Douglas Black

ARTIST STATEMENT

I paint in oils, have since I was twelve, nearly fifty years ago. My output has ebbed and flowed over the decades, as have my interests changed to and from landscapes and abstractions, portraiture and flowers. Animals have grabbed my attention since the beginning of the pandemic, birds in particular, because their beauty in both color and shape exist in innocence; they know not how lovely they are. After completing a series on extinct birds, I began to study those exotic species of The Birdhouse at The Lincoln Park Zoo, of which this Motmot is one of my favorites.

Douglas Black.

Douglas Black (1961 – ), painter, born in Glasgow, this artist spent most of his early life in Detroit where his formal education was in architecture. He studied watercolor rendering technique under acclaimed architect Roy Strickfaden, and oils and gauche under the modernist Harold Linton. Currently living in Chicago, Douglas has a neo-classical style of oil on canvas, as well as pen and ink illustrations for historical fiction author Duke Pierce Reade. His signature is simply Douglas along with the hyphenated two digit year of production. Douglas’s paintings are valued in the hundreds to low-thousands and are held in several private collections.

January 2024 – TIDES OF TIME, Book Cover Art, From Dark Water Studio (Publisher) Chicago

December 2023 – HOMAGE Juried Show, 311 Gallery, Raleigh, NC (2 paintings)

December 2023 – SMALL WORKS Juried Show, Chicago Fine Art Salon, Chicago, IL (3 paintings)

November 2023 – WINGS AND WATER Juried Show, River Art Center, Prairie du Sac, WI (1 painting)

October 2023 – ANTICAT; dEFY cATEGORY ZINE, Issue 3, Jumpers Closet pts 4, 5. Illustrations

June – Sept 2023 – POP-UP GALLERY, Hyde Park Farmers Market, Chicago, IL (exclusive artist)

February 2023 - ANTICAT; dEFY cATEGORY ZINE, Issue 2, Jumpers Closet pt 3. Illustrations

October 2022 - ANTICAT; dEFY cATEGORY ZINE, Issue 1, Jumpers Closet pts 1, 2. Illustrations
2022 Chicago Fine Art Salon, Virtual Gallery Inclusion (1 painting)

2022 – THE RED AND THE GOLD, Part Three, From Dark Water Studio (Publisher) Chicago. Illustrations

2020 – THE RED AND THE GOLD, Part Two, From Dark Water Studio (Publisher) Chicago. Illustrations

2018, 2019 and 2020 ChicagoLights Holiday Gala Art Show and Charity Auction. Photography

2017 – THE RED AND THE GOLD, Part One, From Dark Water Studio (Publisher) Chicago. Illustrations

2016 – FIVE YEARS IN CHICAGO, From Dark Water Studio (Publisher) Chicago...