Moritz Maas is an art student at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. His intuitive and honest portraits captivate with their expressive nature. I’m delighted to give you a better insight into his working methods and his artworks. 

Hello Moritz, it’s great that you’ve found the time. Where are you at the moment? Are you at home or in your studio? 

I’m at home and, actually, my studio is at home at the moment. 

 Could you briefly tell us what you’re studying?

 I’m studying Art and Communication Design at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen.

 But you also create some really great paintings… 

…exactly, the university takes a lot of rather artistic approaches, so it’s also very much about drawings and compositions. But I actually taught myself to paint. I originally came from the media sector and worked a lot in film and television; I started painting relatively late on, and then it’s kind of taken off over the last few years…

 It’s escalated in a good way! 

Yes, absolutely – I really enjoy it and I’ve become quite addicted to painting. That’s also my advantage: for me, it’s not so much work as simply an urge. 

And I’m sure you’ve also been able to incorporate a lot from the world of media into your painting?

 Exactly, aspects such as the composition of images and the different qualities of light can also be beneficial for paintings.

 What materials do you work with?

 I mainly paint with oil paints; I used to paint with acrylics as well, but what I really love about oil is that you have so much time on the palette – it doesn’t dry straight away, so you can really take your time with everything. You don’t have to rush – and, of course, the quality is simply excellent. I usually work by painting several pieces in parallel; I’ll set up 10 canvases and start on one painting, and when I realise I need a break, I start on the next one. Towards the end, there’s another phase where I make small adjustments to all of them, and that’s how the works often end up being finished all at the same time. 

So you need the variety, as it were, and to avoid focusing on one thing for too long? 

I’m not entirely sure where that comes from, but a fresh perspective is definitely important – especially when you’re painting realistically and using models you know personally; sometimes you can’t really see where you might be making mistakes. But when you look at it again a few days later, you often realise, ‘Ah, okay, it’s just a few millimetres on the neck – small details that make a person look completely different.’ And on the other hand, I don’t plan the paintings out so meticulously these days, because I find it somehow more interesting to develop them as part of the process, and I think there are simply phases where you feel like picking up a large brush and working very impulsively. And then there are phases where you feel like focusing on the details, and if I have a painting that no longer needs broad strokes but I’m in that phase, I’d rather start a new one before I ruin the other one… I can’t really describe it, because it’s a completely intuitive process. For me, that really makes sense; after all, it’s one of the big questions in painting: when is a painting finished? How do I know? 

You’ve certainly found an excellent solution for yourself there – taking a step back and pausing for a moment. You mostly paint figuratively – are the people in your paintings real models, or do you paint from photographs or memories? 

It varies. These days, I usually have someone who inspires me, and then I have a vision of how I’d like to depict that person; often, there’s a situation where I paint the model live, then take a photo and carry on working on my own, and perhaps end up working with the model again. My paintings often involve a process of building something up and then breaking it down again, so it all flows together quite nicely. Of course, there have also been situations where I’ve taken a lovely photo beforehand – it can often simply be more practical to work from a photo. So I’m not particularly wary of using photos, though I do find it more exciting to know people in person. If only to avoid the chance that you might one day see a painting online where the artist used the same reference as you. That’s a bit of a risk when you rely solely on Pinterest, for example. 

In your work at the student art market, you often use very distinctive backgrounds that make your pieces instantly recognisable. This is often evident in the colour scheme as well. What role do these backgrounds play for you? 

Sometimes they even come to the fore in the picture in some way. You’re probably referring to the ‘Coloured Beings’ series; in that case, I did indeed work with a palette knife, and often I’d first apply a background, then the subject on top of that, and then go over it again with the palette knife. That’s what I meant by building something up and then breaking it down again. I find that when paintings become too distinct in their foreground and background, the quality of the painting suffers. I find it fascinating when that illusion breaks and the background slightly overshadows the figure. 

How do you choose the colour scheme for your works?

 It’s more intuitive; of course, there are moments when I ask myself which colours I want to use, but it’s also often the case that I realise during the process which colours are still missing. Lots of complementary contrasts and lots of warm/cool contrasts.

I’ve also seen on your Instagram account that you do a lot of sketches and drawings – what role do drawings play for you? Do they go hand in hand with the canvas paintings, or are they just studies on the side?

 I actually take part in a life-drawing group at the studio every week, and recently my drawing has had more of an academic focus: simply to learn, because it’s also a very quick way to learn anatomy. I used to draw a lot, though, including for the final pieces. But whether it’s drawing or painting, I think it’s important not to hide your art, but to practise a lot; and sometimes it hurts, and you have to accept criticism – or rather, you don’t have to accept everything, but simply put up with it and still put yourself out there with what you do. 

 Everyone who buys artworks is really lovely, and I’d imagined the whole shipping process to be much more complicated. I think it’s brilliant that you get to connect with people you wouldn’t otherwise meet – and then just send a picture off to Switzerland. Almost every customer ends up sending a photo of how it’s hanging or who it’s going to. I always love seeing that the picture has found a lovely home. We’re delighted that Moritz is part of the SKM community and look forward to seeing lots of new artworks.