DPW Spotlight Interview: Randal Huiskens

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Randal's painting, "Tiger No. 3" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Randal's DPW Gallery Page:

To create great Pop Art, you have to present something that has been seen before in a new way. It is this fundamental realization that has led my artwork to evolve from 19th century style Post Impressionism into 21st century individual expression. I am influenced by both Pop Artists and traditional Fine Artists. In the beginning, for me, there was Cezanne. I was captivated by his use of color, a melange of different shades and hues suggesting shadow and light on the simplest of flat surfaces. By combining this concept of color with the method of divisionism and the subjects of Pop Art, I feel I am merging two disparate types of art... creating Pop Art with a Fine Art sensibility. My influences include Henri Mattise, Chuck Close, Andy Warhol and Freek Drent. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I had been drawing with pencil ever since I can remember... by the time I started grade school, it was pretty well determined that I would be some sort of artist. I was always fascinated by color and paint. One day I took some model car paints, and did a painting on a sheet of paper. I only had a few colors, but it worked and I was hooked. Eventually, my parents bought me a set of acrylics and some canvas boards and I started doing some small paintings. In high school art class I experimented with oil paints, but I didn't like the need for solvents for cleaning, so I stuck with acrylics. In art school, I immediately chose painting as my major and it took off from there.

Tiger No. 3
(click to see original image)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Randal's interview.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I have been a painter since art school, but it only became a "career" in the last five years. When I first left art school, I had no idea how to actually make a living as an artist. I spent the first few years touring in punk bands, working a series of jobs before eventually settling into being a website developer and graphic designer. I continued to paint and create art during this period, but sales were few and far between. In 2010, I decided to really get serious about becoming a successful painter, and gave up all other pursuits to focus entirely on painting.  In 2013, I was able to close my web development business and make my living entirely by selling art.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I have always liked to draw, doing layouts in pencils and finishing with pen and ink. For a long time, I wanted to be a comic book artist. In high school, I published and sold my own humor magazine, similar to National Lampoon, with comics and stories. Up until a few years ago, I was publishing comics online, but I took it all off of the web when I decided to focus entirely on painting. I have also done some sculpture over the years, clay modeling and "junk" sculpture. For a while I worked in an industrial furniture shop, assisting in the making of artistic furniture out of angle-irons, rebar and marble slabs. In the digital world, I am well versed with the Adobe Creative Suite (from the years spent as a graphic designer), as well as digital video production.

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

It's all painting now. I used to go in a lot of different directions all at once; it wasn't until I focused entirely on painting that I was able to make a living at it. I still do some web development and graphic design, but it is all in the service of promoting my artwork.

Iggy Pop
(click to see original image)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I wouldn't mind getting back into some sculpture, but it's not really on my radar at the moment.

Who or what inspires you most?

I don't really think in terms of "inspiration." Making art in one form or another is something I have always done, and it wouldn't be normal for me to not just do it. I can't really say what drives me to do it or what inspires me. I just get up every day and get to work. I think more in terms of influences... the artist Chuck Close is a big influence, you can see it in my work. Other influences are Andy Warhol and Netherlands artist Freek Drent.

Vase of Flowers
(click to see original image)

What does procrastination look like for you?

I have never been a procrastinator. I have always preferred to get things done as directly as possible, and giving myself enough time to do it right. You only procrastinate with things you don't want to do, so I couldn't imagine procrastinating when it comes to painting. I work just about every day, so I never put it off.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I don't have a problem making time for art, I actually have a problem with making time for anything else. I try to be efficient as possible in everything I do so that I am not distracted by outside endeavors. When you are an artist, time is the most precious commodity.

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I have a general idea of how I want my form of Pop Art to relate to the history of art and where the art world is early in the 21st century. Each painting is merely a piece in that larger vision, and the idea for each one is somewhat subservient to the overall vision. Of course, each painting needs to stand alone as well, and the idea for each individual painting just strikes me at a moment. It just pops into my head that this one idea will work. From that point on, that individual painting MUST be done.

