It Is What It Is

Someone asked me the other day what painters have influenced me the most in my career. I like the question because it makes you look back on the work you've done from the start to where you are today. As I was an illustrator first, they were the ones that shaped much of my work in the beginning - Bernie Fuchs, Brad Holland, and Wayne Thiebaud were my heros (all who have came into their own as established painters as well). When I started turning to pastels as my medium of choice, Degas and Mary Cassatt provided endless inspiration - and I still drool over their work at the Musee d'Orsay!

When I started painting in oils, I still admired the linear styles of Wayne Thiebauld and Degas, but discovered the works of Randall Sexton, Burton Silverman and Francis Livingston (the later and I have the same afinity to theaters, and his are spectacular!). I think you are drawn (no pun intended) to certain artists because they have a vision you relate to. The trick is to stay your own person, with your own unique style. Take a hiatus from art magazines for long periods - #1 so that you aren't so influenced by someone elses work, and #2 you don't get frustrated when you see similar work to your own. (I had a friend send me a link to an artists web site that had robots like I was painting - he and i probably had them at the same time at our houses saying "wow - what great still life material!" I was so devastated that they were silimar, but, hey i didn't invent the idea. Sort of like not wanting other people to do nudes - um, they've been painting them for hundreds of years.)

So paint what you love - love what you paint.

above, "Cheerios" 12x12 Private Collection