Brian Huntress
Boston, Massachusetts
Brian Huntress is an artist, podcaster, and content creator.
MessageCollection: Digital Art
Digital art has been a constant and reliable tool for my art making for as long I can remember. Born 1995, some of my earliest creative memories involved the original MS Paint and Microsoft word art, accompanied by an infinite stream of digital media ranging from TV cartoons to early CGI in movies to the strange and unforgettable online content of pre youtube internet like Homestar Runner or Happy Tree Friends.
As I grew older and my art making became more advanced, I began to incorporate digital tools both as a utilitarian resource and as an aesthetic end. I feel that is a natural part of my ecosystem and a part of my own creative process that I consider neither original, cutting edge, or revolutionary. The digital influence is inescapable and welcome.
One of my major digital art projects include, "The Brian Huntress Tarot Deck," (2018). The project included original interpretations of the 78 popularly known tarot cards based on the theory and writing of the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. This project received international recognition through its kickstarter crowdfunding campaign reaching backers all over the United States, Europe, and Australia. Secondhand copies of the Tarot deck have become a rare collectors item appearing in auctions on Ebay, Etsy, and other ecommerce websites.
My digital art became a major part of my life at the beginning of the 2020 COVID 19 quarantine. I was forced to isolate myself from my art, my community, and my friends as I was working in a large shared studio with many other artists. My oil paints and brushes went into storage as the long haul of quarantine began. Lost in a fog of anxiety and boredom, I turned to my digital drawing program and tablet to keep me occupied. I turned to my network on Facebook and Instagram and asked my community for current photographs of themselves for me to draw. With my lifelong experience online, these tools were more than familiar. This became my Quarantine Portrait Series, 78 digital paintings of friends, family, and random strangers who reached out to me with the hope of connection. They got back beautiful images of themselves. In a time where so many felt lost, alienated, and alone, I tried to give one small group of people a little bit of happiness through my art.
From tarot cards to intimate portraits to the odd show flyer or commission, I am a lifelong digital artist and citizen of the digital world. I love to paint, draw, and experience the tactile world of physical art materials but I will never shake the familiarity, fun, and childhood attachment to the digital drawing program and digital media in general.
Powered by Artwork Archive