'Behind the Brush' Artist Interview - Warren Keating

Welcome to the 'Behind the Brush' Artist Interview Series

Member Artist: Warren Keating (warrenkeating.gather.com)

Member Since: October 9, 2006

Warren resides in Southern California with his wife Lisa and their daughter Lisette.

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Can you tell me a little more about yourself? 

Born in 1965 in New Orleans, I died my hair blue while attending college in Mississippi, which prompted me to leave there in 1986 to attend art school in Los Angeles. To pay for the trip, I lived with a 70-year old shape-shifting, Cherokee Indian medicine woman, while Airbrushing T-shirts on the reservation in North Carolina.

In addition to being an established artist, exhibiting internationally, and living a pretty liberal California artist's lifestyle, I also meander my way through the very conservative world of golf (a game I love) shooting photos of courses and tournaments. Gotta do what you gotta do to pay the mortgage and afford to live in Southern California.

My wife (actress, jazz singer) and I, married for 17 years, swore off kids for the first 10 years, and then conceived our little girl, Lisette, while we were in Japan for a Jazz gig.  Currently, I am exhibiting my “Private Eyes View” series throughout California.

When did you first become aware that you had artistic talent?

I have been drawing and painting since I was a preschooler, I just didn’t give it up like most children do.

Do you remember the first thing you made, or your first work of art?

I remember the first “serious” work of art that I made. I was at an art camp at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the summer after 2nd or 3rd grade (my parents were very supportive of my love of drawing), and I drew a pen and ink of a man with a beard, glasses and a cane standing on the road, next to a mailbox, with his house in the background. The thing that everyone (my mom) commented on, was that the guy had a marked expression on his face, and how amazing that was for a kid’s drawing. In retrospect, the character looked a lot like Toulouse Lautrec, whom I always thought that I was reincarnated from. I think I have such long legs to make up for the fact that I had such short ones in my last life.

What art mediums do you typically use?

I have been painting in oil for the last half-dozen years. Before that, I was painting in acrylics for about a decade, before that oil. I tend to work big, three feet, four feet, sometimes bigger. Since I’ve opened an eBay store recently, I have been doing some “smaller” (by my standards) pieces, two feet, or so, as they’re easier to ship.  I usually paint on the thicker (1 3/8”) gallery-wrapped, stretched canvases; I also paint some of the smaller pieces on primed etching paper. It’s important for me to properly prepare my surface; I want the work to last for centuries. 

Do you have a favorite medium?

Oil on canvas.

Is there some painting, or other form of art you would like to try, but haven't attempted yet?

I’ve been using video a lot to get the reference from which I paint. I like the scan lines and digital look contrasted with the very traditional process of oil painting. I find myself on bridges and hanging out of hotel windows, voyeuristically filming the people walking on the street below. They will, unknowingly, appear in a future work. It’s pretty interesting to me, so for the future, I am looking at continuing the journey that the overhead video has put me on, possibly applying it to other subject matter. In art school, you basically “try everything”, so I am pretty satisfied now to stay in my narrow focus. However, I am interested in doing short films when I have more time.

Do you have a particular piece you have created that is very special to you, and why?

I have three plein air paintings that I did while my wife and I were in Paris for our tenth anniversary. They’re hanging in our living room in a tryptich. I’ve sold a lot of paintings off of the walls of my house, but something tells me that these three are never going anywhere. 

What, or whom influences your work, or inspires you?

I used to cite expressionists, Richard Diebencorn and Willem DeKooning as my influences, but my recent work has drawn me to Chuck Close, an artist that I used to follow when I looked at airbrush books as a twelve-year-old, but I have recently rediscovered him and his latest work and feel a kinship to it.

From where, or what, do you get your ideas?

I’m really kind of dichotomous or schizophrenic. On one hand, I have my “high art”, the digital-looking, overhead views of people walking. These paintings are the result of a 20-year search for a new kind of mark-making, something to add to the history of art.  On the other, I have a bunch of pretty paintings of landscapes from places that I have traveled to on business or pleasure. These paintings have been selling on ebay, and it has been quite gratifying to get such a wonderful response from my collectors, many of whom use my paintings to recall a fond memory. As I get older, I have realized that it’s okay to make paintings that simply make people feel good. They don’t always have to break ground or comment on society. 

