ABOUT JOSH SWETKY
About The Artist
My name is Josh, but my friends call me “Flip.” I’m incarcerated in Colorado’s most violent prison with very few “art supplies”–only a pencil, a flex pen, and some Q-tips for painting in watercolor. I am a self-taught artist. My father, an art history teacher in college, influenced my work and showed me the ropes of the art world at a young age. I am a skilled ink-to-paper illustrator who has been creating semi-distortional art and gathering different artists’ work in drawings and paintings, comics and tattoos.
My goal sounds simple. I want to create beauty despite–or maybe because of–having come from such a dark past. My portfolio showcases finely detailed black-and-gray characters with hints of a darker nature in some of my designs. I’ve mastered a variety of techniques that I interweave into a singular end product. I love to mix surrealism with neo-traditional styles. My special love for black and gray, in which I do many of my drawings, was inspired by Bob Tyrel, Steve Soto, Andy Eagal, Salvador Dali, and tattoo artist Paul Booth.
I truly enjoy creating female forms and faces in which my individuality stands out. I like to use heavy darks to add a sinister feeling to my work while utilizing tones to cast lighter highlights to complement and lighten the mood. Thus, I try to make my work well-rounded.
I am currently practicing different blends of traditional black-and-gray portrait styles with my new designs, utilizing pop art color and modern styles to create a unique yet familiar feel with my over-the-top designs. This blending of styles creates artwork with a multiple perspective that still retains a unified theme.
I hope to use my artistic talents to showcase the creative side of our darkest desires in our pasts by painting a vibrant future that awakens emotions and forces people to stop, think, wonder, and analyze. Through them, along with my Website, 303illmagination, I see only positivity ahead, both for me and for those I seek to mentor.
For more information about me, 303illmagination, or my art’s availability, feel free to contact me through this Website or check me out on Facebook. I’ll be watching for you!
Artist: Josh Swetky