to be one of those artists so he said he pushes himself to have drive to continue to paint and create. He feels he has this “internal need to create.” He said he has no choice—without it he is miserable. And that is how Goodman makes his life good one day at a time, one line at a time, one stroke, one beat, one shot, one brush.

“With painting I feel moments of pure peace,” he said. “It has done nothing but bring joy to my life through meeting amazing people, working in the heat and in the the cold, and simply keeping enough open space in my mind to create ideas," he said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ERIC GOODMAN CHECK OUT HIS WEBSITE HERE.