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Name : Archer Dougherty
Place of birth: Albuquerque, NM, USA
Contacts and links: www.archerartworks.com
www.circusposterus.com
Black Cat: Hi Archer, can you describe a little bit of your background?
Archer Dougherty: I went to a private Christian school until high school, and discovered art and writing there. I then went to the University of New Mexico to study writing, but discovered I was more of an artist than a writer. When I began making art professionally it was three dimensional multi-media work, but I tired of it relatively quickly and was never very motivated to make something of an artistic career. I then rediscovered my love of drawing and painting, and since then I have been working hard to catch up to my contemporaries in both skill level and exhibitions.
B.C.: Which artists have had the greatest impact on you?
A.D.: In terms of drawing, my biggest influence, though it may sound cliché, is Leonardo da Vinci. It is visible especially in the forms and shadows on my faces. In terms of composition and design I am very much influenced by Klimt, and in contemporary painters I love Michael Parkes’ figures (and he is very influenced by Klimt as well), Camille Rose Garcia’s textures and backgrounds, Mark Ryden’s girls, Audrey Kawasaki’s girls, and also many old illustrators such as John R. Neill and Beardsley. My visuals are also influenced by literature – as I mentioned I studied writing – my own writing as well as others’. The most recent literary influence I can name is “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern.
B.C.: Where do you draw your inspirations, and what are the subjects or themes that motivate you to create?
A.D.: As I mentioned, I went to a private school, where I didn’t form many relationships. I still continue to feel as though I am a small girl trying to find her way in an adult world. My subjects are girls who are troubled by conflicts – within themselves, with the world they are attempting to fit in to, and with what people think they should be or become. But I have always been motivated to create – it comes from inside me, not from without. I always have so many ideas bouncing around it’s hard to focus on a single one sometimes, but the subjects tend to always be similar, and very like me.
B.C.: When creating one of your pieces, where does the process start?
A.D.: It always begins with a drawing. I tend not to draw ideas out on paper or in a sketchbook, because they lose a lot of integrity if I simply copy a piece onto a piece of wood. Normally I have a composition in mind and begin with an appropriately-shaped piece of wood. I draw a completed gray-scale drawing on the wood; in other words, it has all the shadows, highlights, and mid-tones the painting will have. It is my underpainting. I then fix the drawing and begin by painting very thin, translucent oil glazes over the drawing, so the shadows and lights show through. It is very much like tinting a photograph; you still have to know how to paint, however, and bring out midtones and highlights as if you were coaxing the image to life.
B.C.: What media typically go into a normal piece, and how long does a piece on average take you to complete?
A.D.: I think I’ve got my process in hand enough to answer that question definitively: I use wood panel, graphite, charcoal, and conte for my underdrawing, and oil glazes with amber varnish and walnut oil as a medium for the painting. The length of time a piece takes really depends on how large it is and how complicated the drawing is. I am an infinitely better draftsperson than painter, and feel if I can draw it, I can paint it. However I tend to get caught up in details, and my drawings can take on an enormous life of their own. But once the drawing is done – which has taken anywhere from a few days to weeks – the painting is relatively simple. Glazes have to dry for around a day, and so depending on how many layers the painting requires, the days involved are equal to that.
B.C.: You work on one theme at a time?
A.D.: My work all revolves around a similar theme. The creatures in them tend to evolve but slowly, so each painting influences the next idea.
B.C.: Can you tell us about your wonderful painting “Familiar”?
A.D.: That painting was a lot of fun to make. I hadn’t learned about glazes or the full importance of a tonal drawing, as it was one of my earlier works. But I had a friend model for me and the falcon was especially fun to draw. That piece tends to be a favorite of quite a few people, because of the view from behind as she is looking out, turned toward the viewer. It is quite a large piece, over four feet high, and was done when I was still experimenting with models, and design, and realism. The title “Familiar” comes from the same word that refers to a person’s animal spirit manifested in physical form; it also refers to the way she looks at the audience, as if she knows you.
B.C.: Is there a particular work you`ve created which stands out for you?
A.D.: Very much. One piece I created for my solo show last September, called “Keeping Up Appearances”, is one that is very dear to me. It represents a personal breakthrough in my work. Not only did atmosphere, expression, and medium coalesce perfectly into a beautiful work, but it was the first piece I created in which I realized the struggle within my girls didn’t need to be expressed with a physical, tangible creature. The smoky, snake-like apparition wrapped about her can be seen either as a literal or figural oppression, and my work since that piece has dealt with inner demons in much the same way. No painting I have created since has dealt much with tangible demons but much like thoughts, and worries, and memories will manifest themselves on a person’s face, they manifest themselves as surreal creatures connected with my girls in a very personal and spiritual way.
B.C.: When you consider contemporary artists, who has recently caught your interest or imagination?
A.D.: I mentioned quite a few before, but very recently I have been looking at the work of the international artist and illustrator Joe Sorren, as well as the wonderful work of Sas Christian.
B.C.: What sorts of goals are you planning?
A.D.: I have been working with Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters, and our goal for my work is to make a solid portfolio after my and Kathie’s show this November, and start showing it to galleries out of state. I have had group shows out of New Mexico, and in fact have a show coming up in September at the Alternative Café and Gallery in Monterey Bay, California, with wonderful artist Jason Snyder; however, I would like to get some shows on the East Coast especially, and start building up my own collector base. But for right now, I am focusing on making strong work – the best I am capable of – for my shows this fall and the portfolio following.
B.C.: Thanks Archer and good work!
xLegion Gallery: Archer Dougherty
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