Clint Eastwood
(click to see original image)

Can you elaborate on your overall vision? How does your artwork relate to the current state of the Art World?

Well, Pop Art has long been considered the unruly step-child of Fine Art, and certain people don't take it all that seriously. But I contend that Pop Art is, and will continue to be, the most important type of art at this point in time. No one likes art that needs to be explained to them, and Pop Art is accessible and relatable across the widest spectrum of people. Most people today look at a copy of Art News or Art In America, and think to themselves "why is this art? Why is this important? It looks like something a child did." If you've studied the history of art and followed the artistic trends, it might make sense, but most people just don't get it.

Pop Art, on the other hand, is immediate and relatable. People get it right away. So my goal is to take the artistic values of Fine Art and apply them to Pop Art. The modern concept of painting is that the painting is not an image on a canvas, the painting is the thing unto itself - it is not an image per say, but its value is that it is paint on a canvas. I am merging this concept with Pop Art. What I'm creating are art objects that adhere to the modern concept of Fine Art painting, using Pop Art as a motif. I am trying to state that Pop Art and Fine Art do not have to be at odds. Most Pop Art is about the image in the work. My Pop Art is about painting.

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I do not consciously think about that. It would never occur to me that each new painting would not be as fresh as a new painting can be.  I have so many ideas for paintings in my head at any one time, it is more a matter of finding the time to create them. I do try to mix up the color palette as much as possible, and keep my eye out for subjects that fit within my overall vision, but that is more a matter of course. I would suppose that because each new painting presents new painting problems, solving those problems keeps the work fresh. I do have to step away from the easel and take some time off every now and then, but it isn't long before I am anxious to get back to work.

Clockwork Butterflies No. 9
(click to see original image)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?
 
The business side of art. Of course, artists continually are learning about art with every piece they make. Now that I am making a living at it, learning about the art market is important to me right now. I have spent years running my own business as a web developer, but the business of art is a different animal. I am trying to figure out how to maintain my artistic vision and still pay the bills.

What makes you happiest about your art?

That I can make a living at it. It's kind of the goal of any artist, I would think. I know many artists who are very fine artists, but they all work a job and do art "on the side." I am very happy that I can get up every day and go to work at making art to the exclusion of any other career.

Thanks, Randal!

© 2015 Sophie Catalina Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Anette Power

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Anette's painting, "Sunny Stairs" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Anette's DPW Gallery Page:

I like to pause to capture moments; yummy color combinations, the sun lighting kids at play, hazy atmosphere in nature and the timeless design of classic cars. These visual moments all stop me in my tracks. At my easel, brush in hand I ask myself: How do I best divide my canvas, find the right angle, balance the lights and darks and crop my subject in a way that tells a story? I want to capture life around me and document our fleeting place in history. I grew up in Sweden on an island off the east coast. Thanks to my mom and being a little far from town, my sister and I did a lot of creative play. (click to read more)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I grew up on an island outside of town, off the east coast of Sweden, and my mom painted, so there was exposure to art and a lot of time to make it.  It made for a creative childhood where art was a natural part of it, as well as spending time in nature, making toys and playing with sticks. I also got positive feedback and won some art competitions in school, so it felt like my thing.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

Acting was a priority for me starting in middle school and all the way up until age twenty-three when after two acting schools and living in the US, I realized that I’d rather go back to focusing on art – Here... Look at my work, not me.  I then found my way into the much smaller and friendlier world of Animation.  It was a wonderful way to learn about setting a mood and creating a world with color and light to support your story and characters.

When I had kids, I was determined to not take twenty years off from painting so I just had to find ways and time to do it in between family time!  Not an easy task, and it would be impossible without my supportive husband!

Sunny Stairs
(click to see original image)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Anette's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I started with drawing and watercolor as a child and dabbled with pastels and acrylics before falling in love with the directness and immediacy of oils.  I’ve tried print-making for the graphic look it can achieve and mixed media.

