Biography | Artist Statement | Awards | Education | Exhibitions | Experience | Other
After almost 30 years in comics, I was ready to re-evaluate my life. The field I loved so much was now changing, and no longer felt in step with the new comics (mohawks, guns & implants) vs. old (classic heroes who still rescued cats from trees). My style was derived from the comics of the 60′s and 70′s, and when I arrived in the 80′s, things couldn’t have been more ripe for this new generation. It was a great, long, fascinating ride. Yet, when the new deliberators of taste & style began to establish itself in the late 90′s, I had to make a decision.
The answer for me was painting what I wanted, without deadlines. This included figures, still-lives, and getting outdoors to see how well I could paint things like, well, the challenge of running water. With that as my new target and goal, I moved forward.
One of my mentors, magazine illustrator John Gannam, devoted his entire career to capturing the exact nature of an environment; the sun-lit walls in a child’s playroom; a drizzly, fog-enshrouded town square; or a briskly running stream near a farm house meadow. Gannam was in it for the art, even if it meant seeing his stringently imposed deadlines fade long into the distance.
Right now, oils, watercolor, and pastel are the mediums I get the most challenge from. I also get out the charcoal pads and pen & ink, since they’re full of possibilities themselves. For 30 years sketchbooks have been my companion, and would be thrown off balance without them.
Now, if I may take my leave, I see something wrong with that nose I’ve just painted. Come to think of it, that ear needs some work, too…)
Au Revoir!
Steve Rude