Here’s another American Pulps Spotlight where we take a person from the American Pulps community and interview them. We have such an amazing community through social media and we want to give props where props are due.
This week it is Skye Barak:
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m 21 years old, and I was born and raised in Waco, Texas, on the outskirts of which I currently reside. When I’m not working as a barista at a local coffee shop (Pinewood Coffee Bar) I can usually be found either painting, writing, or reading in my studio space at our local art gallery, or wandering around my mother’s property out in the country.
I was a rambunctious child, a wild teen, and now I suppose I consider myself a learner, a student of life.
How long have you been painting? Why water colors?
I’ve been drawing, painting and just making things in general since I was a toddler. As a kid I loved drawing cartoon characters, constructing doll houses out of card stock and hot glue, and making scrapbooks and journaling.
In my teens I was really into drawing comic book characters (my favorite was Watchmen) and drawing the female form in as many ways as I could think of. I used ballpoint pen and pencil until I finally decided to mess around with a cheap watercolor set when I was about sixteen. I think watercolor just always made the most sense to me, and it’s easy to transport. During the years following my departure from my parents’ home quickly after high school graduation, I painted the majority of my paintings in coffee shops.
I also think there’s something delicate and intimate about painting small paintings (most of mine are smaller than 9×11 in.) The joy I receive in painting is kind of concentrated in giving tiny details in a small work, and watercolor, for me, is best for this.
Editor’s note: This looks so much like the original it’s amazing. We wrote an article about Sally Storch a while back. Here’s what the original looks like):
Where would you say you get most of your art inspiration from?
I draw my inspiration from several sources: music, literature, the place I live and its history, films, my own life experience. I could go on and on about all the things that inspire me, but I think to sum it up, it’s just people. People, and how we interact with our environments, are what interest me the most.
Why do you like drawing faces?
I enjoy drawing faces because I’m interested in people. Painting a person’s face is in a way kind of like coming to know that person in a more intimate way. Studying someone’s face can be like studying that individual.
For me, this is particularly fun because it’s like I’m breaking down every element, ever shade of skin tone, into separate shapes and then observing how these shapes relate to each other in proximity within the person’s face.
It could be analogized as translating complex sentences from one language to another, while keeping the meaning as intact as possible. That’s how I view painting from a photo reference. My painting is going to be different, of course, from the photo, but the essence of the subject will remain. That’s the goal, anyway.
Is there a certain artist that you’re influenced by?
I think I’m a student of many artists, given the accessibility to so many wonderful artists through social media. But if I were to name some of my heroes of old, I’d have to say that greats like Norman Rockwell, Ed Hopper, and John Currin constantly remind me that more can be done with light and form.
Name your three favorite movies
Silver Streak (1976), Annie (1982), and Goodfellas (1990).
Three Favorite Books
Shane by Jack Schaefer, The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, and The Shining by Stephen King.
Three Favorite Musical Artists:
I deeply love so many, but to name only three: John Hartford, Oscar Peterson, and Townes Van Zandt. (Editors note: After some back and forth via emails we were able to switch out some bands for others, Skye’s honorable mentions are Norman Blake, and The Allman Brothers Band as well).
You can follow Skye on Instagram here: @skyebarak.art
