I was 21 years old when I discovered I could push myself to create detailed pencil drawings. I was immediately drawn to portraiture and found joy in giving my work as gifts to family members. I was accepted to Art Center in Pasadena, but poor planning and a lack of funds closed that door. I continued to dabble in watercolor over the years as opportunities emerged to make a living as a graphic designer.
Over the years I continued to create portraits, often weaving those skills into my work as a graphic designer, though never fully committing to them for long stretches of time. Everything shifted after a profound Christian conversion that transformed my life and saved my marriage. Because much of my artwork was connected to a darker chapter, I chose to step away from it for a season. Combined with the demands of corporate design work and raising four daughters, that chapter remained on hold.
In 2008, encouraged by my wife, I entered an MFA program to pursue a degree in illustration, with the hope of someday becoming a teacher. Around that same time, I returned to watercolor after a 25-year absence.
As I did, I began to discover a visual language that blended graphite, watercolor, and Photoshop compositing.
This piece, entitled Finding My Voice, expressed the joy and freedom I felt in moving away from the confinement of doing everything digitally. While I did teach a few classes here and there, doors never opened to a full-time position. Having established my own design studio in 2001, I ultimately fell back on what was familiar—and never fully broke free from relying on the computer to create my work.
Having recently retired after a 46-year career as a graphic designer, I have been drawn once again to portraiture and to my pencils. Although I am no longer using the computer to create, I find that I have not yet broken free from the perfectionism that carried me through my years as a designer. I feel a strong pull to combine graphite with watercolor, yet I lack the confidence to move forward. My desire is to deepen my skills as a watercolor artist and to develop techniques that allow for greater freedom of expression—without relying on the computer to merge media.
