Paintings by Kevin Thompson - Lanning Gallery [Sedona Arizona]

"Flirting with Nature"
Oil on Canvas Painting
40" x 24"

Kevin Thompson - A Featured Artist of the Lanning Gallery [Sedona Arizona]

The oil paintings of artist Kevin Thompson capture a uniquely American freedom of spirit, one that may seem harder to find these days. And yet, these paintings are our country: our landscapes, our old trucks and animals, and … our beautiful girls.

Thompson always knew he could capture the detailed intricacies of the human figure: As a kid he and his brothers shared a penchant for goofing off in church and his wise mother would pass them paper and pencils to quiet them down; little did she know that two of her sons would become full-time artists. "We'd make poses with our hands and have competitions on who could draw the most realistic hand,” Thompson recalls. But Thompson's artistic path, unlike his brother's, would not be direct. Continued top grades in high school art, and a more-than-impressed teacher, were not enough to counter the unfortunate effect of a community college class called "Careers in Art.” The class's whole aim seems to have been not only to lay out the challenging realities of an artistic life but to discourage students from ever believing that a career in art was possible. After the class Thompson spent twenty years in engineering.

On his own he continued to draw, using graphite to recreate tiny photographs as impeccably rendered large drawings. "I look back at them now and I had paid so much attention to the detail that it blows my mind,” Thompson says. Figurative work was always his forte; accurate proportions always came easy. Once his brother had established himself as a successful fine artist he encouraged Thompson to do the same – and his encouragement was relentless. It was this more than any other factor that led, in 2007, to Thompson committing himself, finally, to the life of a fine artist.

Today, Thompson spends six hours a day in his studio working on one canvas at a time, painting every day until a work is complete. Working with oil paints on canvas, Thompson captures the freedoms he knew as a child growing up in Utah and visiting relatives in Idaho. It is rural scenes he's drawn too as well as the afore-mentioned beautiful girls. In many paintings, Thompson combines both.

"I'm fascinated with the pin-up girl art that was done back in the 1930's through the 1970's,” Thompson notes, "especially the work done by Gil Elvgren. I think he was a master at portraying the female figure in a playful way.” This is precisely the tone that Thompson strikes with his beguiling works. "Flirting with Nature” is one such work that, like many, has completely spontaneous origins: "[My girlfriend and I] were actually in a coffee shop in Park City, Utah when it started to rain,” Thompson recalls. "We grabbed a newspaper and went to the park. My girlfriend is such a good sport and sat there and posed in the rain till I got the right shot.” The result is a picture of a teasingly anonymous girl, newspaper overhead and wind-tossed skirt modestly exposing a sexy thigh. In other words, the American dream.

When Thompson gets an idea for a new oil painting he'll take dozens of photographs of the subject. Later, in his studio, he combines elements from several of the photos to compose a painting. Thirty to forty hours later a new Kevin Thompson creation is borne. And the art world is better for it.

Right out of the gate Thompson found his oil paintings juried repeatedly into the highly competitive Spring Salon at the prestigious Springville Museum of Art in Utah. His second year there won him an Award of Merit for his painting "Sun Dog."

Click on an image to see a larger view.

"Looking Back" - Women on a Swing picture by Kevin Thompson

"Looking Back"
Oil on Canvas Painting
30" x 40"

"Forever in Blue Jeans"
Oil on Canvas Painting
24" x 36"

"Cloud Hopping"
Oil on Canvas Painting
20" x 49"

"Pumpkin Truck"
Oil on Canvas Painting
30" x 40"

"Penthouse"
Oil on Canvas Painting
24" x 16"

Artist's prices beginning at $2,400.

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