
I can remember encountering oil paints for the first time as a child and thinking that I really just wanted to get my fingers in there. It all seemed so silky and delicious, I was sorely tempted. My always-put-together mother (who was not a fan of messes) explained that getting that paint out from under my nails was going to be nearly impossible, so I reluctantly refrained. Today’s lucky artist, however, was raised by hippies near Seattle, Washington, so she felt freer to explore the world with all her senses. I cannot tell you how envious that makes me. (Also, she uses gloves, so clearly she’s still able to go out in polite society, as my mother would have put it.)
Iris Scott grew up in an artsy household where she first taught herself art, then went to study it more formally in Taiwan. The story of how she got started with fingerpainting is fun and entirely believable.
“A lucky opportunity arose one hot and humid day in Southern Taiwan in a moment of laziness. On Iris’ easel, an oil painting of yellow flowers was just a few strokes away from finished, but all the brushes were dirty and needed cleaning before proceeding. Too eager to complete the painting in that moment, Iris simply took a few swipes at the canvas with oils squeezed right upon her fingertips. The thick paint went right on, texture was suddenly easier to control. Iris was thrilled to discover what she believed could be mastered, oil finger painting. The next day she hunted down surgical gloves…”
About Iris Scott
The artist says she sometimes gets funny looks when she tells people that she’s a professional finger painter, but that doesn’t slow her down. On the contrary, her large-format paintings hang in some of the most prestigious private collections in the world. But she hasn’t let that success go to her head. Scott believes that art should be affordable by and accessible to all, so her wallet-friendly prints can also be purchased online.
You can enter the wonderful world of Iris Scott on her website, her YouTube channel, and on Facebook and Instagram. And you can check out the wide selection of Iris Scott prints on the Jaxson Rea website.
All images property of Iris Scott.












February 16, 2019 at 8:01 am
Love this. They are all so good but the cat face is wonderful. I have never done oil maybe because it takes so long to dry,Maybe I;ll pull out the kids finger paint and go from there.
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February 16, 2019 at 9:52 am
That sounds like fun! I feel the same about oil, but I wonder if acrylic dries too fast.
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February 16, 2019 at 10:09 am
There is an extender product.
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February 16, 2019 at 10:27 am
That makes sense!
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February 16, 2019 at 8:38 am
WOW!! Wonderful stuff!
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February 16, 2019 at 9:53 am
They really are. Such a fun way to paint!
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February 16, 2019 at 9:04 am
That is so cool! I’ve been doing very fancy embroidery for many years, but I’ve secretly harbored an interest in oil painting since childhood. I once got brave enough to take a beginners college class but unfortunately the emphasis had been on creating your own design. Since I had no previous experience in painting or composition, I ended up so embarrassed with my result I gave up (and the instructor gave me a D-).
Her tutorial makes this look totally doable and I might give it go. Just knowing to divide my canvas into 4 squares would have helped with my composition way back then. Instead of thinking of myself as a horrid painter, perhaps it was my professor who sucked at teaching!
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February 16, 2019 at 9:57 am
And maybe it just wasn’t the right class! I had a similar experience when I was about 13. My mother signed me up for a beginner’s oil painting class, but all they talked about was how best to work with the medium. I needed a beginner painting class instead, but my results were so amateurish, I gave up, too.
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February 16, 2019 at 10:18 am
My husband agreed that all his art classes were either no instruction like I had, or too much instruction like you had…he said he accomplished very little in them. However now we have the internet and can get any kind of art instruction we need. In this sense it’s such a great time to be alive!
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February 16, 2019 at 10:29 am
Truth! I think that all the time. On the one hand, the instant availability of information would have been a great boon for me as a kid, but the constant distractions would have been a terrible temptation.
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February 16, 2019 at 9:09 am
Pure joy!
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February 16, 2019 at 9:58 am
That’s exactly the right word!
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February 16, 2019 at 9:26 am
I loved loved loved this post. I am thinking of getting my friends together, even non- painters, and have a girls’ afternoon in which we do the fish painting.
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February 16, 2019 at 10:27 am
Oh so fun! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out
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February 16, 2019 at 11:12 am
Very good post and very good paintings! Especially that one with the cat! ❤
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February 16, 2019 at 12:05 pm
Thanks! I’ll check it out! Hi
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February 16, 2019 at 2:13 pm
What a talent! The paintings have a really strong Impressionist / Post-Impressionist vibe to them and I never would have thought the aesthetic of these could be achieved through even super dextrous finger painting. As a preschool teacher, I finger paint a lot and mark making with stubby fingers is really not subtle so that gives me an additional layer of appreciation for all those really precise marks she achieves in her work.
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February 17, 2019 at 1:46 am
And in gloves! I’m amazed at what she can accomplish. I’m sure it helps that her canvases are so large (they’d have to be), but she’s really very skilled.
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February 17, 2019 at 4:36 pm
I love the colours! Wonderful.
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February 17, 2019 at 4:38 pm
Reblogged this on notewords and commented:
And she paints with her fingers!
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