Landscapes were my subject matter more than anything.  I used to be so intimidated by the subject of people, feeling more connected to, and familiar with nature.  So it fit perfectly that during my fourteen years in Animation my focus was to paint the backgrounds behind the characters.  In more recent years, I’ve been working hard on my “people skills” by taking quick-sketch (and life-drawing) classes, and learning about character-design and caricature.  I still find that I get the most stuck on painting faces, and getting them right, but I’m not as intimidated as before and I have learned to break it down to shapes and planes and how the light hits those planes.

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

In the last few years, I’ve been more and more drawn to painting scenes with buildings, animals, kids, and classical cars because they naturally provide more colors.  It’s all in an effort to document the world and the colorful moments around me that speak of our time here.

Duck out of Water
(click to see original image)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I’m always trying to go more abstract.  I’m so intrigued by the shapes and lines within the picture plane and how to crop and compose something in a fresh way.  I’m fascinated by abstract art!  When I do it myself, I inevitably fall into painting something more three-dimensional and descriptive.  I’m a bit of a control-freak so the unknown journey of an abstract is a little out of my comfort zone.   I want to keep working on adding elements of abstraction (or simplification) to my realistic work and it really keeps me on my toes, alert and challenged.

Who or what inspires you most?

My niece Manda, who only got to be here for a short time, continuously inspires me to do what I love while I’m here.

I’m inspired by many artists and collect work of artists that inspire me on Pinterest.

Here are some of the ones I admire for how they can toe the line of realism and abstraction - my Pinterest page Abstracted Realism.

The Regal One
(click to see original image)

What does procrastination look like for you?

It’s easy for me to say that there’s never enough time to paint, so I don’t feel like I do a lot of procrastination.  But I realize that for me procrastination shows up as getting a little paralyzed when I want to work on something that’s out of my comfort zone, such as abstract work.  An artist’s life is full of ups and downs… I get into a show, work that I really care about gets rejected.  At those times, it’s easy to question what I’m doing and start comparing which also can lead to procrastination.   That’s when I need to just work on some daily paintings. Something small and fast to get back to the joy of capturing my impressions of the world.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

It probably helps that I’m a little obsessed and get cranky if I don’t get my fill of making, seeing and planning for great art.  I then leave the dishes behind and escape.

Wharf Wiggles
(click to see original image)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I research and look at a lot of art, which helps me figure out what I like to accomplish in my own work.  I take a ton of photos that I can go through if I ever run out of ideas.  I usually have way more ideas than time.  I would say that aside from capturing moments, my work is composition and theme driven.  My latest theme being on the subject of holding on and letting go…

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

Whenever I feel burned out, overly critical, am over-working things, or stuck on “getting it right”, then I know it’s time to paint outside.  There’s something about the immediacy of painting a living world and what’s right in front of me (before it changes) that helps.  It totally re-charges me and brings me back to the joy of painting.  It also gives me a feeling of my true size in the world, if that makes sense.  If I paint from photos, I like to turn them upside down to look at the image with fresh eyes!

DIY Bubblebath
(click to see original image)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I'm learning to trust that I know enough to let go and just paint.  See this blog post on practice, improvising and what actually happens in our brains when we’re in the flow of things according to a great Ted Talk Radio Hour.

I continuously work on simplifying. I'm not sure why it is so hard... Lol.  One concept that has helped me with that recently is Kevin McPherson’s thoughts on the Truth of Light and Shadow.  Liz Wiltzen does an excellent job of explaining it here.

There’s so much to learn about the business of art.  I feel like I need to look into possible gallery representation soon as I continue on my new series.  I need to figure out what the next step is for the next phase of my art career.

What makes you happiest about your art?

Sharing the joy of creating art with kids and adults alike.  Seeing great art that inspires me to create.   Enjoying when others find joy in my work.  The camaraderie this journey brings with other artists and the belief that my best work is just around the corner…

Thanks, Anette!

© 2015 Sophie Catalina Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Linda Hunt

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Linda's painting, "Red Wedges" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Linda's DPW Gallery Page:

My name is Linda Hunt and I am a painter. I love to paint focusing my attention on light and color. I paint common things in my environment and love to challenge myself to paint almost everyday. My style of painting would be termed abstract realism. I paint quickly and energetically working wet into wet paint. (click to view bio)

Tell us a bit about how your first started painting.

