Austin Hayman won a Jackson’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with his work The Portrait. In this interview, he discusses starting out as ‘the art kid’, his journey in and out of creativity, and his love of painting his friends.
Above image: Austin in his studio
The Portrait, 2023
Austin Hayman
Oil on canvas, 91.4 x 91.4 cm | 35.9 x 35.9 in
Josephine: Could you share the story of how you became an artist and tell us more about your artistic background?
Austin: I began drawing and painting as a young child, investing an incredible amount of time toward it. I was “the art kid” through elementary school, but only to abandon it all by the time I started high school for my obsession with music. I took periodic, short-lived attempts at painting again through adulthood. I was mostly unsatisfied with the work, giving it up once again. For some reason, now in my 30’s, the most recent attempt stuck. I was seeing it all different, but mostly allowing myself the space to make bad paintings and continue painting anyways. I trusted my taste but hadn’t allowed the skill to catch up. Now painting is all I think about.
Work on display in the studio
Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals?
Austin: It’s a new experience every time I paint, that could be what is so great about it. I don’t know if I have any specific routines but I would say that I spend far more time just sitting and looking at the work than actually painting. I’m pretty methodical about it. I really think through the application and the approach before painting each aspect, and that requires a lot of just sitting and thinking. Also seeing the work in new places, meaning that I’ll place it on a white wall so that I can imagine it in a gallery, or place it across the room so I can look at it as far away as possible. Basically, finding ways to pretend I’m seeing it for the first time and addressing how that makes me feel.
Two Parts Protest; One Part Tired, 2025
Austin Hayman
Oil on canvas, 91 x 121 cm | 36 x 48 in
Josephine: Which materials or tools could you not live without?
Austin: There are a few colours that always seem to be the answer for me. Burnt Sienna, Payne’s Grey, Prussian Blue, Green Earth Hue, and Naples Yellow Light. I could spend the rest of my life making paintings with only these colours and I’d be okay. Brush wise my Jackson’s Black Hog brushes and my Silver Jumbo Filbert brush are essential.
Materials table
Josephine: What are the stages of your work on a painting? Do you make drafts?
Austin: The first stage is typically doing a base layer of burnt sienna. Then sketch out the composition and just dive in. Usually my subject comes first and I often don’t move on until I have the subject in a state I’m pretty happy with. Many people will take a first pass at the whole painting, then circle back and refine each section. I’ve just gotten in the habit of trying to get each piece near done before moving on. But I do usually need to circle back to some degree to make it all feel cohesive and symbiotic.
Work in progress
Josephine: Do you regularly draw or keep a sketchbook? If so, how does this inform your work?
Austin: I go to a figure drawing workshop here in Los Angeles called Melrose Drawing Club regularly. We do a variety of poses but some are as short as 2 minutes. Doing this sort of work forces me to really lean into my instincts while drawing but also teaches me so much about the human body. It’s such an incredibly nuanced thing and we all know when it’s wrong. Building those reflexes has helped me incredibly with painting.
Austin Hayman working on The Bad Idea
Josephine: Have you ever had a period of stagnation in creativity? If so, what helped you overcome it?
Austin: Absolutely. The drag is always in getting the session started. Once I have a brush in my hand then I’m in. I always say the hardest part of the workout is lacing up the sneakers. If I ever feel really unmotivated I will watch videos and interviews of other painters. I will pull up YouTube and watch anything on Art21 or Louisiana Channel and I’ll be excited to paint. To listen to people talk about art is wildly inspiring for me.
The Bad Idea, 2024
Austin Hayman
Oil on canvas, 121 x 121 cm | 48 x 48 in
Josephine: Are there any specific artists or mentors who have inspired you?
Austin: My good friend, John Roman Brown, has enlightened me to a laundry list of skills. It’s invaluable to have someone who you can get into the nitty gritty with about why things work and why some don’t. It’s also essential to trust their taste.
Heaven Already Decided, 2024
Austin Hayman
Oil on panel, 20 x 25 cm | 8 x 10 in
Josephine: What were you thinking about or exploring at the time you painted The Portrait? What inspired it, and how did it come to be?
