About

My art

At my best I put a major emphasis on creativity, starting with a subject that hasn’t been done before. So I’m always looking for fresh ideas to paint. I’m partial to high concept, where the idea is compelling even before it’s painted. High concepts also tend to have many iterations. Once I find a truly original idea that resonates for me I plumb the conceptual depth before I get out the art supplies. My Providence Stories and Space Debris series are perfect examples of high concept creativeness. Every piece different, but from the same core place. My conceptual phase is quite protracted, typically requiring much research, often leading to many dead ends and outtakes.

My ”sketching” process

Whether I’m doing a single painting or a series, I usually explore many articulations of the working concept digitally. Where artists often do various sketches before they commit to an idea or a composition, I can’t draw well, so I look at multiple possibilities using the Apple program, Keynote, which I use as a composition tool with some basic PhotoShop-type capabilities.

The illustration here shows five of 47 thumbnail sketches on the left, a work space in the center for each “sketch” and various tools on the right. One can simulate many aspects of a scene using this technique; general composition, even rudimentary aspects of lighting. But the final lighting nuances, the important eye candy that brings a scene together happens with intuition, experience and paint.

My painting process

I use composition, values, light and color like any painter. My aim is to make the execution as compelling as the concept. I often tackle subjects that require strong draftsmanship; portraits, architecture and other elements that entail somewhat exact proportions and placement of elements. My subjects usually challenge my drawing limits, which may be why I rely so heavily on concept to pull most of the weight.

As an advertising copywriter I usually put concept over writing, because people are generally moved more by a high-vibrating idea than specific executional details. I bring that same belief to art making.

My background

As a kid my mom let my brother and I create our own wallpaper in our bedroom. That’s all you need to know about my earliest creative environment.

Artistic expression during my young adult years was mostly through music; writing songs and lead singing in many bands. That performance thing prepared me for my second career.