Hello. Welcome to my online art gallery.
My name is Warrior. I am a self -taught artist. I use oils and my only tool is a knife.
As an admirer of Fine Art long before I became an artist myself, I've always been curious about the background stories behind of other artists and how they came to pursue their own art careers and distinct style of art they do. I believe this curiosity is universal for those who enjoy art, so let me tell you my story.
From the late 80's to late 90's (and a recent one-time return the Summer of '08), I had a sports entertainment career creating and performing a persona, The Ultimate Warrior. My success there depended on huge amounts of imagination and creative effort (and hard work!). There is an art to sports entertainment, so I've always considered what I did performance art. When the time came to leave that industry I knew whatever I would go on to do in my life must involve creativity in some way. Over the years, I've stayed true to that necessity, making sure it's a large part of both my personal and professional life.
In 1999, I was admiring an American Indian portrait drawing hanging on my office wall. Suddenly, I had the urge to try and draw it. I took it off the wall, sat it across from me at the dining room table, took some paper and pencils, and for the rest of the afternoon gave my best shot at drawing a likeness of it. Keep in mind, here, I'd never before done any drawing in my life -- nor ever considered that I would have any interest in doing so. My attempt inspired me to want to learn more.
Always a big reader and lover of books, and even bigger believer that any human being can learn anything, I knew I could discover more know-how at the bookstore. The first book my eyes were immediately drawn to was "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain," a classic book written 30 years ago by Betty Edwards. After reading it while also performing its exercises as I went along, I felt motivated eeven more and made my first trip to an art store.
After a few hours hunting around and investigating things, I left with a cheap metal easel, a set of acrylics and all the Walter Foster primers (classics, too) I could grab. As soon as I got home I threw a canvas up and had at it, without a plan or an idea...as if that isn't easy to tell. (Don't ask what it is. I'm still trying to figure it out myself.) Disappointed in this unplanned, haphazard effort, I took a step back, slowed myself down, and meticulously executed the fundamental drawing techniques I had experienced in Ms. Edwards's book. Things turned out much better with each successive canvas. It was fun to do and I enjoyed the way time passed, how I was not conscious of the time, the minute by minute, the hour by hour tick-tock of the clock. Whenever I was painting, my mind and energies were totally absorbed by the creative process at hand.
Like any interest one pursues with consistency, over time, my skills got better and the quality of my finished pieces improved. Most importantly, my interest never waned and my desire to paint truly marketable art pieces only grew stronger. I knew I would make art more than a hobby.
In 2001, after years of vacationing there, my family and I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe as an art market is only second to New York. The historical Canyon Road area is lined up and down with galleries housed in small, old, historical adobe buildings; each exuding an incredible, palpable creative energy. It's one of the things I've always loved most about Santa Fe.
Artisan's is a renowned art supply store here in Santa Fe. It's been around for so many years even Georgia O'Keefe shopped for her supplies there. Back in the day before paved roads, she would make the trek into town on her motorcycle from the, then, backwoods of Abiquiu and her famous Ghost Ranch. Down there one day digging around in their great inventory, I decided to buy some oils. On the counter there was a flyer advertising Artisan's every-two-year art supply show in a couple of weeks. It's a huge event held at the local convention center and they invite 100's of art supply venders to come in and showcase their products. They also schedule dozens of art classes throughout the whole weekend. I saw that they had a knife/oil painting class, so I signed up.
The class was 3 hours. The lady instructing the class performed a demonstration painting a sunflower on a small 8x10 canvas. She used only the three primary colors (red, blue and yellow -- which every other color can be made from) and a palette knife. It was a simple exercise. A beginner's class meant to be fun more than anything else. Throughout the demonstration she urged "boldness."After she finished she instructed us to come up and get our supplies, the same as she had used. There were about 30 people in the class. Everyone started out cautiously even though she encouraged us not to be. As for myself, I went for it.
I took double the tubes of paint and squirted them right on to the canvas and mixed the colors right there. I built up the leaves thick and wild and wrapped them and the vine all the way around to the sides of the canvas, making it look like the sunflower was growing alive right out of the canvas. The instructor, making her way around the classroom desperately urging more boldness and looseness, came up behind me and screamed, "Yes!, like that!!..like this everyone! WOW!" The unexpected encouragement was something in itself. Here, a professional art instructor, charging $300 per attendee, an accomplished artist in her own right, getting excited about what I'd done. It was a landmark moment in my art carrer. All artists talk about how somewhere in their journey there is a distinct moment where they discover their signature art style. From that moment forth I knew using a knife, only a knife, and applying the paint thick and BOLD was what I needed to do. And it is what I have been doing ever since.
The paint on my paintings is an inch to an inch-and-a-half thick in some areas. I only use oil paint through and through. There are no fillers, no molding paste, no gels. The 3-D effect is as if sculpture is on the canvas. The thick texture is built up using several dried lean layers and gradually working into the fat layers. The texture is not pre-applied and then painted over. There are some who do this. They first build up the thickness with some cheap(er) material and then paint over it. I don't. Colors, tones, and shades run throughout the built up paint, from the surface to the canvas. If you sanded down the paint in my paintings you would find "colored" stages of the final product.
My interests lie in Portraiture and Figurative art and images of icons. I like to work on large canvases. I love the story which lies in a person's face. And I am inspired to paint the faces of those who have in some or another risen up to the challenge of their life and lived it heroically; not so much as in they did good deeds or not in their lifetime, but that they left an impact on the World by living true to themselves and the destiny born within them. This represents to me living life aa a warrior.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
I also do murals and commissions. Contact me for information.
You can find me down on Canyon Road in Santa Fe.
You can reach me here: warrior@warriorgallery.com
Thanks for stopping by and viewing my art.
Always Believe,
Warrior