Voices of Experience – Derek Penix

Voices of Expertise

Derek Penix

Sanibel Seagulls 33 x 36″ Oil

The new, energetic performs of Derek Penix invite us in to check out them—and the more we explore, the far more we explore as our eyes journey from corner to corner. The patterns and shades typically defy the tradition of a central focal position and instead information us to spend time getting treasures across the canvas. Penix has gained awards in nearly 100 national competitions in the last twelve several years. He teaches art workshops all around the state and at the moment lives in Laguna Seaside, California. We asked Penix to produce us about his inspiration, his potential to merge complex skill with suggestive gestural image-producing, and his direction into the summary. He started by telling us about increasing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

My mother and grandfather painted. I never had interest in it until finally after graduating superior faculty nevertheless. My moms and dads inspired me to paint and a single working day on a journey to Laguna Seaside, California (wherever I are living now), I walked into a gallery with my dad and observed the paintings and imagined “I could do this!” Shortly after that journey I painted my 1st painting and my mom took it into a neighborhood gallery and they offered it instantly. Immediately after that I was hooked. I am even now with that gallery now (Royce Myers Art Gallery in Tulsa, Oklahoma). I am grateful he gave me a probability and considered in me in the starting and all of these years later.

Flamingos, 8 x 16", Oil, © Derek Penix
Flamingos 8 x 16″ Oil

I actually realized nothing at all till Quang Ho. He assisted me with some of the principles, like blocking in a portray and knowledge how the eye can movement about a painting. I hardly ever went to college or any school to find out artwork strategies. C.W. Mundy has been a shut buddy and mentor to me for the very last ten or so a long time. I have liked his friendship and that we connect with and chat about almost everything from personalized subjects to whichever we are at the moment portray.

Old Harbor in Cap Ferrat, 24 x 24", Oil, © Derek Penix
Outdated Harbor in Cap Ferrat 24 x 24″ Oil

Into the Blue, 36 x 36", Oil, © Derek Penix
Into the Blue 36 x 36″ Oil

Would you inform us one thing about your method and your materials?

I have hardly ever actually been a simple air painter as I are likely to not like my function when I paint outside. I really don’t create thumbnails. I generally just come across a photo that I took that I like and paint it. I mostly paint in the studio. Having said that, I prepare likely ahead to paint much more plain air pieces now that I reside in Laguna Seashore, California. I love it below and really don’t at any time want to go away.

I presently just use a very simple pallete of warms and cools of the key and secondary colors. I mostly ordinarily paint on
Claussens 13 oil primed canvas.

This is my workshop offer record:

   Filbert brushes dimensions #10 #8 #6, #4, #2, #
   Rosemary Shiraz Filbert brushes (what I mostly use)
   Pallete knife
   Gamsol
   Gamblin Neo Megilp (optional)

   I are likely to use the following colours.
   Titanium White
   Cadmium Yellow Mild
   Cadmium Yellow Medium
   Cadmium Yellow Deep
   Cadmium Orange
   Cadmium Purple Mild
   Long lasting Rose
   Cerulean Blue
   Cobalt Blue
   Ultramarine Blue
   Viridian Green
   Yellow Ochre
   Vandyke Brown

Have you explored other mediums in addition to oils?

Indeed, watercolor, 1 time and I gave that up a few minutes later on. I make way too quite a few issues and have uncovered to embrace them in oil painting. I am not sure if watercolor would at any time perform for me.

Koi, Oil, © Derek Penix
Koi Oil

Would it be proper to say that quite a few of your paintings have pretty sturdy visible pathways during them, sometimes with no a singular focal level? Can you tell us a very little little bit about this and how you are able to structure them to be so partaking?

I imagine I’m a lot more of an equalization painter by mother nature. I just am attracted to that type and like the eye to stream all over. But I do hope to experiment in my compositions with dominant focal factors.

Any words and phrases of wisdom you may possibly give to starting artists?

Find out how you see as a human being. and understand believability extra than realism. Master what’s crucial to paint and what is not desired.

And, just for entertaining, if you could sit down and have a very long discussion over meal with an artist from the previous, who would you opt for, and why?

Richard Diebenkorn—probably simply because he is my preferred painter now. I would want to comprehend what he would say about coloration idea and design as I am becoming much more interested in the abstract.