Paul Bunch

My fine arts journey began with Tuscan and other European landscapes. Lately, my longtime passion for science fiction fantasy, history and whimsical humor have influenced my work in such a way that each painting seems to represent an alternate reality. Whether it’s an exotic bird flying past an ancient temple, a mysterious steampunk submarine in a tropical sea or a cat crossing a quiet, European street, I like paintings that have a storybook-like feeling. They help you see the world differently, escaping for a while from the mundane aspects of the everyday world. I derive inspiration from a combination of photos and hundreds of doodles, sketches and experiments I have cre­ated outside of high school, college, and my advertising career.

For most of my life I have been engaged in advertising, working as a graphic designer for art studios, printers, and newspapers. Filling the roles of cartoonist, illustrator, graphic designer and pre-press artist, I produced realistic illustrations, cartoon illustrations, technical illustrations, calligraphy and hand-lettering. My tools have included airbrush, graphite, pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic paint and colored pencils. In recent years I have utilized digital art such as the Adobe Creative Cloud software (PhotoShop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Acrobat), Affinity software (Photo, Design and Publisher) and ProCreate.

 
Throughout my career, I have always experimented with different forms of art on the side. My approach to each painting is to uncover the inherent abstract design within the subject matter and composition. Through extensive study of various artists, I have observed a recurring pattern: the most compelling art often strikes a harmonious balance be­tween abstract design and realism. Additionally, I have found that my work resonates most with viewers when I employ an impressionistic, textured painting style rather than a smooth, photographic one. While numerous valid forms of art exist, I am particularly drawn to this textured, abstract side of realism.

I primarily employ acrylic paints on cradled or framed hardboard and canvas. In addition to brushes, I utilize palette knives, paint shapers, trimmed plastic credit cards, wrinkled tissue paper, modeling paste, and distorted cheesecloth to achieve various textures and effects. When generating ideas for paintings, I approach the process as a discovery, often uncertain of the final painting until the work evolves.