I have been a practicing pencil artist for over 40 years. I have been keeping Koi fish for 22 years. I wanted to take my Koi out of the pond and bring them into the man made world through color pencils.

In Aug. 2011, I finally received signature status with the CPSA-Color Pencil Society Of America.  It took me 11 years to achieve that goal.

When I enter my studio, there are no rules allowed. It’s just me, some paper, boat loads of pencils, and music…..

Pencils are one of the few mediums that require such an attention to detail and precision.  The width of a pencil, when sharpened, is but a very small point.  I use that small point to cover the paper/canvas not once, or even twice.  Each of my drawings contains a multitude of layers of colored pencil.  I will generally push the color until it is just absolutely reaching saturation point and the surface can no longer accept any more pigment.  Working in this fashion requires every square inch of my work to be premeditated.  As a result, the color is rich and the detail is very fine.

Some of my compositions are about story telling through symbolism. I want the viewer to think about what they are seeing. In these surreal drawings, I get to explore what my mind is capable of, and really have fun with it.  To me, this is the most rewarding art of all.  I get to imply mood with color and place objects where they are not normally associated. Some of the pieces will just take on a life of their own and I am sometimes shocked by the finished product. I did not start out in that direction at all. I make these drawings familiar, yet unfamiliar. There are no rules, remember?

At times, I will spend months working out a composition, creating studies of light and shadow. I weave together different images to tell the story. The composition must be completely worked out before I lay pencil to paper for a final draft. The evolution of each piece is a personal journey and thoroughly enjoyable. I learn something new from every piece that I do. I call on experiences from past pieces to achieve new ones.

I still enjoy doing black and white drawings in graphite as well. Black and White can be very powerful and usually these pieces are portrait type commissions. These can be just as technically challenging as doing surreal type images but not nearly as much time spent on trying to figure out the composition.

I hope you enjoy my work and feel free to ask any questions that you may have.

“Proportion can be completely ignored as long as the integrity of perspective is honored”-Kenneth Woodworth-