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Bill Delaney |
Artist Spotlight
Bill Delaney
Bill Delaney's illustration style ranges from minimalistic clean ink lines in his figure drawings, beautiful ink washes, lovely screen prints, soft sensual pencil sketches and charcoal drawings of people with gorgeous drapery. He is also a skilled woodworker, check out his videos! Most of his subjects are figure drawing models, but he expresses them as if he's captured a private and intimate moment. His work reminds me of a more refined Matisse, as if translated by Käthe Kollwitz. I am pleased to share Bill Delaney's art and his thoughts on making art. Enjoy!
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Bill Delaney |
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
(Jel Ena? Vincent Van Gogh, Charmaine Olivia, Gustav Klimt?)
Edward Hopper, Anders Zorn, Frank Miller, Henri Matisse, Tim Sale, Will Eisner, Japanese prints, Felix Vallotton, Early 20th century illustration.
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Bill Delaney |
(Photography, Paint, Pencils, Pastels, Musical instrument, etc…)
India Ink and brush on paper. Though recently, through a collaboration with a furniture designer friend of mine, we engraved some of my drawings into maple with a CNC and filled the negative space with epoxy. That was fun, challenging and I hope we can do more in the future.
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Bill Delaney |
Do you have an art routine?
(Every Saturday morning? Late at night when everyone is asleep?)
My routine is a bit sporadic but I try to work on something every week. Even if it's just sketching an idea so I can let it sit and come back to it later. Once I have an image I like I'll work it until i think it's done. I've been doing more screen printing lately so I'm leaning towards imagery that works for that medium.
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Bill Delaney |
If you experience a creative block, how do you overcome it?
(Visit a museum? Take a walk? Social Media Break?)
Go to a museum, watch a movie, read a comic. I like narrative in art, so something that has a story. I find it helps to go back to the works that inspire me.
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Bill Delaney |
(There are so many good ones!)
"If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint." Edward Hopper
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Bill Delaney |
(Beyonce? Francoise Bettencourt Meyers? Julia Koch?)
Anyone who likes my work enough to commission something.
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Bill Delaney |
(Film a movie? Oil Painting? Sing?)
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Bill Delaney |
(For instance: Lighting a candle and playing your favorite music? A certain time of day?)
Music is a big one; I have drawing playlist I keep adding to.
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Bill Delaney |
What is an art hack that you learned or discovered that was a game changer in your art practice?
(For instance: Using cornstarch to improve cheap paint quality if on a budget. Using a scale divider to achieve accurate proportions in a drawing, etc.)
Changing tools, mediums, or size of my work every once in a while to see how the work changes. Even if it's just for short studies. It helps keep me loose if there's something I don't know how to control. I have to learn to adapt.
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Bill Delaney |
(For instance: To relax? Art activism? To make someone smile?)
I like to use the figure to create an ambiguous narrative. It's fun to hear different interpretations of what is happening in a scene and who the character might be.
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Bill Delaney |
Do you have any announcements you would like to share?
(For instance: Show coming up? Published?)
I'm selling screen prints! I set up a small screen print studio in Red Hook (where I also do furniture finishing) and pulled two editions recently. I don't have a website set up yet but feel free to reach out by email.
Bill Delaney
Bill Delaney
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