About me


My name is Bob. A nice simple name. I suppose you want the last name too. That would be Castleman. I like to draw, if you haven't yet noticed.

I am what is often called a "self-taught" artist. I don't really like that characterization. The only way I could be self-taught is if I took my pencils and paper and disappeared into a cave, stayed there without any contact with the outside world, and emerged a fully formed artistic wonder. The truth of the matter is that I have learned a great deal from many other artists. Books, Internet forums, looking at other artwork, all these contribute to my artistic development. I stand on the shoulders of many excellent artists and teachers. I do not have formal training in an art program at some prestigious university. But I certainly have learned more from others than I have taught myself.


Technique

Why graphite? Are you going to do color? Why bother drawing so much detail when you could take a photograph? Well... I love black and white. Ansel Adams is one of my favorite photographers. If you haven't seen his black and white landscape photography you are really missing something. Go now. Look him up on the Internet and be amazed. Black and white is mysterious. It makes the viewer work a little harder. As for photo-realistic drawings, that's actually a side affect of what I create. It often turns out that when I am done things look very real. I like this because it pulls the viewer into the drawing and tickles their brain. There is often a bit of confusion when a person thinks “photograph” then realizes “drawing”. The mental double take is powerful and people will look even more intently at the piece.