Jeremy Lipking

THe

YouNG

AND THE

TaTENTEDBy Nancy Gillesfie

'lt lf any artists struggle for yearsl\ / I before achieving recogni-IYItio" in midlifelor euenlater. And many artists, whose lifestories are featured in the pages ofart history books, are recognizedposthumously. Then there are thosefor whom innate talent is rewardedearly. Jeremy Lipking is one of thelatter.

Just27 years old, Lipking alreadyhas won several major awards andhis career is spiraling upward at anamazing speed. Asked if he is readyfor fame and fortune, the man of fewwords merely shrugs. He's sure totake whatever life dishes out in stride.

The Southern California native,who was born in West lns Angelesand raised in Ventura, might wellhave had a leg up from day one. "Iwas exposed to art early on," hesays. 'lfhen I was growing up, mydad was an illustrator who did chil-dren's books, along with advertisingand design."

When it became apparent that theson had inherited the father's talent,encouragement was readily forth-coming. Even though, as a boy,Lipking spent endless hours draw-ing and painting, by the time he wasin his early teens his focus hadturned to music, specifically to theguitar. "I enjoyed all kinds of music

52 Arl of the West March /Apn12003

Red Scarf, oil,24" by 18"

"Cad red just works a lot better when you d.on't haue to mix white with it. When I fainted this ior-trait of my beautiful wife, Danielle, I uanted the skin tones to feel both light in aalue awl rich incolor, Instead of using more white and mixing the skin tones lighter, I painted the surroundingshafes darker, Valua, like color and. edges, look the way they do because ofthe aalue next to it."

and played with a variety of bands: rock, reggae, even punk," he says."Although I took some art classes in school, it simply wasn't a big interest atthat time."

Toward the end of his high school years, Lipkin became interested in sci-ence. "I considered science a possible direction, and I took some classes at acommunity college," he says. 'Then my son was born a couple of monthsafter [my] graduation. I moved to Mammoth Iakes for ayear and didn't givemuch thought to further education."

For awhile, Lipkins "did almost anything to make a living, including somefreelance commercial art work for a couple of years," he says. "I worked at ahardware store, too and managed to get in some painting, but it was a pretty

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Fur Coat, oil, 12" by 9"

"I liked the simple shaqes and the cool light in this picture. Most of the actual painting happens at the edges where the sha|es meet. Wtat goes att ;i;::,.the shapes is not as impofiant."

March/April 2003 tut of the \\-esi .:;

atentative existence. I considereddoing art full-time but I didn't think Icould pull it off."

Like so many aspiring artists,Lipking knew he wanted to be apainter but there was no one defin-ing moment that set him on the pathto a career as a fine artist. 'When Imoved from Mammoth lakes backto Southern Califomia, I stayed withmy parents and decided to go backto school," he says. "Since my dadhad recommended the CaliforniaArt Institute, I enrolled there." Hegot more than an art education, how-ever, when he met Danielle, a fellowstudent whom he later married.

After some 18 months, Lipkingfound himself in the dual role of stu-dent and teacher. "Some of the fac-ulty quit, so a few of the moreadvanced sfudents stepped in," hesays, adding that he continued toteach until just 18 months ago.

"Despite the class load, I not onlymanaged to paint, I started doingportrait commissions."

A job in a coffee shop provided theimpetus Lipking needed to focussolely on his art and to paint full-time. "I couldn't see myself workingin a coffee shop forever, so I keptpracticing my art and studying draw-ing," he says. "I finally arrived at aplace where I felt I was good enoughto put myself out there."

Thafs rather an understatementconsidering that in 2001 Lipkingwalked away from the California ArtClub's Annual Gold Medal JuriedExhibition with two prestigiousawards: a Gold Medal (the equiva-lent of Best of Show) and theMuseum Director's Award. He fol-lowed that coup at the California ArtClub's exhibition in June 2002 with aMuseum Purchase Award. And twomonths ago a gallery in New York

Sierra Waterfall, oil, 30" by 20"

"I originally wanted to inclwde more rock on the sides

of the waterfall, bwt the only s|lt to set u! an easel

was at the base directly in front ofthe water, tlo close

to inclwde anything else. I decided this compositionhadbetter abstract qualities than my original id,ea."

Nymphe-Du Bocage, oil,30" by 40''

"One ofthe challenges in this painting was to keep the strong, contrasting aertical shapes ofthe Asfen trex from ouerpowering the subtle hor-izontal patterns in the grass. By differentiating objects with color change rather than talue, you get the afpearance of lost and found edges

without sofiening any edges."

54 Art of the West March/April 2003

March/April 2003 Art of the West

featured 25 of Lipking's paintings,his first major show. In fact, many ofthose paintings already had beenpre-sold two months earlier.

Lipking, now spends 10 to 11hours in his studio almost every day,creating a bevy of paintings, 80 per-cent of which are figurative-bothnude and clothed-and masteringthe human anatomy. "It s a subject

in which accuracy is very difficult,"he says.

Lipking, who prefers to work inoils, approaches a painting with verylittle drawing. "My preliminary workis simple," he says. "I use a brush tocreate a few simple lines, divide thespace and block out the shapes.Once they're blocked in, I startpainting, workingfrom the head and

bringing each shape to a completefinish before moving to the nextshape." Ifs a winning approach anda track record anyone would envy.This young, deflnitely up-and-com-ing artist already claims representa-tion in four galleries: one in NewYork, two in California, and anotherin Arizona.

The other 20 percent of Lipking'swork consists of landscapes, usuallyplein air paintings, many of whichare done at what he describes as "asmall, old family cabin betweenMammoth and the Sierras. I go upfor a month in the summer, thentake shorter trips during other sea-sons. I do a lot of small studies, bothfigurative and landscape, and in win-ter I work on snow scenes. Whetherat home or the cabin, I use live mod-els for my figurative work. Danielleoften serves as a model-and takescare of the business end for me."Lipking's landscapes are often lessthan16" by 20" while his figure paint-ings range up to 50" by 30".

Iipking also conducts a few work-shops each year, either at his cabinor in Southern California. Iast year

Morning Light, oil,20" by 30"

"The combi.nation of cool and uarm light competing with one anotherunade this Painting dfficult but uorth the effort."

56 Art of the West March /Apnl2003

Danielle, charcoal, 20'by It

'Another picture of my fauorite model. Thi.s hat was founil at a flea market and creates a nice strong, simple sha|e against the white

background. By cinnbcting the dark ualues ofthe hat with the dark on the collar, I created one big shafie out oftwo. Less is always

bener. Atthough this is teihnically a d,rawing, I think about it the same way I would if I were using !ai.nt. Shapes, ualues, edges-the only dffirence is in the artPlication."

he taught a figure painting classsponsored by the Fechin Institute atthe Donner Ranch north of Taos.

With so much time spent painting,and occasionally teaching, one won-ders if Lipking finds any time to relaxand have some fun. Asked about it,he laughingly replies, "Once inawhile. Music still excites me, and Iperiodically get together with one or

two other musicians. In the winter Ilike to snowboard, and in warmweather I enjoy rock climbing."

Lipking also enjoys the cama-raderie of other artists, visits muse-ums and attends exhibitions. In2001, he was made a signature mem-ber of the California Art Club andparticipates in the half dozen or soshows the group sponsors each

year. As for his immediate and long-range future, Lipking simply says,"My main goal is to finish goodpaintings." f@

Nancy Gillespie is a writer li,uing inTaos, New Mexico.

March/April 2003 Art of the West 57