Ricky Chenoweth

Anna Nielsen: When did you first start drawing and painting?

Ricky Chenoweth: I first started drawing and painting when I was probably 7 years old. I really like Spiderman so I drew that a lot.

Nielsen: Did you ever go to school for art?

Chenoweth: I did. I took a lot of AP art classes in high school, and I went to Anne Arundel Community College for a couple of drawing and foundations of art classes.

Nielsen: How did you discover your working technique with watercolors?

Chenoweth: It was really experimental. I went to the library a few times, took some watercolor books. I then studied how they reacted to a canvas rather than watercolor paper and vice versa and other mediums of that sort. I looked at how it dilutes with ink and other water colors pallets, watercolor pencils and crayons and that kind of stuff so it was all completely experimental.

Nielsen: Do you practice any other mediums?

Chenoweth: Yes! I practice watercolor pencils, colored pencils, graphite, soft pastel, charcoal and spray paint.

Nielsen: With lots of new digital technologies coming out, do you see an effect on your work? Would you do the same work without the programs you have?

Chenoweth: With new software coming out, I really want to get a new Mac Book because they have some new software I want to try. With digital art, for every work there’s a digital aspect to every piece I do. I’m able to pump up saturations, darken shadows, adjust hues and colors to give a new appeal to every single piece.

Nielsen: Can you explain your working process?

Chenoweth: With each work, each style or genre has a different appeal to it. So, watercolor silk screens are different than surrealism pieces. Watercolor silkscreen I would usually adjust the original photo image on my computer then I would size it to an 8x10 canvas. I then apply watercolors in the general area that it would be and after I edit the photo for highlights and shadows, I would then print it out on a thin layer of plastic.

Then I melt the whole thing over the array of colors. After letting it cool I peel it back and the image transfers. When I do surrealism and pop art images, I would find photo references of what I wanted to do on places like google or in magazines and then I would trace them a light board, which is really my desktop computer moved onto my desk, face up. So, I would stencil out all those and make a giant coloring book page.

I would then scan them all into my computer, reconfigure the whole thing and then print that out on watercolor paper, because it’s the thickest and would hold up to the pressure of my fingers and all the mediums I layer on top of it. After I put in the appropriate colors and shadows and techniques I wanted to do, I would then re-scan it and give it another digital effect.

Nielsen: What are your strengths and weaknesses as an artist?

Chenoweth: Strengths? I guess when I finally get an idea going it really starts to form. Weaknesses would be the dry spells that I have, like artistic lulls that I have where nothing would really happen.

Nielsen: Like writer’s block?

Chenoweth: Yep! Writer's block, painter's block, artist's block, whatever you want to call it. Then after that, that’s what sparks a lot of sequels.

Nielsen: When viewing your prints, I noticed pieces that were portraits, but also some surrealism pieces. How do you come up with these ideas?

Chenoweth: Well at the beginning of everything I did a lot of experimental lucid dreaming, which is a Dali technique. So basically, what you would do is you get into your really tired or exhausted state of mind, and then have a jolt of some sort. So, you’d drop something heavy and the noise would wake you up, or you would have an alarm clock on your phone or a timer that would jolt you. Then, whatever imagery that was in your head, that’s what you would write down and take notes of. I have a list that I reference now and remember what I was thinking at that point and then I am able to piece together things.

Nielsen: What makes you turn a piece into a series?

Chenoweth: Usually, overall success in social media and marketing techniques makes me go back and revamp an old design or even continue on as a prequel or sequel. Plus, with every design I make a description with it that depicts a story, and after the stories over, either my parents or myself or friends want me to continue the story so I add another panel.

Nielsen: I know you design for Route One apparel as well, do you enjoy the lighthearted pieces that you do for them, or do you like the pieces with a story better?

Chenoweth: I like the pieces that I do better, simply because I’m more emotionally attached to those, but I like having the whole state of Maryland that I can play with. Either Natty Boh, or UTZ potato chips, Old Bay or something like that, it’s a whole other ballgame of graphic art and pop art culture references I can use. I can bounce back and flex a muscle of surrealism back to pop art and keep it going like that.

Nielsen: And Maryland people love Maryland.

Chenoweth: Maryland people do have lots of pride. If you don’t have a Maryland flag somewhere in your house, are you really from Maryland?

Nielsen: Does your personal life affect your work?

Chenoweth: Oh yeah! Hell yeah! I’d be lying if I said my personal life didn’t affect my work at all. Yeah! Really good emotional aspects of my life, failed relationships or promising relationships or deaths or births or whatever it has you, it’s really cool to, after you get over that emotional standpoint, to reflect back at it and personify those emotions. Whether it’s in a wine glass or a light bulb or what have you.

Nielsen: What kind of workplace or environment do you prefer to work?

Chenoweth: Well, my old studio was at my parents' place (free rent!) and it was just a couple of computers and a scanner. Recently I was able to have my own place and I was able to set up a space where I have multiple scanners and computers, so the environment is just a typical studio.

Nielsen: Do you prefer it quiet or do you listen to music?

Chenoweth: Depending on the piece I’m working on. If it’s a commission I usually listen to softer, background music. If I’m doing a more emotional or surrealism piece, I do like loud music. I have to watch for the roommates though.

Nielsen: What is some advice you can give to someone on creativity?

Chenoweth: I think the best advice to give to someone about creativity is to finish the piece. No matter how discouraged you are just finish it. There are a lot of pieces I’ve started and I thought that they were going to suck and then once they were finished to the full extent they actually ended up being pretty successful and pretty cool so, finish the work!

Nielsen: Anything you’re currently working on?

Chenoweth: Actually, yeah! I have a couple of sequels I have to put the finishing touches on, involving lava lamps and snow globes. Oh, and I was working on a few dancers that involved galaxy type imagery. Also, other commissions and designs for Route One that I have in process, but yeah a couple things I’m working on!