David Webster, Riles Does De Kooning, 2011, Automotive acrylic brushwork and polyurethane airbrush on metal panel, 3 x 4 ft., Courtesy of the Artist
David received a Masters Degree of Fine Arts in Oil Painting from the University of Illinois in 1986. His artwork has always been a combination of Abstract Expressionism and Realism. He enjoys creating space abstractly and then developing realistic forms within the space. The main focus of his art over the past seven years has been automotive custom art work. In September of 2010, his work won a nation wide contest called “The Scion Battle of the builds” with the help of C & G Customs and the Mayport Naval Station. They painted a Scion HB to look as though it was wrapped by a huge squid and the car itself was painted to look like a sub marine. There was an amazing amount of detail in the image and was one of the highlights of the 2010 SEMA Automotive show in Los Vegas. The Scion and a great deal of his work in the customs medium can be seen on his website, and on his Facebook page – Airbrush Jax.
David has been teaching Fine Art foundations at the Art Institute of Jacksonville since the school opened in January of 2006. The painting “Riles does De Kooning” was part of his transitioning from the automotive canvas to a form more suitable for galleries. It plays on the contrasting styles of painting he loves: Abstract Expression and Photo Realism. The painting was inspired by and features his daughter Riley doing one of the things she loves most, painting. It is done with hand brushed automotive acrylics and airbrushed automotive urethanes on a 3’ x 4’ metal panel. The surface was intercoat clear coated and hand sanded dozens of times to refine the surface to a neoclassical polished smooth surface of an automobile. The painting was finished in September of 2011.
