There are some artists whose influence has a gravitational pull on our creative lives. Within their work is something that we innately respond to. Maybe you can put your finger on it. Perhaps it’s indescribable.
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For many years, I’ve shared the work of artists I love and admire on my blog, Brown Paper Bag. Many have inspired me in my artwork. But well before that, before I was logging on and clicking around, I found artists who were fundamental in shaping my visual language. I still draw inspiration from them today.
This was pre-internet as we know it today—before social media, before the powerful algorithms that have me questioning whether I like a trend, or I’ve just seen it so much I have no choice but to like it. (Anyone else?)
When I think about my influences, four artists come to mind. They were introduced to me decades ago, through conversations with art teachers, in museums, and through good ole proximity. Here they are!
What artists are your core inspirations? I’d love to know—just reply to this email.​
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Wayne Thiebaud
I had an art instructor share Wayne Thiebaud’s work with me as a high school junior. His use of color blew me away. Thiebaud depicted cakes, candies, the San Francisco landscape, and people in a realistic manner, but he’d often use electric hues in shadows or highlights. This addition of this color is something that I like to incorporate in my custom pet portraits today. How can I add a splash of blue to a sea of brown?
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Mary Blair
Years later, another instructor would suggest I look at the art of Mary Blair. I was still finding my illustration style, and I looked to her Golden Books as inspiration. What I found were charming characters and Mid-Century motifs that were dynamic while also being a bit ornamental, showing how the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
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Henry Matisse
I always liked Matisse’s paintings, but his cut-paper compositions stuck with me. I’m a big shapes person; it’s fundamental to how I approach a drawing. I also used to work in cut paper collage. When I learned that Matisse would call his cut paper pieces “drawing with scissors,” it was a revelation for me. I was a painter-turned-illustrator who was working in collage, and so the idea that collage was drawing with scissors greatly informed how I approached my materials.
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Thomas Hart Benton
Truthfully, I’m not the biggest fan of Thomas Hart Benton’s work. But this is one where proximity played a big role. Benton was an artist who lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where I grew up. His work is in the Missouri State Capitol, and his home and studio are a historic site in Kansas City. We’d go there for field trips in high school. While viewing his work, I learned that he employed a method called “bump and hollow” which is where lines and shapes interlock in waves or curves. All these years later I remember it, and I draw thinking about how my shapes fit into one another.
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Talk to you next week,
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Sara Barnes
Embroidery illustrator and writer
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