Heavy Mettle: Paintings, David Uhl
31 images Created 28 Aug 2020
I have always been more comfortable with my brushes and a pencil than with my words. Perhaps my infatuation with creating visual imagery is somehow related to a deficit lurking in my left hemisphere. I have always been extremely fascinated with drawing and its inherent gifts about the nature of reality and its perception. I have found that endeavoring to draw has always been an enlightening injunction to discovering how the entire process actually happens. Starting with the mechanics and magic of light, building upon an understanding of structure, perspective and proportion. I believe all these inherent questions being answered has allowed me the opportunity to play. The process of rendering what I see, can then be transformed into a personal form of expression. With years invested in a proficiency in handling different mediums, I have become relatively comfortable with my craft (watercolor may take more lifetimes).
Following the trajectory of attempting to master this process, I needed to direct my forces to a chosen subject matter. I have always been exceptionally moved by peering back through history, from the extreme ancient millennia to the more recent American centuries. My public oil painting career actually began in 1998 when I encountered archives and rich visual documentation of The Harley-Davidson Motor Co. I realized no artist had yet broached these beautiful old black and white images. My intent was to paint these wonderful snapshots in time with a technique/style reminiscent of the artists of the time. In studying oil painters, my favorites are all rooted around the turn of the last century… Incredible masters like Sargent, Sorrolla, and Zorn. My goal was to have paintings that appeared timeless, classic, not pieces you could connect with our more recent sensations in biker culture. Hence, my body of work has focused on events starting half a century ago and earlier.
Looking in retrospect, the last few years have evolved into creating some exploratory compositions, playing off the antiquities but with a modern theme. The Steampunk series is a good example of this. I have also enjoyed integrating some of more current industry personalities into my depictions of historically relevant fictional events. Such as, Kevin Bean’re as the innovative thief in “Iron Horse Heist” and the late Jesse Combs as the WAVE, wrenching on her WLA. After all these 22-years of me having fun with Motorcycle Art, I think one of my clients summed up my work best with this saying: "Somewhere between a dream and a Memory”. Thank you all for dreaming along with me! David Uhl (2020)
See more of David's work at uhlstudios.com
Following the trajectory of attempting to master this process, I needed to direct my forces to a chosen subject matter. I have always been exceptionally moved by peering back through history, from the extreme ancient millennia to the more recent American centuries. My public oil painting career actually began in 1998 when I encountered archives and rich visual documentation of The Harley-Davidson Motor Co. I realized no artist had yet broached these beautiful old black and white images. My intent was to paint these wonderful snapshots in time with a technique/style reminiscent of the artists of the time. In studying oil painters, my favorites are all rooted around the turn of the last century… Incredible masters like Sargent, Sorrolla, and Zorn. My goal was to have paintings that appeared timeless, classic, not pieces you could connect with our more recent sensations in biker culture. Hence, my body of work has focused on events starting half a century ago and earlier.
Looking in retrospect, the last few years have evolved into creating some exploratory compositions, playing off the antiquities but with a modern theme. The Steampunk series is a good example of this. I have also enjoyed integrating some of more current industry personalities into my depictions of historically relevant fictional events. Such as, Kevin Bean’re as the innovative thief in “Iron Horse Heist” and the late Jesse Combs as the WAVE, wrenching on her WLA. After all these 22-years of me having fun with Motorcycle Art, I think one of my clients summed up my work best with this saying: "Somewhere between a dream and a Memory”. Thank you all for dreaming along with me! David Uhl (2020)
See more of David's work at uhlstudios.com
