Letting Go of Lesser Dreams
an interview with Brad Kunkle
- Can you tell us a bit about yourself, both as a person and as an artist? Where did you grow up, and how did your interest in art develop? Do you remember the moment you realized you would spend your life as an artist?
I’m from a small town in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania called Lehighton. I had a rich childhood as far as the outdoors was concerned but little in cultural exposure. I read sci-fi and fantasy novels and dreamed of becoming a book cover artist or having my own calendar like Boris Vallejo. After college I realized I had something deeper to offer than an art director’s take on a dragon. I was raised Lutheran but left the church in my mind by age 12 and never attended after college. I was beginning to explore the hypocrisies and demonization of women within the Abrahamic religions, and this was what sparked my journey into that “deeper understanding” of the subjects I wanted to paint. The moment I realized I wanted to spend my life as an artist was not during my childhood — it was actually a very sober, adult moment. I was in an indie rock band called Aderbat in my twenties. I was nearing 30, and working on my first 8 or 10 paintings that I intended to show to the owner of Arcadia Contemporary. I needed gold leaf and had no money. I sold my bass guitar for $700 and bought a box of gold. That was my moment of decision — letting go of lesser dreams to pursue greater ones.
2. What was your artistic education like? Is there any institution or professor that you feel has made a significant impact upon your development as an artist?
I won the “Mr. Artistic” trophy in high school _ I was doing a lot of drawing at home on my own. When I got to Kutztown University, my scope really expanded. I didn’t even touch oil paint until I was around 20 years old. I had two painting professors that really taught me a lot, Lynn Krizan and George Sorrels. Sorrels was a student of a pupil of the great French Academic painter, William-Adolphe Bouguereau and so his influence on me was greater. I was too naive at the time to record the name of Sorrels teacher, and am still haunted by the desire to know it. Sorrels painted in grisaille, and I always felt a connection to this aesthetic, so it was natural for me to pursue it later in life. I didn’t go to grad school, and didn’t paint for 8 years after college. I knew I could paint, but didn’t know what to paint or how to separate myself visually from everyone else….so I joined a band and became a house painter. This led me to a job that required using copper leaf on walls. I had just returned from a trip to Paris, where I was stunned by the gilded ceilings of the Louvre more than the paintings, so I began to experiment with gold leaf. I was also painting pet portraits at this time, for extra income. Honestly, house painting and pet portraits always felt like my version of “grad school.” It worked out for me, and was a lot cheaper.
3. Can you take us through your creative process, from start to finish? How do you begin a painting, and what are the steps you take to execute it?
I keep a notebook on symbols, feelings or social constructs that inspire me, sometimes an image appears in a flash and I’ll use these notes or drawings to direct a photoshoot with models. I shoot a ton of reference photos, then go through them without a conscious plan using only my intuition. Once I select the best of photos, I’ll manipulate and compose a “drawing” using photoshop. Then I loosely transfer it using a projector and use a brush directly to lay in the sketch with raw umber. I should point out that the panel I’m painting on has been prepped weeks in advance. I use pre-made wood panels and prime the surfaces with Gamblin Oil Ground. Two coats, sanded in between, then I wipe on a thin layer of raw umber and let that dry before I transfer the underpainting. While the rough transfer is still wet, I turn off the projector and go in to really move the paint and execute the drawing. Anyone who’s used a projector to transfer knows that it’s an approximation tool. Great for marking where things should be, but not at all a magical tracing tool. I let the drawing step dry, so that mentally, I know the drawing is correct and won’t change as I enter the next phase, which is underpainting, or gilding. Each painting is different, so sometimes I put gold leaf down, seal it with shellac, then paint on top, or I’ll finish a painting, then add gold or silver at the end. If the gilding comes last, I’ll render the underpainting in raw umber, then add layers of grisaille, then gild. The landscapes and leaves are usually reductive painting with Q-tips or rags. My painting surfaces are very smooth, so this allows the wiping to be an efficient technique. The skin in my figures usually is 3 or 4 layers of various shades of gray. I have all of my grays pre-mixed and tubed. I also only use medium (Rublev Oleogel) when I’m painting hair. It allows me to pull the hair with long single strokes.
4. Is painting your full-time career, or do you have a day job? If the latter, how do you balance the two and make sure there’s time for your art?
Painting has been my full-time career now for almost a decade. It’s hard work and sometimes stressful but I could never work for someone again — I value my freedom too much. I encounter a lot of artists who have day jobs and they seem to feel inadequate as an artist because of that. I remember feeling that way too when I was a house painter and dreaming of having representation. I read this article in NYTimes Magazine back in 2015 about artists that make their living with art vs. those who don’t and the writer had this great quote that I may mess up a bit but basically he said “nobody cares how you pay your rent, your job is to show us something we didn’t know we needed to see.” I find that very inspiring.
5. Looking back at your career as an artist, and the paths that brought you to the place you are right now, is there a decision that you art particularly proud of making, in hindsight? Conversely — is there anything you wish you had done differently?
I was once invited to visit Nelson Shanks at his home and studio. I was just starting to develop my style using a limited palette and gold leaf. I wasn’t showing with anyone or represented by a gallery yet, so his advice was very precious to me. He asked me why I was using gold leaf, instead of just using paint to make the areas look like gold. I didn’t have a good answer…it just felt right to me….and I went home that night really wondering if I should continue to experiment with gold. A couple days went by and I decided that I needed to follow my truth, and even if it wasn’t Nelson’s, that was fine.
I’ve always been proud of that.
Anything I would have done differently? I’ve made some bad decisions but I’m not the kind of person that really has regrets…I think bad decisions are the best learning experiences, and a wiser artist is a better artist.
website: https://bradkunkle.com
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradrkunkle/?hl=en
