Artist Statement: Eric Black

I began doing pen and ink in high school and continued through college. I put my pens away after college and pursued a career in mortgage banking. Roughly 25 years later, I picked up my pens again and began drawing wildlife. My work was better than ever, and my art career was born. I built my portfolio of work and started doing art shows in the late 1980’s. I did shows all over the southwest, Colorado, AZ, CA. Nevada.

I relocated to the Northwest and continued doing shows all over WA, OR, ID, Mont, and CA. In 2000, I was introduced to the work of Dennis Martin and Metal Point, and my career took a dramatic turn. I had a new tool that I had to teach myself, as there was nowhere to go to learn it. While still in Seattle, I did the Veronica series of nudes in gold Metalpoint. Later, I combined silverpoint with pen and ink and achieved much stronger results. I have continued with Silverpoint and use it as a tool to achieve the results I want. You will see silver points scattered throughout my portfolio. I’ve also begun using pencils and have completed several pieces. I also will use pastel pencils and colored pencils if needed. Over the years, I’ve won numerous Best of Show awards, best in Class awards, blue ribbons, and newspaper articles about my work.

My work has appeared in magazines and books like Northwest Artists. After relocating to Tucson, AZ, I began concentrating on Western artwork and have completed several mixed media, silverpoint, gold metal point, and ink pieces. My artwork has reached a much higher level and is better than ever.

Eric Black