Knives, Swords & Blades

How Artist Couples Collaborate

Artists turn away from the challenge of portraiture, which is capturing emotions, moods, and moments. On the living room walls of a Marion home are portraits made by a self taught artist, who lives there with his wife. It took some time for him to complete a grand montage of an American tap dancer, an actor a scientist, the composite between three famous comedians, the traditional cast members of a long running science fiction TV series, a former TV reporter, various rock stars, athletes and entertainers, and his friends. He starts by taking still from videos, from which he gets some really interesting expressions. The montage, which took him a year and a half to finish, is somewhat autobiographical because it includes figures that influenced him during the time he was drawing it. Visit acrylic painted portraits to learn more about paintings.

The rest are filled with portraits of the lead singer of Babes in Toyland, a Russian gymnast, and a songwriter. Much of his work is in pencil, graphite and charcoal. He decided to add to his abilities by learning to use conte crayon and colored pencils. The subjects of his first work in colored pencil were himself and his wife, a native of Kobe, Japan. The work was an attempt to meld traditional American drawing with Japanese wood block print. He uses personal and Japanese symbols to further decorate his version of their wedding photograph, taken at City Hall in December 1996. Their three cats had to be drawn in, though they were not at the actual wedding. One mask from Japanese opera is said to ward off evil spirits, and he uses this as the face of the first cat. The second cat he drew in a position of good luck. Another embellishment is their kimono dress in the drawing. He decorated his wife with the kikyo flower, which is her matriarchal symbol. He decided to draw in a gingko tree, past the third cat, behind the vertical blinds, outside the room. The gingko symbolizes longevity, and he saw one at the University of Iowa. Thank you for reading about oil painting artwork and paintings. The couple first got a chance to collaborate with this 1997 drawing. His wife helped with idea work. She says they truly cherish the drawing. As long as he can incorporate people and faces, he would like to try landscapes next. Books are his primary exposure, with four featured and one on the cover, though he has not had his own exhibit. The book editor caught wind of his artwork from a staff member. Then the lady editor emailed him saying she is impressed by his self taught talent, his sense of color, shading, composition, his ability to combine portrait study with architectural elements in thought provoking and surprising ways, and the intelligence, humor and complexity behind his work. As a kid, he drew mostly action heroes and rock stars, and he has traveled far since those days. Today, any expression or composition he can think of are within reach. He explains that his drawings are like photographs, in which the likeness is embellished by adding or changing things.