"Capture the Flag" Painting

Doug Wittnebel is an architect, a painter, a writer and illustrator based in California. He combines a unique viewpoint, a knowledge of cool aesthetics, a sense of humor, an undying interest in visual phenomena, a deep sense of history, combined with multiple layers of very sound practical experiences as a free hand drawer and designer. He specializes in editorial and travel drawing advertising, and is open to illustration assignments, in-house work, visual development, storyboarding, visual note taking, architectural sketches and more. As a practicing architect working for firms in Asia, Doug was able to experience spaces and places in Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, China, India and Japan, and capture those scenes in numerous sketchbooks and digital tablets. Doug is also known as “the Designer that can’t stop Drawing”. He employs drawing as the basis for so many creative acts. Doug is also known for teaching young students about the magic of immediate sketching and live drawing. From the eyes and mind of an artist and an architect, these are my current musings about the art of painting: I have two main loves in the creative arena. One is the design of spaces and landscapes in the field of Architecture. The other is the design of spaces and landscapes in the field of Painting or Art. Architecture feels connected to a place when you see it as authentic. The true sense of place adds to the dimensions of the architectural practice. How about the sense of place in Art? What we call Art, or in this case what I call painting, is connected to the mind and it allows for the full range of sensations and feelings from “real to the touch authentic” to the scented and spiced layers of dreams and landscapes. New places and connections. Now it seems to me that eye and the hand can work in harmony in such wonderful ways that those liquid dreams and mental landscapes can be captured in unique significant moments on surfaces like canvas and paper. You may remember when you were a young curious child with a butterfly net. The challenge was to try and catch those fluttering butterflies and flickering darting dragonflies, and then upon capture, to hold them close under a magnifying glass and see the incredible detail and colors. Painting can feel the same way sometimes, revealing an almost unreal dimension of color, patterns and detail.