Andy’s artwork is on view in “Sketchbooks: Genine Carvalheira-Gehman and Andy Reddout” in our second floor gallery.
I grew up in Victor NY, and attended Victor High School. After taking all of the art courses Victor had to offer I attended SUNY Cortland to become an art teacher. After realizing they threw out my major and didn’t tell me, I enrolled in their Studio Art program. During that time my printmaking professor introduced me to the graphic design program at RIT. The day after graduating from RIT I was fortunate enough to get my first job as an Art Director in the local advertising scene. I made TV commercials, ads, web sites, logos and billboards for international and local companies. After about eight years of working twelve hour days, weekends and holidays I needed a change. I eventually quit, got my Masters in Art Education from RIT (again), and became an art teacher. For the past 10 years I taught K-5 elementary art in Bloomfield NY, coached basketball, soccer and tennis. This past year I made the switch to Victor Senior High School where I teach Studio Art and Computer Generated Art. I also coach Modified Boys Basketball and Modified Boys Tennis.
I don’t want label myself as a “sketchbook artist” because it seems to take away from what I love to do which is capturing moments as I see them. If I don’t have my whole sketching kit with me–I can be found having a sketchbook and pen handy. I like to arrive early to doctor’s appointments and sketch the other patients, take an extra half an hour at Wegmans, or sit quietly in the corner of my favorite restaurant sketching away. I find I love layovers in airports since I started sketching–when people are engrossed in technology they make great models!
A majority of my drawings are made “en plein air” which is a term reserved for painting outdoors, or on-site. I will start and finish my drawings on-site and if my model moves, or a car parks in front of my subject–so be it!
Since I am drawing and painting on location my sketching tools have to be portable and reliable. I use a handful of different fountain pens filled with different colored inks–some of which are water-soluable and make for great effects. My watercolor kit contains 24 colors with emphasis on the primary colors (I have 9 different blues!) I have a few travel brushes, as well as some water brushes with water in the handles for quick painting. I rarely sketch in pencil first, but when I do I use some overpriced pencil I bought in Paris. My sketchbook choice took some twists and turns but after some amazing customer service and paper quality that can’t be beat, I use Stillman & Birn sketchbooks. I am a huge fan of their “Beta” paper which is an extra heavy weight paper ideal for watercolor and general abuse. I put all of this in my trusty Timbuk2 bag which has been to different countries, had coffee spilled in it, and pins pierced through the flap from where my sketches have taken me.
When I started sketching I stayed away from people and anything people related. Instead, I focused a lot on objects and places. Whenever I attempted to sketch people they turned out like cartoon characters and lacked expression. So for a year I focused on sketching people only and failed over and over again. I even took a portrait drawing class trying to overcome my fear. So if you look back on my sketches in book #2–my people are very-remedial and limited in scope. And now I feel as if I can capture a person’s likeness and emotion light-years beyond where I was.
Sketching for me is a way to capture life’s moments in a more meaningful way than a snap of a camera. With all of my sketches–and with great detail–I can recall who I was with, the weather, our conversations–even what I was wearing that day. I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled to Europe and have sketched my way through the trips. A camera is an easy way to capture a moment and often a forgotten memento. But with my constant drawing these sketchbooks turn into prized possessions that tell a story. A recorded history. Moments in time. So as I progress, I’d just very simply like to continue to do what I am doing. Draw.
I get a lot of my inspiration from other artists that are sketching on location. Finding UrbanSketchers.org has changed the world of sketching for me. There are numerous links to artists, techniques and tools. You can get lost in there for days! I will be attending their UrbanSketchers Symposium this July in Chicago. Every year they pick a different city and this year is finally back in the states. I will have the chance to meet–and take classes from–a few of the “urban sketching all stars” that I look up to. Meeting and talking with other artists is a major influence and part of what makes this process so fun.
I attempt to maintain a blog of my work and travels: reddout.blogspot.com but Instagram (areddout) has made it more enjoyable to post art work and interact with other artists. With Instagram I’ve been able to meet other artists I admire, and actually got to go sketch with two of them while visiting Barcelona!
Stop by Main Street Arts to see Andy’s artwork in “Sketchbooks: Genine Carvalheira-Gehman and Andy Reddout” in our second floor gallery from February 25–March 31, 2017. Visit his website at www.reddout.blogspot.com and follow Andy on Instagram @areddout.
