Skip Whitcomb grew up on a Ranch in Colorado, without much encouragement to pursue art as a vocation. Following his parents advice, he enrolled in college to study business, but quickly realized his heart was somewhere else.
Skip has been painting landscapes of the western United States for over forty years now.
In this conversation, Skip and I talk about learning the craft and then taking every opportunity to flex your wings, to test them and see if you can fly. We talk about artist communities, their natural cycles and how having a sympathetic ear from time to time is crucial.
Skip shares the frustration of pushing through dissatisfaction, or plateaus in his paintings. I think – or hope- we all go through this at some point as we master certain skills and go on to explore new concepts. How one deals with these issues greatly impacts our growth as artists. Eventually, technique becomes less important than why you are using it. “Why?”, not “how?” is the question we would be better off asking.
Other Artists, Authors and People Mentioned
- John Asaro
- Ned Jacob
- Aaron Shikler
- Harvey Dinnerstein (video interview on Smithsonian site)
- David Levine
- Franz Kline
- DeKooning
- Frank Brangwyn
- Ken Auster
- Stuart Shils
- Bobbie Burgers
- Ron Kingswood
- Klimpt
- Ivan Doig (author)
- Wallace Stegner (author)
- John McPhee – Rising From The Plains
- David Love American Field Geologist
Links
Skip’s Paintings
Quite brilliant!