Like many artists, I began painting and drawing in my childhood. I did take art lessons as a child at the Portland Oregon Museum Art School . I remember the feeling and the smell of those class rooms and the joy that I felt. Later in my undergraduate studies, my emphasis was in drawing and sculpture.

When I was in graduate school, my focus shifted to abstract expressionist drawing and painting, but my emphasis was still sculpture. I painted and made mixed media collaged paintings, drawings, and assemblages for many years after graduating. In 1988, I began to have an interest in painting from life in oil paints. I began to paint interior spaces that were comprised of more or less collaged images that I painted from life, incorporating them into believable room settings. My work has always merged abstraction with the representational.

Red Wedges
(click to see original image)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Linda's interview.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

When my son was young, I didn't paint as much and there was about a ten year lapse in creating. In 1978, I went back to school, majoring in Fine Art. I have been creating and painting since that time. I studied for the next eight or nine years as a single working parent and student while obtaining three degrees in art. It is a funny thing because my real education came after school while struggling on my own to learn what I didn't learn in college.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

During the 1990's, I began to produce small assemblage interior wearable art pins that were exhibited and carried by many museum art shops throughout the United States. As an example, I sold my pins at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery in Washington DC. They were so much fun to create. I used shrinky dink art material to fill each interior space with furniture and vases of flowers that I cut and shrunk and then painted with oil paints. In early 2000, I began painting strictly from life and after taking a workshop from Carol Marine in 2008, I started to paint on a daily basis.

Lately, I have been experimenting with gouache which, to me, is much like oil paint. I love the velvety texture and am looking forward to pursuing my studies with this medium in the future. I also enjoy pastel and drawing in charcoal. I love oil paints and that is my main medium of choice.

Brunch
(click to see original image)

What inspires you most?

I am constantly looking at art so I have so many artists that I find inspirational. I recently purchased a DVD by artist Lori Putnam and am finding many tips and ideas to incorporate in my own work. I am always looking back at some of my favorite artists such as Manet, Van Gogh, Sorolla, Anders Zorn to name a few. I love to look at art and let it infuse my soul.

I would say that what inspires me is light: light falling on objects and creating patterns and shadows. The tactile quality of oil paint and its beautiful sheen always excites my senses.

Still Life #7
(click to see original image)

What does procrastination look like to you?

Procrastination is something that I fight each and every day. It takes a lot of energy to keep and run a household and paint. I make sure that I paint almost every day even if it is something small. I usually work out, run errands, and take care of my two Golden Retreiver Dogs in the morning. In the afternoon, I go to my studio and begin to work. I also like to paint in the evening after my husband and dogs are bedded down for the night. I enjoy the quiet solitude of night working until I am too tired to paint any further.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I make sure that I show up in my studio each day. I love the quote that I believe is from Picasso "Inspiration can only come if it finds you working."

Portrait
(click to see original image)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

My surroundings are inspiration for subject matter in my paintings. I work mostly from life, although there are times when a photograph makes more sense. I would love to plein air paint, but I have not spent time doing this, so my landscapes are done from photos that I take. My hobby is to frequent my beloved thrift stores and look for items that capture my attention and inspire me. I also love flowers and fruit. My best paintings come when I have an idea that haunts me until I can get paint to canvas. I love it when this happens; it is such a gift.

How do you keep art "fresh"? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I know that I am on the right track if I maintain an orderly studio and palette. When things get messy it is time to take a break and pamper myself by taking a walk, reading a good book, or just close the studio door for a while until I can regroup.

Geisha 2
(click to see original image)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

Currently, I am working with a new limited palette of only three colors and I find it challenging and very stimulating. The other interest of mine is in laying out a painting and working to refine my composition. This particular interest is an ongoing, ever-evolving problem to solve.

What makes you happiest about your art?

I love the look and feel of the paint and the act of painting brings me joy. (Well, with a little frustration mixed right in there to sweeten the mix.) Pure clean color makes me happy.

