Don Trout Artist, Teacher, Demonstrator
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A LIFE-LONG LOVE AFFAIR WITH ART
During my preschool years I found a pencil and I started drawing. This was the
beginning of a life-long love affair with art. In grade school my notebook of drawings
outweighed my notebook of school work. The drawings were not masterpieces, just
tanks, planes and soldiers, battle scenes and other typical subjects of a young boy's
musings.
As I entered my teens, my mother gave me a set of watercolors. I was noticing other
things now, like the beauty of young girls, and the natural world around me. I morphed
into a painter. I soon had a watercolor entered in a school competition and won a
Saturday Scholarship to the Art Institute. As a typical youngster, drawing from plaster
casts didn't hold my attention; so the Art Institute effort didn't last long.
I continued to paint, however, and on entering the university decided on a fine art major.
Now disciplined art study was no longer a chore. In fact, I relished the classes. It was
here I discovered the love of oil paint and the feel of canvas under the brush. I enjoyed
the camaraderie of the small group of art majors. The curriculum, touching on every
medium, studying the old masters, and visits to the local art museum, brought the entire
world of art to life for me.
To this day I still feel a thrill laying a watercolor wash and seeing the affect of
transparent pigment on fine white watercolor paper; and the same satisfaction from
picking up a brush loaded with oil paint and caressing the surface of a canvas. Whether
my compositions are planned and followed through to completion or spontaneous and
started with random patterns and shapes until the surface textures tell me what is
needed to make a painting, I derive the same satisfaction.
My life wouldn't be complete if I didn't paint. I am still having a love affair with art
| The Artist |
| A detail from a Southwest style painting |
| Welcome to my website |
The guitarist is Darryl Denning playing:
Study in E Minor by Francisco Tarrega, a selection
from Darryl's CD: Classical Guitar Artistry.
Study in E Minor by Francisco Tarrega, a selection
from Darryl's CD: Classical Guitar Artistry.
| LATEST WORK |
| It seems that lately my Thursday watercolor class has been exploring the cowboy western world via still life setups. These 9" x 12" sketchbook quick watercolor studies give me a way to get acquainted with the subject. |
| "Slightly Worn" Watercolor, 16" x 22", on 300# Arches watercolor paper |
| "Slightly Worn 2" Watercolor, 16" x 22", on 300# Arches watercolor paper |
| "Saddle and Blanket" Prismacolor pencil, 19" x 24", on layout bond paper. This started as a charcoal sketch but after a few tentative strokes of color pencil, I was so intrigued with the rendering that I had to finish. The calendar on the wall was an afterthought, "what do cowboys think about after they hang up the saddle for the day?" |
| TWO COWBOY WATERCOLOR PAINTINGS It was winter and the fall leaves were laying around the studio. I had this urge to incorporate them into the paintings. |
| Our next still life was a saddle, blanket, and stand. I did one quick effort in my sketchbook. |
| A RECENT SALE |
| "Bright Rock Falls" Watercolor, 15" x 22", on 140# Arches watercolor paper. Painted from our Alaska trip cruising up the Tracy Arm to glaciers. |