Jill Banks

2023 marks twenty years of painting almost every day on Jill’s art journey. Over that time, she’s learned from Master painters, taken on crazy projects and challenges, and trained herself to capture life as it happens right in front of her. In 2011, Jill painted 100 Faces in 100 Days – alla prima portraits of anyone who volunteered to sit for her. The key was they did not need to sit still. This was something different from her training working from hired professional models. Figuring out how to handle moving subjects was her “problem” to solve. She did it. If she could figure out how to deal with one moving subject … how about a dozen or more. Or shifting light. Etc. Jill’s happy to paint in urban settings capturing people going about their daily lives … or any other creatures in their habitat. She’ll adapt to them with a running motion picture of the day playing out in her head as she paints. Today, Jill is invited to participate in many plein air competitions, with organizations choosing 20-30 artists from around the country to participate. She also goes on personal painting trips in the US and abroad. Life is good.