Meet Harald Austad

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Harald Austad. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Harald below.

Harald, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

I keep my creativity alive by constantly creating new art. Rather than waiting for inspiration to strike, I let the process of creating lead me to new ideas and artworks. The motivation and the reward comes from creating something out of nothing. I actually have a bachelor degree in creativity from when I studied at the creative school called Kaospilot in Scandinavia. This led me to take an extra interest into the creative process and how it works, and use that knowledge and tools in my own creative endeavors.

Recently, I’ve been focusing on portrait painting and have been honored to paint incredible subjects, ranging from celebrities and royals to the very first one of my wife, the artist Margie Plus. With portraits, it’s almost easier to get started, as I have wonderful people to get inspired by and help guide the direction. It’s an unique one on one experience, where I get to know the subject and find the right expression and colors to properly immortalize them. Seeing the reactions when they get their portraits makes it worth all the work and helps fuel my creativity into the next project.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My name is Harald Austad and I am a multidisciplinary artist from Norway living and working out of Los Angeles. I started my creative journey as a music producer and songwriter, with platinum and award winning records in my home country. That got me an invitation to the US by the hitmakers Stargate, to pursue my music career, which ultimately made me move to America.

Although it started with music, it ended up opening up my creative world to include new fields like art, photography and design. It started by creating visuals such as videos, photoshoots and covers for the artists on my independent label Supervillain. Then it evolved into paintings, which is what have been my main artistic outlet these past years.

I find both music and art to be two sides of the same coin. Art is decorating space, music is decorating time. To me, they are simply different expressions of frequency, but all coming from the same source. I paint with a philosophy of ‘minimal shapes, maximum color’, which enables me to try to say the most by using the least.

For my new portrait series, I’ve combined my Supergraphic style with classic black & white shadow portraits. I use the profile and create a world of color to match. It’s more than just a painting, it’s about making a mark and leaving a legacy for yourself or a loved one. The portraits can be commissioned by anyone, not only celebrities, but I did have the unique honor to paint portraits for the royal engagement of Princess Martha Louise and Shaman Durek, which was more than I excepted when I first started out.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

One of the most important lessons as a creative is to not quit but to stay at it. If you stop, it will never happen. Find the motivation to create from within so external validation becomes less important. And develop your own unique style. Having your own look/sound/expression that is truly yours will make your art stand out in an ocean of iterations. Start by copying your favorite artist to learn the skills and techniques needed, then use that to develop your own artform. It can grow, change and evolve, but the more honest it is to you, the better it will be received by the world.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I have a few portrait sessions slots available for artlovers and collectors who are looking for something personalized and original. It could be of yourself or a loved one. I get to know you and take profile photography, which I use to paint a portrait to fit you and your home. It’s a collaborative effort in finding the colors to get the right vibe that fits you just right. The process usually takes about a month from start to finish, so my available spots are limited. If you are interested in a portrait, please reach out to [email protected] to set up a session. The paintings use only the finest materials and are made to last a thousand years. Your name is etched in brass on the back and the front is covered in resin & glitter to turn the portrait into a piece of jewelry for your home.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.haraldaustad.com
• Instagram: harald.austad