Do you have a process you follow for your work?

For my current work, I collect tons of reference, be it capturing video and ticking through each frame until I find the right one or making sure that whenever I travel I spend an afternoon or early morning in the “golden light” with my still camera, taking beauty shots of the local landscape or golf course to turn into paintings one day. Half of my process, or the time involved in making the art, is creating the reference. A lot of the “work” is done before the brush touches the canvas.

On the other hand, in the late 90’s, I spent a couple of years exhibiting throughout Oaxaca, Mexico, sponsored by the governor of Oaxaca, Mexicana Airlines and Sheraton Resorts, but I had a lot of difficulty getting the paintings through customs for the first show. By the second exhibit, I arrived a week or so early with quick-drying acrylic paint, brushes and a heavy duty block of watercolor paper, and painted all of the paintings “plein air” on-site, right before the show. My rep in Mexico had them framed and they were on exhibit at the end of the week. The exhibits were wildly successful, and Lisa and I had a blast lounging at the beach resort in Huatulco and clubbing in the colonial city of Oaxaca. So I guess my process changes and I have painted many ways, from sketches, plein air, from a model or set-up and from photos and video.

Do you have a ritual when you paint or create, or some quirky thing you do to get you in the right mindset?

I usually clean the palette the night before, so that I won’t start a painting burned out from scraping a palette. It’s important to be completely focused while making each mark. I mix all of the colors for the painting at the beginning, again to keep my focus while I am painting. I look at the large piles of mixed colors laying on the palette, which is a huge, 20” X 30” piece of glass, and decide if they are a good combination. I tend to work until the painting is almost finished, staying up until the wee hours, if necessary. Then, I’ll call in my wife, Lisa, to look at the piece and tell me if anything looks “wrong”, a person’s foot is too big, the coastline makes a weird shape, etc. I usually put the “finishing touches” on during the second session. I try to stay true to 4 simple rules: 1) mix a bit more paint than I think that I will need, 2) use a brush that is a bit too big for most of the painting, don’t switch to a smaller brush until the end, 3) don’t make a mark unless I am completely focused and have a clear visual intention, and 4) paint fast, from the shoulder, not the wrist.

Where physically do you create, or where do you do your best work?

I have a 2-car garage that was converted into a studio. It’s detached from the house and has plenty of track lights and air-conditioning to keep the paint wet and workable during the summer time.

Is there something that frustrates you or impedes your ability in some way?

Doing other work. I do a lot of design work, photography and video. My wife and I are also involved in property investment and management. I’m lucky to be able to make such a good living doing creative, but it does cut into my painting time. Recently, I have been selling a lot more paintings and having more high-profile exhibits, so I will be spending more and more of my time painting, and will eventually eliminate all of the other work.

How often do you work on your art, and how much time do you spend?

I average several hours every day either preparing to paint or painting, and sometimes marathon all-day-into-the-night sessions when I’ve got a show coming up or a hot idea brewing.

What other interests do you have outside of painting?

My number one interest is hanging out with my wife and daughter, so Disneyland has figured in heavily. Otherwise, my interests are camping, golf, exercise, gardening, home improvement, partying with my friends in the backyard. 

If you were to choose one word to describe you as an artist, what would it be, and why?

Moving: I use marks with plenty of motion in them, painted like an Abstract Expressionist, but to depict realism. I also try to “move” my viewers emotionally with my work, especially the landscapes.

Is there something in your life that you are the most proud of?

I am most proud of my wife, Lisa. She is not only an incredibly talented singer and actor, but her influence has turned me from a self-centered, time-wasting, half-person into an extremely fulfilled, complete human being.

What advice would you give to an artist just starting out, or someone that may want to try their hand at creating something for the first time?

Set up a place to work, that doesn’t get taken down, that is a permanent space for you to do your art. Then, do as much work as you can. Throw away, or paint over, the bad ones, but most importantly, do a bunch of paintings and drawings. I’m conflicted as to whether one needs formal training or not, but one definitely needs to be exposed to theory, be it from school or books. Painting is so much more than trying to make a tree or a mountain with paint (that is illustration). Art is way beyond imitation. I have written a Gather article entitled "Advice for a Beginning Artist" which draws from my experiences.

