Developing a Consistent Creative Process

Join us to hear Jonathan Howe talk about how to develop a creative process in generating successful paintings. How do you overcome creative blocks and continue to espand your skills as an artist? Jonathan wants to share some of his process in achieving paintings that grab people’s attention.

Artist Bio: I am a professional visual artist, continually developing my skills as a painter. In 2007, I graduated from Maryville College with a Bachelors of Art and soon launched into a full-time art career painting portraits and landscapes. Beginning with several portrait commissions, I soon discovered the joy of landscape painting as a way to communicate a story with moody light, color and expressive brushwork.

I have received much influence from historical as well as contemporary painters. In the development of my love of portraits, I poured over artists like Rembrandt and John Singer Sargent for their use of light and bold brushstrokes yet accurate portrayals. As I developed my landscapes, the works of George Inness and Edgar Payne became alive to me. Inness’ use of tonal and light and Payne’s dynamic compositions and thick paint are the two chief inspirations that effect my work. Contemporary artists such as Richard Schmid and Scott Christensen have given me incredible insight into painting technique and also into the reality of making painting a way of life.

My passion lies in the intimate details that form a true likeness in oil portraits and the subtle lighting of rolling landscapes. My portraits show brilliant color and dramatic lighting that capture the personality and display the very soul of his subject in a unique masterpiece. My landscapes reveal my love for the outdoors developed by many years of hiking the trails of the Great Smoky Mountains and other national parks across the country.

I have had the privilege of creating works for private and corporate collectors across the southeast, with clients including Clayton Homes, the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Kroger, Gaylord Texan Resort, and many others. With the belief that true fine art is the result of a healthy soul coupled with a passion for excellence, my goal is that my paintings warm the heart and delight the eye.

Each day at the easel is a new adventure in creating beauty. My goal as a painter is to capture dynamic compositions with compelling, moody light. I love the life conveyed in Plein Air painting because each work is not just a moment in time but an experience put to canvas. I enjoy a diversity of brushwork to convey color the way that our eyes see, with a variation of soft and sharp edges. Each painting is a story to be told. I use mostly brushes to work with on the canvas but also employ the pallet knife to give thick accents of impasto paint where needed.

In 2010 I married Sarah Atchley-Howe who together as a team manage Jonathan Howe Fine Art. She and I live urban-artistically in the heart of Knoxville, Tennessee. Committed to merging art and faith in Jesus Christ, Sarah and I are active in our local church, combining our talents for art and music and our heart to see others come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Other than our work, we enjoy hospitality, the outdoors and taking care of our two daughters Aidyn and Susanna and our rambunctious little Maltipoo, Amber.

Website: www.jonathanhowefineart.com