Austin: So much of my work is exploring the human condition in as quiet of a space as possible. I was really just trying to achieve an expression that was so impactful though nothing is happening. It leaves so much space for the viewer to project their own reasoning for the pain in the subject’s face. Something worth noting is that the shirt was really just an underpainting that I fully intended to paint out but when I got to that point, I couldn’t give up that colour. It felt so balanced, I had to just leave it as is.
The Sun Is Always In My Eyes, 2025
Austin Hayman
Oil on panel, 30 x 30 cm | 12 x 12 in
Josephine: Why did this piece feel like the right one to submit?
Austin: It was a piece that I realized connected as soon as I shared it with people. It was one of those pieces that just did exactly what I needed it to. I’ve also realized that I’m way too biased when reviewing my own work. I’ll finish what I think is my best work only to discover people aren’t particularly excited. On the other hand, I’ll take another painting as far as I can and tell myself “well that’s all I got.” Then people think it’s my best work. Point is, I never know.
“The Chef’s Kiss” in the studio
Josephine: How did it feel to move through the stages in the competition and win a Jackson’s Choice Award?
Austin: It felt crazy! I very much didn’t expect to be a prize winner. I told myself that if I was shortlisted that was a great accomplishment, and it is! But, that was sort of my goal. So, waking up to the email that I was a winner, I was elated and it is incredibly validating that what I’m doing connects with people.
The Moment Is Gone And It Won’t Come Again, 2025
Austin Hayman
Oil on canvas, 20 x 25 cm & 13 x 20 cm | 8 x 10 in & 5 x 8 in
Josephine: This painting, among others of yours, plays with the glossiness of the light on skin. Is this an effect you achieve in person with the lighting on your subject, or something you highlight later down the line on the canvas?
Austin: I realized quickly when I began painting that the paintings I struggled with most, and were the most flat, was largely in part because the lighting wasn’t how I’d like, or wasn’t dramatic enough. At the time, I wouldn’t realize this until deep in the painting and wondering why it wasn’t any good. These days I really try to curate how the light is hitting the subject, I can then make choices about how dramatic I want to go with the highlights and shadows. But at least it’s my choice at that point.
Austin Hayman portrait
Josephine: Do you have a personal relationship with your sitters, and if so, do these relationships affect the way you portray them, or the surroundings you depict them in?
Austin: Sometimes I do, sometimes not. I enjoy painting my friends, and people like doing it. The challenge you’re up against at that point is “does it look like this person enough?”, and that’s a tough road to go down. It’s healthier to be less concerned with that and just try to make the best painting I can, but it’s hard not to get wrapped up in that. Because we’re so familiar with all the little faces our close friends make. There is a sentimental aspect about painting friends, and I like that.
Summer; 2003, 2025
Austin Hayman
Oil on panel, 15 x 30 cm | 6 x 12 in
Josephine: Are there any new materials or ideas you’re excited to explore using your prize?
Austin: I’ve been recently using linseed oil to thin my paints and I’m loving it. It gives a really nice little gloss to the painting even without a varnish, but most importantly it’s sort of the consistency of olive oil and that moves really well. I’ve also been doing some oil pastel drawings for the first time ever. I’ve been doing them small and low pressure and it’s a nice break from larger more thought out work, but still full of so much texture.
Cambridge, 2024
Austin Hayman
Oil on canvas, 76 x 101 cm | 30 x 40 in
Josephine: What’s coming up next for you?
Austin: I’m working towards two different shows this autumn: one in Toronto curated by Katie Butler with a really creative concept I’m excited to share when it’s time, then, beginning some new work for a show in Milan with Orma Art. All very exciting for me and I’m just thankful to get to share what I love doing.
Further Reading
Meet Eleanor Johnson, Winner of Jackson’s Art Prize 2025
Jackson’s Art Prize 2025 Exhibition at Affordable Art Fair
How We Collaborate With Artists
Expert Advice on Making Your Way as an Artist
Shop Oil Painting on jacksonsart.com
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