What would you like to accomplish in the next 5 years, as it relates to your art and talent?

At this point, it’s all about business; I have the creativity and the vision wired; my work has a life of it’s own and carries me forward. The thing I would like to accomplish in the future is even greater art business success, showing more, selling more, getting more dollars for each piece, streamlining production costs and shipping costs to make each sale more profitable.

Has your participation on Gather helped you, or influenced your work in some way?

It has influenced me, tremendously. I use the feedback on a lot of my landscapes to determine if I will spend the money to put them up on auction on ebay. And, I am amazed at how broad the appeal of my “high art” is; it’s quite encouraging. The more prolific writers and artists on Gather have inspired me to create more. And, finally, I have been fortunate to give advice and counsel to beginning artists. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, and this exchange nurtures that side of me that has gone ignored. From my vantage point, when you teach someone, it helps you remember it and relearn it. I love talking about theory and form to other artists, new or experienced.

Could you talk about your latest series of paintings and what you are trying to achieve with them?

My latest works, Private Eye’s View, are the result of collecting photographs and video of unwitting subjects from balconies in France, digitizing them on computer and painting them on canvas in a style that is one part impression and one part digitization. This series brings together many elements that artists have explored throughout the 20th Century: abstraction, naturalism, expressive realism, narrative painting, photography and video. In these pieces, Expressionistic, "digital impressionist", mark-making depicts walking subjects, stop-action, mid-step in thick paint that renders motion in the form of video scan lines and pixel artifacts. 

How can someone purchase your work, or see other pieces in your collection?

In the brick-and-mortar world, I just started exhibiting my “Private Eyes View” series at M.J. Higgins Gallery in downtown Los Angeles. Click on the link for a press release on that exhibit, entitled Paintography. I also exhibit that series at Orlando Gallery in Tarzana, California, and I have another exhibit of some landscapes at Belmont Village Gallery in Belmont, California. In the virtual world, my work can be purchased through my ebay store, Warren Keating Original Art Gallery at www.keatingart.com. I just started this ebay store last fall and am offering my work at a significant discount to build my feedback rating and create an online following. For example, in a brick-and-mortar gallery, my work retails for $1500-$2000; at my ebay store you can pick up a landscape for less than $500.00. My marketing strategy is to keep my prices this low until winter as I build my customer base. The feedback from my ebay buyers has been wonderful, so it has been a great experience. 

Do you have any exhibits coming up?

I just had an opening on May 10th in Los Angeles for an exhibit, entitled, Paintography, featuring my “Private Eye’s View” series. The exhibit runs until the end of the month, and the opening was a great success. The director has great ideas and the gallery space is awesome and huge. They even have an after-the-show underground speakeasy that is really cool. It’s a very hip place and I am glad to be a part of it. P.S. we had a heck of a good time at the opening, and I am still recovering from that night.

Have you had any recent accomplishments or recognition for your work that you wish to share?

A couple of years ago, I was chosen by the John Wayne Cancer Society to make some paintings for one of their internationally-distributed booklets.  And, again, I am really excited about getting into this downtown L.A. gallery. The whole downtown scene is transformed from when I lived in a loft down there 17 years ago; there are 50 or so galleries and the openings are very well-attended by both the ultra-cool and the serious collector. 

What's next for you as an artist?

More exhibits, more sales. My attitude has completely changed about exhibiting, and I see myself in at least a dozen galleries at the same time in the near future. And, I am going to increase the traffic and sales to my ebay store. I also am using my work to benefit more charitable causes. 

Additionally, I have a series of very large paintings that comment on our environment and reliance on petroleum products, called “Industrial Waist” that I painted many years ago, and have been keeping in storage for several years, now. Now that the environment is such a hot topic, I am going to find a place to show them soon.

Making the paintings is the easy part, and, thankfully, I have an endless supply of ideas; I already have the concept for my next series in mind before I finish with the current one.

Thank you Warren for a very inspiring and educational interview!

If you are an artist, and would like to participate in an interview, please contact me.

This is a member sponsored interview series.