July Artist of the Month | Roger Dale Brown [feedly]

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July Artist of the Month | Roger Dale Brown
// Artist's Network

We're excited to have our July artist of the month, Roger Dale Brown! He was a finalist in The Artist's Magazine's 30th Annual Art Competition. His painting, New Orleans Street Car is below. Keep scrolling to see what Brown has to say about art and life.

www.rogerdalebrown.com ~ Nashville, Tennessee

I took art in high school and did very well. After school I dismissed art for 12 years. Art wasn't encouraged as a career option, so I shifted away from it. I moved to LA in August of 1993 where I sold eyeglasses. On January 17, at 4:30 in the morning the Northridge Earthquake struck, and the store where I worked was demolished.They re-located me to another store, and it was there, that an artist came in to buy some glasses. We started talking, and he could tell I had a passion for art. He invited me to his studio for a critique of my work. I really didn't have a lot to show, except some old pen and inks from school and a few drawings I did over the years, but I felt compelled to accept his offer. I didn't see myself selling eyeglasses forever and his offer intrigued me. We talked for an hour as we toured his studio, and at the end, he asked me if I wanted to be his assistant painting murals and faux finishes…I accepted… I worked with him on 5 large jobs for some Hollywood icons. One day we were to meet a designer to give a bid on a job, but he never showed up. I desperately needed the job, so I asked them to give me a shot and they did. They told me to set an appointment with the clients. It was the shortest meeting in history. I really didn't know how to conduct a meeting. I sat down with them and asked what they liked. They said Monet. I said "wait right there" and left the meeting. I went to the nearest book store and found a book on Monet, but it was too expensive. I saw a calendar that featured Impressionist artists, so I bought a $5 calendar and went back to the clients. We flipped through it and they pointed out the one they liked. In my one bedroom apartment, I tacked up a canvas and painted a Monet with house paints. They liked it. That was how I started my own business and my art career.

In 1997 I got caught in the crossfire of a bank robbery and decided that was enough. It was time for me to go home. So I moved back to Tennessee and started my business. The thought of painting canvases kept creeping into my thoughts. I painted canvases, without much instruction over the next 4 years and, time after time, I failed horribly. By chance while visiting a gallery, the owner mentioned he was going to host a plein air workshop taught by Jason Saunders. Jason had studied with some of the great contemporary artists. I got excited and took the workshop in 2002. It was his first workshop to teach and my first to take. He recommended I take a class with Scott Christensen. Three months later I was in Wyoming taking from Scott. What really stuck with me from Scotts workshop, was his emphasis on the foundation of painting and setting goals. I always love a challenge, so when I got home I set goals. I was still working my mural business, but I set a goal for myself to paint one plein-air painting a day for 365 days, and to paint 100 studio pieces. My daily routine was to work 4 hours on murals, then on the way home, I would stop and do a 6×8 plein-air, after I got home, I would paint in the studio for 4 to 6 more hours. I also set a goal to be in a gallery by the end of the year. At the end of the 365 days I had painted 350 plein-air paintings and about 120 studio pieces. A lot were bad. I failed on my plein-air goal, but after painting 350 paintings on location a year, and painting them with the intent to study, I grew. I did reach my goal to be in a gallery. Persistence and passion played a huge part in my development of artistic abilities. Over those first 2 years I studied and became a student of art. To this day I strive to continue to learn more…

I liked the movement of the car and how the air moved around it. It was a challenge to create the sparkles and flecks of debris kicked up from the passing streetcar. There is always opportunities that arise during a painting. You have a choice to take advantage of them or not. I always have a plan before I start a painting. I have a mental image of the finished painting. I ask a series of problem solving questions that can help me best achieve this image. Right now, I really want to go to locations that inspire me. I want to spend enough time to absorb the culture. Beverly and I are staying at locations longer, to explore and study the culture, light, color palette, and nuances of the location. This helps me evoke the spirit of a scene. I can tell a better story, since I have seen the place through the eyes of the people who live there, not just through my eyes.

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