Douglas Simes

Artist Statement

I am a draftsman. My project is the figure and portrait with a contemporary realist point of view.

My life in the arts includes work in architecture and professional acting, disciplines that inform my drawing practice in cogent ways. My inner architect trusts in anatomy as a fundamental generator of bodily form and keeps vigil over issues of perspective and compositional design. The actor in me seeks to establish a rapport with my subject that reveals a connection both intimate and palpable.

I work in graphite, ink pen, sanguine pencil and black chalk. My drawing technique references Renaissance and Baroque masters; it is grounded in the revelation of gesture, structure and topology. I strive for precision, both in the details of form and psychological expression.

When COVID precluded life drawing, I embarked on a series of “memory” drawings, an acutely personal project of expanding and reimagining images from family snapshots taken by my father in 50’s and 60’s with his beloved Polaroid camera.

My excitement for drawing is grounded in the rigor and specificity of thought it requires from concept to execution. When working I frequently recall an insight from James McElhinney, a New York mentor of mine: It’s not about making a work of art; it’s about making yourself smarter.

Whether from life or a photographic source, the act of drawing is an act of engagement.