Spontaneous Color

John P. Smolko demonstrates his one-of-a-kind mark making in colored pencil

- John P. Smolko

Round Two, colored pencil, 40 x 32" (101 x 81 cm)

This piece is a portrait of my daughter-in-law, Katherine, when she was pregnant with my second granddaughter, Wren. Katherine is a dynamic individual and fun model to work with in my studio. I love my son, Matt, but my wife, Gigi, and I struck the mother lode with Katherine. We love her very much.

After a lifetime of pursuing art, come to the realization that Edison was right, "creativity is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration." My style of scribbling is the result of years of drawing, teaching, experiencing life, and developing my critical thinking skills. Every artist wants to know how they can be original and relevant in today's art world. I taught art for 35 years and all my students wanted to be recognized and appreciated. My best advice to them was to work hard and draw every day. Don't think about developing a style of drawing, just draw. After months of work, I could identify which drawings were Michele's, which ones were Jeff's, and so on.