Exhibit: March 3 – May 31
Dedicated to process and education, Colt Brown understands the importance of evolution as an artist. A nationally known tattoo artist, owner/founder of Empire Inks and Timeless Tattoo, artistry has long been an integral component of Colt’s career. Striving to bring fine art into the tattoo world, Colt has spent the past decade studying with world-renowned fine artists to refine and develop his technique.
In “It Takes a Village”, Colt’s artwork hangs alongside the artwork of instructor/artists with whom he has studied. This impressive collection of artwork reaffirms the importance of instructors and the lasting influence they have on even the most advanced artists.
“Everyone is born an artist. I think a lot of people lose their artistic side as they get older. The main difference with me is that I didn’t stop drawing when most people did. I just continued.”
Colt Brown
Colt’s artwork represents the journey of channeling passion and drive to create into tireless hours of hard work and perseverance to master artistic skills.
Richeson Gallery is proud to present the artwork of Colt Brown.
The theme of this collection is “It Takes a Village.” This being my first time showcasing my work to the public, I wanted to take the opportunity to show people my journey. Instead of just showcasing my best work, I wanted to show the journey it takes to improve at art. I think it’s important for people to realize that anyone can create beautiful art if they put in the effort. I learned in high school that a lot of your success will depend greatly on those who are teaching you.
Lucky for me, my first real experience learning art came from spending time in Canada with Kit King and Corey Popp. That gave me the opportunity to learn their process and be able to create a “hyper-realistic” painting. I very clearly remember Kit telling me “trust the process.” With indirect painting, that is very important to understand.
I worked in that style for a couple years and then one day my dad came to my studio and asked me why I had a bunch of photographs of eyes on the wall. I told him they were paintings, not photographs. Without such intentions, his response drastically changed my life for the better. He simply asked me, “Why didn’t you just print the photo?”
I always thought it was impressive to be able to paint something that would fool the human eye into thinking it was a photograph. Come to find out, it was just really a long drawn out and less accurate depiction of something that could have been printed in 30 seconds. That made me realize that art should be more than just recreating something that already exists. It needed life and movement and flow and a slight twist of reality. That’s the difference between a painting and a photograph.
A few years after studying with Kit and Corey, as a birthday present, my friends and family set me up to learn from David Gray. He has a way of creating a mood and provoking an emotion with his paintings, the same feeling you get when you hear classical music or at the MET staring at a Rembrandt.
With intentions of learning the classical approach to painting, surprisingly, that wasn’t what I ended up taking from the experience. When I was painting with him, he saw me struggling and told me, “The details won’t save you.”
I think about that every time I paint and I start to struggle. That was probably one of the most helpful tips I have ever received.
The following year, I started to appreciate color theory more and knew right away who I wanted to learn that from. I’d seen David Cheifetz’s paintings on Instagram and saw he was doing a workshop in L.A. I booked my tickets right away and I was off to learn color theory from one of the best.
Although I did learn a lot about color theory, it was more his patience and calmness that really stuck with me. Watching him so focused and fearless was like watching a figure skater glide across the ice with elegance and grace.
During David’s workshop, I had asked him how he knew when a painting was done. He thought about it for a while and replied, “I know it’s finished when I’m not improving the painting anymore.”
The room went silent and at the same time, everyone released a big breath of relief. Every single person in that room knew they had been guilty of that. We had all been in the situation where we knew we should stop but continued and overworked the painting. It was a moment in life that everyone in that room will remember.
Shortly after my second workshop with David Cheifetz, a friend of mine invited me to a workshop with Sean Cheetham. I have always loved how he could be loose and suggestive but extremely accurate in key areas. Without hesitation, I booked my flight and headed to Texas for the workshop.
I was able to see how direct Sean was with a “Don’t Confuse It” attitude. When he made his way to view my progress on the painting, he noticed I was overcomplicating the situation and jokingly said, “You know the phrase, ‘Keep it simple’?” I think he was being nice by not finishing the quote with “stupid”. But I knew that was exactly my problem, and I hear his voice randomly pop in my head when I’m overthinking my process. That’s been a good lesson I have carried over into other parts of my life.
So, as you can see, it takes a village to raise a child. My art is created as a collaboration with so many people from my life. I wouldn’t be the artist I am today without them and I think it’s important to credit some of the people that helped me through this amazing journey.
It means a lot to me that the wonderful people at Richeson’s Gallery believe in me enough to showcase my work under their name. They show a true love for, not only art, but the artists themselves. I’m honored to work with a company that can balance genuine human kindness with business.
My show goes until May at the Richeson Gallery in Kimberly. If you’d like to see a collection of my paintings and mentors, please stop by and check it out. – Colt Brown