William Seccombe is a New Jersey based contemporary representational painter. In 1996 he attended Syracuse University to study illustration under the direction of Bob Dacey. In 2000 he received a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in illustration. He has also studied painting and drawing at the famous Art Students League of New York as well as the the New York Academy of Art.
1asked by william secombe
Who are you most inspired by?
I think the painters that I’m most inspired by right now are Jeremy Lipking for his Sargent-like painting approach along with his muted colors and mysterious subjects. I love Nelson Shanks for his uncanny ability to capture his sitter and his vibrant mixing colors to produce flesh tones. I also look quite often at painters such as Casey Baugh, Robert Armetta, Jerome Witkin for his unorthodox painting methods, and Jacob Collins.
2
What do you want to most convey in your work?
I’d like my paintings to convey an honesty in my observation. I want my paintings to teach the viewer and to discover truths about what is observed. I think that artists are in fact teachers and we are all trying to at last educate our audience about a subject or an idea, a way we feel. I think my paintings have a comforting feel and through the use of patterning and a warm color palette this is achieved.
When did you first realize you are an artist?
3
When did you first realize you are an artist?
In fourth grade I first realized that I was an artist. Drawing from Mad magazine and Cracked in my early days helped me to realize that there was something there. I realized that I loved getting people’s attention through my art and although it wasn’t my own I certainly learned how to draw and capture an audience. I remember my friends and fellow classmates asking me for drawings of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in exchange for pretzel rods and chocolate chip cookies at lunch.
4
Why do you choose the subject matter you work with?
The subject matter I use in my work is 9 out of 10 times my wife Meg. I use her as my model most often as she is always available and I have only recently begun working with models other than her.
5
Where do you go when your well of inspiration is running low?
Typically when I am running low on inspiration I go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Salmagundi Club in New York. The museum for it’s amazing selection of work and the club to be surrounded by fellow artists and a good glass of wine. Also, the internet. I will cruise organizations and painters websites
6asked by michael anthony lynch
What is your greatest artistic weakness?
I think that my greatest artistic weakness is in being too tight. My work can often be all too rendered and I think the more and more I paint, the more I am trying to get away from the highly rendered nature of my art. Instead, what I would like to have happen is to create more of a focal point through soften edges that are less important such as background elements, etc.
7
How would your life change if you were no longer allowed to create art?
To me, art is everything and everywhere. I cannot imagine my life without art. I am convinced that as long as I have my whits about me then I would like to imagine that I will always be creating.
8asked by dayvin hallman
What situations in life have left their deepest impressions on you?
The situations in life which have left their greatest impressions on me are certainly my time in art school studying illustration. It left me with a passion for the arts and an undying want to constantly improve upon my work. Naturally, I also came away from that experience with great friends and mentors. Secondly, relocating to New Jersey has be a life changing experience for me and has greatly influenced my art with the access to New York City’s wonderful schools and museums.
9asked by kathy berg
What/who gave you the extra push to “go public” with your work?
The people that have always given me my greatest push has got to be my family and my wife. They have always been wonderfully supportive of my artwork and my passion. In addition, I would mention my extremely influencial high school art teacher, Kay Polito who taught me how to love drawing. And finally, Bob Dacey who was not only my college illustration teacher at Syracuse who taught me about color but also good friend.
10asked by alex sheehan
Do you make a choice and then justify it? Or do you visualize something and then create it?
Certainly the later. I think that I can only operate if I can first visualize something and then create it around that structure.
11
What ways do you find your life influences your work?
I suppose the answer lies in my influences around me specifically the painters that I have come to know and the electric atmosphere which is New York City which is constantly bombarding your senses with new ideas.
12asked by david geisler
When do you know you are done with a work?
I have heard it said that you are never really done with a piece but rather run out of time. I think I would agree with that but also I think there is a sense that the painting takes on where it which it can survive on it’s own without you. I think that’s when you’re finished.
13
What new artists or works excite you?
Currently a couple of new artists that excite me are Joseph Todorovitch and Jeremy Lipking. They are both represented by Arcadia Gallery in New York City.
14asked by 716
Who do you think you are?
I think that I am an artist who is trying to be heard. I am a painter who is in constant awe of the figure and the portrait. I admire the techniques from the past and the approaches of the old masters. It is in these ideas that I am constantly striving to bring forth into contemporary subjects and settings.
15
If you could ask another artist anything, what would it be?
What’s your thought process like that informs your work?
