Homer's Head, 2021

David Sipko  

Artist Statement:

About 20 years ago I was on the lovely island of Nantucket making my way around the town and doing some window shopping. I noticed a few art galleries and decided to stop by one to have a look-something that I had never done before in my life. I was thinking it might turn into a car buying experience so I hesitated at first. When I left, I began mapping out my plan to become an oil painter.

When I see a phenomenal painting in a museum or gallery, it's the tradition of painting that I respect the most. I want to be intertwined with the craft that has been handed down for centuries in my own little way.

Since the beginning of my artistic journey, my observation of the visual world had changed in an enormous way. I paint with my eyes if I don't have a brush. I constantly am searching for how light defines my visual world and how I would interpret it into the painted world. How light creates contrasts and shadows and how I would need to approach it to portray the subject as vividly and honestly as possible. When I study an object and then commit, it becomes a point of departure for me in the hope I can pay homage to its nature and delight viewers.

Education:

Carlin Academy of Fine Art, Kennett Square PA

Artistic Influences:

Edward Hopper, Frans Hals, Rembrandt, Carravaggio, Reubens

Tags:

realism, still life, nature, portrait, oil on canvas, contemporary art, contemporary realism, idealism, oil painting