NAL Artist's Galleries - Don Larson
Don Larson
Media: Oil
website:
email: dalj67@wowway.com
Don A Larson, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia (at Piedmont Hospital) and moved to Illinois in 1973 where he grew up and attended schools. After graduation from Naperville Central High School, he immediately went on to college graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1989 with a business degree. Don had been interested in art since childhood and soon began taking art classes at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. There, he immersed himself in various modalities as he studied great artists and oil techniques. He tried many expressions of his artistic talent and as well as various mediums and found oils to be the most expressive. He soon focused his creative talents on oil canvas paintings and continues to maintain that focus. Many of Don’s paintings including abstracts, flowers and landscapes focus on the female form. Deciding to expand his flexibility, he began attending live modeling sessions where he began a focus on figurative works and portraits. Among Don's favorite artists are: Van Gogh, Modigliani, Wayne Thiebaud, Dali, Lucian Freud, Selden Gile and Singer Sargent. One of Don's intense interests has always been music to which he "rocks out" while painting. Inspired by "Metal", his recent painting are portraits of Rock musicians. Don lives in Naperville, Illinois with son, Kai and is a member of the Naperville Art League.
Don says: "When I sit down to paint, I'm usually at a loss. What do I do? Where to start?. My headphones are cranked up. (I've got to listen to something loud and "hard" while I paint.) Then, I grab a brush and stick it into a color on the palette and go after the canvas. Once the brush hits the canvas, I not only see the paint, but I feel it too as the paint squishes off the brush and rakes across the canvas. The paint seems to direct me at times and at other times, I push it around like a bully. Sometimes images appear and I develop them more, bringing them out coaxingly. One time I was trying to paint a necklace or earrings, but I did not know how to do it. So, I just trusted and put the paint to the canvas and they magically appeared. Painting is like magic and I'm always waiting for the hand of God to work through me to create something more than I ever could imagine!"
website:
email: dalj67@wowway.com
Don A Larson, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia (at Piedmont Hospital) and moved to Illinois in 1973 where he grew up and attended schools. After graduation from Naperville Central High School, he immediately went on to college graduating from Northern Illinois University in 1989 with a business degree. Don had been interested in art since childhood and soon began taking art classes at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. There, he immersed himself in various modalities as he studied great artists and oil techniques. He tried many expressions of his artistic talent and as well as various mediums and found oils to be the most expressive. He soon focused his creative talents on oil canvas paintings and continues to maintain that focus. Many of Don’s paintings including abstracts, flowers and landscapes focus on the female form. Deciding to expand his flexibility, he began attending live modeling sessions where he began a focus on figurative works and portraits. Among Don's favorite artists are: Van Gogh, Modigliani, Wayne Thiebaud, Dali, Lucian Freud, Selden Gile and Singer Sargent. One of Don's intense interests has always been music to which he "rocks out" while painting. Inspired by "Metal", his recent painting are portraits of Rock musicians. Don lives in Naperville, Illinois with son, Kai and is a member of the Naperville Art League.
Don says: "When I sit down to paint, I'm usually at a loss. What do I do? Where to start?. My headphones are cranked up. (I've got to listen to something loud and "hard" while I paint.) Then, I grab a brush and stick it into a color on the palette and go after the canvas. Once the brush hits the canvas, I not only see the paint, but I feel it too as the paint squishes off the brush and rakes across the canvas. The paint seems to direct me at times and at other times, I push it around like a bully. Sometimes images appear and I develop them more, bringing them out coaxingly. One time I was trying to paint a necklace or earrings, but I did not know how to do it. So, I just trusted and put the paint to the canvas and they magically appeared. Painting is like magic and I'm always waiting for the hand of God to work through me to create something more than I ever could imagine!"
