Bill Manion
Returning to regular work with brush and pen has been an experience to which I have long looked forward. Now time and a fun place to work give me the opportunity to try styles and combinations.
I don’t have any rules going into a painting or a cartoon. Sometimes I have an idea of what I want but most of the time I just let the abstraction happen or the humor of the character build. I love the shape of bottles and vessels and work these into much of what I do. I am interested in cartoon outlines and the flows of abstract. All figure paintings start with a cartoon. Under all paintings somewhere there is an abstract. Some of my work blends the two. As an abstract grows with layer after layer of color I begin to see a form or a shape, or I will sketch out a form and begin, looking for the energy of color that makes a work pop.
Works of art should brighten and highlight every wall, so I like to play with color. I am not afraid of color, especially the deep hues and tones of red and its compliments. A blend of red and yellow, wet into wet, makes me smile. A black and white painting or drawing can gain dimension with that splash of color that gives it life or makes a mood. I love watching how light changes through a wine bottle. I love the colors of sunsets over the water. I will keep trying to capture those colors, tones, humor, moods, and the great feeling of forever sunsets that a work of art brings to me and to others.
Designs, cartoons, and the love of fine art has been a part of my life since high school. The dream of learning to draw and paint showed in air brushed T-shirts in college. Later, a cartoon, “Catch Pen,” laughing with the Cowboy life by “Billy Bob and friends,” was in rodeo news and horseman magazines for several years. A time to get serious with a business career delayed regular art work for several years. I continued to study with artist friends around the country while building a major art collection and working with art support groups in several cities. Moving back to Missouri with a fun studio overlooking the Lake of the Ozarks, I have returned to drawing, design, and movement of color. Paintings have placed in juried shows along with character development and design for commercial operations.
in studio with Mystique
