DARRELL WILLIAMS
ARTIST |
I have been interested in the beauty of space and vehicles for as long as I can remember. My first exposure to airbrush work was seeing a caravan of custom painted vans in the mid 1970’s. Right then, I knew that I wanted to learn how to create art on the metal surface of vehicles. At the time there was no one near me to teach the use of an airbrush. The internet did not exist, so I was on my own. Experimentation with what I could get my hands on did not result in positive results. I decided to focus on drawing until I could find the instruction I craved. During this time, I pursued graphite, learned colored pencil, and started learning oil painting. Occasionally playing with the very simple airbrush that I had, but not able to get the results I wanted. I have also worked in wood turning for a time and developed quite a following. The increased pressures on importing exotic woods, and their ever-increasing price drove me back to my origins of two-dimensional art. I returned to college in 2013 to finish my BFA in painting. This became the opportune time to finally learn how to paint with an airbrush. The internet and a few workshops gave me the training that I needed to combine my previous years of experience with my desire to create with the airbrush. I had since developed a stronger interest in fine art than custom automotive painting, but that interest was still lingering. While attending graduate school from 2016-2019, I started developing a balance between my interest in vehicles and my investment into fine art. I have developed panels that accentuate the thinness of the airbrushed surface and started using various automotive parts as surface to create on. I now focus on my two original subjects and combine different aspects of them whenever I can. The canvas and paper surface are always an option; however, I have developed a fondness for my own panels made from wood, acrylic, and aluminum. These along with automotive hoods and other various “car parts” have become my go-to surface for painting. I do not consider myself a custom painter, even though I do that from time to time. I do consider myself an artist that has found a way to bring fine art and custom painting together to create unique pieces that cross the lines between the two areas. |