Luke Buck grew up in Indiana with a love for life, art and nature that is evident in his nostalgic watercolors of Americana. Traveling the back roads in search of scenic places, Buck will sometimes round a bend in the road, and the setting will find the artist. Similarly, his vivid watercolors, the end result of his wanderings, reach out to the viewer. “I try to include the viewer in my paintings. The viewer is part of my work,” says Buck. His captivating watercolors break out of their borders to welcome the viewer into their quietude, extending an invitation to roam.
Luke Buck’s distinctive borders evolved from vignettes. Finding that sketches were more interesting when surrounded by negative space, he began to design his paintings in much the same way. His father was also an artist and, even as a child, Buck wanted to follow in his footsteps. He remembers the astonishment of visitors to their home when they saw the oil paintings that filled every available inch of wall space. Having been so surrounded by art at home, Buck thought it was customary.
An intense painter, Buck loses himself in the experience. He prefers to work without any distractions, not even music. From the many reference photos he takes, he may select only a small section of a photo for a painting. Then he indulges in artistic license to entirely recreate it as a snow-covered scene or anything else that his imagination may conjure.
Although Buck has experimented with oils and acrylics, he prefers watercolors for their spontaneity and versatility. It is a medium that gives him the freedom to paint tightly and loosely within the same piece, blending realism with impressionism. The looseness in a piece allows the viewer to use his own imagination to fill in the details.
His father had once advised him to paint, not to please others, but to please each artist’s toughest critic: himself. “Satisfy yourself with a painting. If you’re happy, others will be happy, too.” Remembering those words, when Buck is content with a painting, he always adds a personal touch to it in an inconspicuous place — his fingerprint.
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