Featured Artist Anthony Karl Harris

Artsy Shark presents the portfolio of featured artist Anthony Karl Harris. Like what you see?  Visit his website to find out more about this intriguing artist.

In my mind there is a never ending line. It twists, turns, curves, and transforms constantly. I use the lines to create shapes that turn into representational and non-representational objects/images. The lines are the skin and the acrylic underneath is the guts. The shapes flow from organic to geometric. Constant change in the lines and the way they distort the forms/shapes/objects, is meant to leave some degree of vagueness so the viewer can come away with his or her own interpretation. I strive to create feedback loop between the viewer and the painting – from each according to his interpretation, to each according to what he sees.

What are your goals?

I want to refine my technique and style so I can translate the never ending stream of  images coming out of my head as close to perfection as I can get. Another goal is to use illustration, painting, photoshop, graphic design, HTML and CSS with my blog as the canvas to create a new medium/genre of art – blog art. On the capitalist side of things, the goal is to build up my name as an artist and blogger so one day I can make at least half of my income from my art and blog. Oh – and not have my head explode while trying to do all of the above.

What inspires you?

Trees and roots are my subjects of choice and they inspire me the most. The way a tree turns and bends along with the tendril like roots makes my day. Feelings in general inspire me. I tend to create pieces based on one emotion the moment I feel it. Music is also a huge inspiration. I tend to gravitate towards music that has a rhythm/melody that matches the follow of the lines in my head. The Mars Volta would be the best example of this. Music is the lubricant for my creativity.

What are you working on now?

Right now I’m going down two different paths. The first is a series of paintings that each tell a vague story (so the viewer can fill in the blanks) with trees as the main characters and people/figures as the supporting cast. I will also explore one color scheme/palette to it’s fullest.

The second path is using my blog as a canvas (see the blog art description above) for various pieces ranging from cultural/political commentary to me ranting about traffic.

Technique

My technique comes from two completely different worlds. I use a combination of traditional painting techniques (inspired by Cezanne’s geometric style) and illustration (comic book/anime/graphic novels). My mediums of choice are acrylic paint on tile board (construction grade) along with oil based paint markers to draw the lines. I think that tile board is much better than wood panel since it is so compressed and less likely to suffer from water damage. The lines are either drawn freehand or on paper first, then projected over the paint. Lines are the skin and the paint underneath are the guts. So yes – I am looking forward to a future of carpal tunnel, but you gotta suffer for your art.