Seeking and finding: Creative processes of 21st century painters

•The paper assesses the utility of Galenson's finder/seeker typology.•It draws on an empirical study of Australian art students and professional artists.•Most artists used predominantly ‘seeking’ rather than ‘finding’ processes.•Galenson's typology is best understood in the context of Bourdieu's field theory.•Creative processes are tied to artists’ strategies for surviving in the artworld.

This paper draws on empirical data from a 2004–2007 study of Australian art students and professional artists who specialised in drawing and painting to understand their work processes. Making use of Galenson's typology of ‘seekers’ and ‘finders’, the study discovered that ‘seeking’ rather than ‘finding’ was the dominant approach used by the vast majority of artists. To explain the predominance of seeking processes, the paper argues that Galenson's typology is best understood in the context of the field of artistic production in the 21st century and the habitus operating among painters. Creative processes of contemporary art are thus inseparable from artists’ strategies for surviving in the artworld.