Thanks, Linda!

© 2015 Sophie Catalina Marine

DPW Spotlight Interview: Gretchen Hancock

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Gretchen's painting, "Silver Bowl, Lemons, Lavender" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Gretchen's DPW Gallery Page:

I live and work on Vashon Island near Seattle. I have been painting realistic subject matter for a long time and often include scenes from the Pacific Northwest where I live. I have been blogging since 2010.

I am interested in how light describes an object, and how shadows and highlights add drama. I sometimes paint outdoors, but often paint in my studio from still life subjects that I arrange, or from photographs that I have taken. Whether I am doing a still life or a landscape, I am very much interested in composition and design and I work to simplify my subject matter so that the composition reads as well from across the room as it does close to the painting. (click to view bio)

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I started with a drawing class in college, which I enjoyed very much.  I wound up majoring in ceramics because I really enjoyed the process, and I earned my living as a potter for several years.  When I moved to Alaska, I switched to painting watercolors because the pottery studio didn’t go into a backpack.

Silver Bowl, Lemons, Lavender
(click to see original image)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Gretchen's interview.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

I managed to paint part time when my children were little, but stopped painting to learn drafting.  I designed and built two houses and didn’t pick up a paint brush for about ten years.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I have worked in ceramics, watercolor, acrylics, pastels, and oils.  I have also taken classes in Photoshop and have used the program for development of painting ideas for the last fifteen years.

Spring Onions
(click to see original image)

Which ones have "stuck" and which ones have fallen away?

I’m using oil paints these days, though I do paint large paintings using acrylics.  When I am painting small, I want to be able to blend and soften edges; for this oils are perfect.  For the large acrylic paintings, I paint on textured canvas instead of smooth hardboard panels, and I rely on broken strokes and scumbling to convey blending and soft edges.


Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

As I get older, I realize I want to focus on what I’m already doing in order to take it to the next level.  So, I may switch brushes or choose different subject matter, or different sizes or formats, but it’s all oil painting.

Daisies and Bachelor's Buttons
(click to see original image)

Who or what inspires you most?

I read somewhere that artists don’t paint a tree because they see a beautiful tree, they paint a tree because they see another artist’s painting of a tree!  I think that’s true for me.  I see how someone else has interpreted a subject and suddenly I have an idea.  “I could paint that, only I would do it like this and this.”  Currently, I am studying the work of Bato Dugarzhapov.  I love his high key palette and fabulous grays and his fearlessness in capturing color and light.


What does procrastination look like for you?

I am not an organized person.  Often, every horizontal surface is covered.  When it gets too chaotic, you will find me doing crossword puzzles instead of cleaning up!

From the Cliff
(click to see original image)


What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

I am a night owl.  When everyone else is asleep, I am up painting.  I like the quiet time and lack of distractions.

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I have a digital library of thousands of photos that I’ve taken.  I mine them constantly for ideas.  Even if I don’t paint every day, I will work in Photoshop every day.  I crop and re-format, draw, and move objects or change elements, I lighten and darken values, adjust colors , and saturations, and generally simplify the composition.  I store similar ideas together in a folder, labeled according to subject matter, for example, “trees” or “beach” or sunsets.”  I make all of my compositional decisions while working on the computer; I find that half of the work of a painting is done in this preliminary stage.  My computer is my sketchbook.

Traveling Chicken Visits Vashon
(click to see original image)

How do you keep art "fresh?" What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

Working from photographs is very removed from the subject matter, so to keep from burning out, I switch to still life which I set up in my studio, or go out painting en plein air.

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I am learning the same things over and over, because, of course, I make the same mistakes over and over.  I have a checklist – soften and lose edges, simplify areas, focus attention, make a path into the scene, simplify the colors.

What makes you happiest about your art?

I am happiest when something I have done stands up over time.  Recently, I went back to look over pieces that I had produced in the last twenty or thirty years, and I was pleased to discover how many of them I still liked!

Thanks, Gretchen!

© 2015 Sophie Catalina Marine