Featured Artist Kirk Mueller

Kirk’s Bio:

I’m a retired tilesetter by trade, a cartoonist by persistence, and a watercolorist by passion. I’ve spent a lifetime drawing, painting, and chasing dreams and deadlines. The day I realized that my efforts and rewards were not related, I switched my focus from cartooning to watercolors.

Kirk’s Awards:

• Winner, Sunnyslope Wine Trail Plein Air Painters of Idaho Painting Contest (2024)
• Honorable Mention, Victor Celebrates the Arts Plein Air Event (September 2024)
• Second Place, Palmer Lake Art Group Winter Show (January 2024)
• Second Place, PLAG Summer Show – Cloud Challenge (June 2024)
• Second Place, Editorial Cartooning, Society of Colorado Professional Journalists (2024)

Kirk’s favorite things to paint:

I don’t typically paint landscapes, but I’ve been practicing lately to prepare for five plein air events this summer. My preference leans toward scenes with architecture—especially cityscapes. I’ve never been drawn to the color green, and I once read that green paintings don’t sell well. So if I can find a view with buildings surrounded by bare trees and sun-scorched grass, I’m all in.

Plus, I love creating greeting cards for friends and family—it’s such a fun way to connect.

I also work in acrylics, Airbrush (still learning), Pen and Ink, The Procreate App

Kirk’s favorite or most admired artists:

David Hockney—for his fearless exploration of different mediums and constant reinvention. Henrick Kley, whose masterful pen and ink drawings (especially his expressive elephants) famously inspired Disney’s dancing hippos in Fantasia. Pat Oliphant, the former Denver Post Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist, for his classical line work and unapologetic brutal opinions. And watercolorists Joseph Zbukvic and Ali Cavanaugh, both of whom bring extraordinary technique, mood and emotional depth to the medium.

Kikrk’s goals for the next year:

I’m preparing for plein air events this summer by learning the granulation techniques of Peruvian watercolorist Nicolas Lopez, especially how he uses Daniel Smith’s Lunar Black to create moody, monochromatic, twilight scenes with an apocalyptic feel.

Last year, I painted 23 Christmas and birthday cards between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, I’m switching things up—I’ll be printing them in bundles and giving them to friends and family.

Kirk’s Tip or Trick:

I use a $10 iPad app called Procreate for drawing cartoons and even for watercolor work. There’s definitely a learning curve, and it requires an Apple Pencil—but it’s worth it.

Here’s what I use it for:

• Editing and enhancing reference photos
• Turning photos into line drawings for tracing or projection (I sometimes print these on Carson’s XL 98 lb mixed media paper to create grayscale value studies)
• Using color filters to experiment with more dynamic color schemes
• Taking a photo of an unfinished painting and adding a new layer in Procreate to test out different color choices and compositional changes
• Copying, pasting, and rearranging elements
• Using it as a reference viewer—it’s much easier to work from than a phone screen
• Creating hand lettering
• Combining multiple photos to imagine entirely new scenes

It’s become an essential part of my creative process.

FAVORITE ARTSY QUOTE

As artist Alvaro Castagnet might say, painting a watercolor is like golf—the one who captures a great scene with the fewest brushstrokes wins!

Kirk’s website and Social Media:

Website • Instagram • Pinterest (Cartoons)