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Name: David Michael Bowers
Place of birth: Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Black Cat aka Didi: Thanks for taking the time to interview with us. First off, could you tell us a little about yourself?
David M. Bowers: I’m 56 years old and I’ve been making a living solely from my art for 21 years. I wake up everyday excited to go to work on one of my paintings. I’m a bit of a workaholic and usually start my day at the crack of dawn. The main focus of my work is the human figure. The definition of “The Human Condition” in wikipedia best describes the intensions in my work.
B.C.: Which is your artistic background?
D.M.B.: My artistic background started in art school. I went to a design school and had very few painting classes. None of my instructors could show me the way that I paint today, so most of my education has come from books and visiting some of great museums of the world. I learned a long time ago that if I try to take in an entire museum collection, I walk away with a headache and remember very little after I leave. Now, I usually just concentrate on about 6 paintings at a time and will study each one for more than an hour.
B.C.: Is the technique absolutely necessary to become a good artist? How important is the technique for you?
D.M.B.: Technique and craftsmanship has always dominated my work. I’m probably a little too concerned with producing a flawless surface to my finished work. Some people think they are giclee prints when they see my originals. I’m hoping to be a little more expressive with my paint handling in the future.
B.C.: Where do you get the inspiration for your art?
D.M.B.: My inspiration comes from too many sources to mention. Sometimes an idea will rattle around in my head for several years before it starts to materialize on paper.
B.C.: Can you describe your process, from the seed of an idea to a complete work?
D.M.B.: I usually start with crude brown ink sketches in my sketch book. Then I’ll proceed to doing a tighter pencil drawing. That tight drawing/cartoon is then enlarged and transferred to my painting surface. I start very much like the Old Masters did by doing a detailed underpainting in some earth tone, usually burnt umber. Then I’ll usually paint the figures in grisaille. Now the hard work begins by building layer upon layer of paint. Some passages of the painting is done with glazes and some passages are painted alma prima.
B.C.: I know that you worked on the portrait painting commissioned by the Rothschild family and for many magazines covers including TIME, the portrait of J.P. Morgan for the cover of Cigar Aficionado and the Chateau Latour Winery for the covers of Wine Spectator magazines. Do you like work on the commissioned pieces? From a creative standpoint, is it easier to work on personal work or client work?
D.M.B.: Commissioned work is easier because the story is usually already written for me, but is less satisfying. My personal work is much more satisfying, but I struggle sometimes with my ideas because it’s hard not to be trite.
B.C.: Which pieces would you like to be remembered for?
D.M.B.: Only my best work, I wish I could have burned all of my bad paintings, but they are now in private collections.
B.C.: What are you working on now? …in your opinion When you will succeed in realize the “perfect painting”?
D.M.B.: My most recent completed oil painting is titled, Family Tree.” It’s a triple self portrait of me pruning my family tree to get it ready for my arrival someday. I just spent a month in Florida away from studio and could only work on watercolors because of the convenience of the medium. I’m glad I was limited to that medium because I really enjoyed doing them. I haven’t painted with that medium in 25 years. It was a nice change to completed a painting in a couple of days versus a month or more that I typically spend on my oils. Currently, I’m back to the drawing board filling my sketch book with ideas.
xLegion gallery: David Michael Bowers
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B.C.: Thanks for taking the time to interview with us in order to better know the man behind his art!
