Artist spoilt for choice

 

Moody landscapes, stunning coastal shores and images with a touch of reflective surrealism are heading towards Mangawhai Art Gallery in early June.

Award winning Waipu air-brush artist Colin Unkovich is booked to showcase his diverse talent from Queens Birthday, with up to 40 original artworks on display.

Naturally drawn to the wilderness – and especially the New Zealand coastline – for inspiration, Unkovich says he does not have to look far to become encouraged to create. His Waipu studio overlooks the Pacific waters and is surrounded by bush. Stimulation is all around.

“I’m a bit spoilt for choice,” he says. “My challenge is to capture the mood… I look for the strongest elements and aim to enhance that element without exaggerating it.”

Self-taught, Unkovich says he is learning all the time about his craft and over time has developed his own techniques which have shaped his individual style. He never anticipated he would have a career in art. Art lessons ended at primary school, he says, and his talent lay dormant until his later teen years.

“While making surfboards in the 70s I discovered airbrushing as it was the best way to get colour and graphics on the boards,” the avid surfer says.

“But I was so busy making surfboards fulltime for 26 years, I only got to paint once or twice a year. When I didn’t paint it really got to me and friends finally talked me into taking it back up.”

Unkovich says he was influenced by the airbrush designs of surfboard art and record album covers by surf artist’s Rick Griffin and Shane Egan, both prominent artists in the 60s and 70s surfing culture.

“What I love is that unlike brush painting, when you put the bristles on directly on canvas you know what’s going to happen, things happen by chance,” he says. “Air brushing can be random which is good, you can use the randomness… it leaves a surprising result which I never get sick of.”

Airbrushing is a time-intensive and finicky method of art. The paint needs to flow freely through the superfine .2mm nozzles and requires several straining’s to attain the consistency of water. Patience and a willingness to be particular with preparation are required artist qualities.

“The way that I work is by using a series of translucent layers of paint to get particular shades of colour, it gives the work a life and vibrancy, almost an inner glow, as light reflects and refracts off the different levels of colour,” he says. “It is a slow process but I think it is well worth the effort.”

In 2006, Unkovich became a professional, full-time artist after taking a ‘leap of faith’ and showed some of his work to Waipu art gallery, Haven Art.

“I was really surprised at the curator’s response,” he says. “With no hesitation she asked ‘How many have you got?’”

Since then, Unkovich has showcased his work in various galleries around New Zealand with several paintings hanging in New Zealand and overseas collections including Europe, America and Asia.

Not surprisingly, he has also won awards for his art. In 2013 he was winner of both the Northland Art Awards for painting, and people's choice for the Gilmore Brown Kaipara Art Award.

Unkovich was also a finalist out of 900 entries in the Adams Portraiture Awards in Wellington. NZ Fine Art Services spokesperson, Gaye Carothers regards him to be the best airbrush artist in New Zealand and ‘arguably one of the very best in the art world’.

Currently Unkovich works fulltime as an artist, creating his own ideas and working on commission.

“I get a lot of satisfaction fleshing out someone’s idea,” he says. “I really enjoy figuring out the process of what the client wants then creating that idea. I find that really rewarding.”

n Colin Unkovich’s exhibition will be held at Mangawhai Art Gallery, Moir Street, from June 3 -6, then again from June 10-13.

REWARDING: A full-time artist since 2006, Colin Unkovich has won numerous awards.

- By Julia Wade

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