How much color can one artist cram into a painting?
Charles Sovek is a painter whose art almost seems to consist of pure color, loosely held together by familiar shapes and settings.
His work spans several mediums, including acrylic, oil, gouache, and watercolor; but with any type of paint, his work vibrates with intensity. Using extremely hot and cold colors right next to each other, along with a sketchy style, adds to that effect.
In this painting, Fishing Trawlers, Rockport Harbor, Sovek chose to create his focal point with a few specific sections of red and white, while covering the rest of the painting with shades of blues and grays.
Every shape is clearly defined by a light side and a shadow side – making his work appear solid and structural even though his brush strokes seem almost careless.
His approach shows a deep understanding of the way that the human eye interprets a scene, by using basic lights and darks and adding color for emphasis.
Compositionally, he’s created three sections; a middle section made up of boats that angle back and forth, framed by two outer sections of water patterned in wavy strokes of the brush. Deceptively simple, yet effective.
This next painting, however, is one of my favorites.
It’s a painting pushed to the extreme, with bright spots of color, barely defined figures, and an absolutely glorious roiling of cool waves against the sun-warmed sand.
Sovek created depth – even with that extremely vivid blue – by painting it thinner farther back, allowing his light brown underpainting to show through and neutralize the color. His figures become darker as they recede into the distance as well, to help that illusion.
Each one of his paintings offers quick visual impact, with intentionally enhanced colors and a sense of depth and structure that will keep you coming back time and again.
You can find many more paintings by Charles Sovek (as well as some wonderful painting tips), at his website, www.sovek.com.