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Doyle Burkey has always had an eye for details, which served him well during his time as a technical illustrator. He spent 35 years in the aerospace industry performing work to specifications, but the job never entirely satisfied him. Burkey knew that one day he’d explore his more creative side, a side not dictated by lines or instructions.
“I’ll be 80 years old in March,” he said. “I always knew at some point in time I wanted to try painting something that was mine and not what I was told to paint, and that’s what I’m doing.”
When that day came as the result of an early retirement Burkey began to explore painting landscapes in watercolor. He focused on that for several years employing the use of bright color and realistic composition.
Delving into landscape painting was interesting for Burkey for many years, but like his technical career, he knew he would only do it for so long before moving on to the next thing.
Recently, Burkey has turned his attention to abstract work. He said he does something as long as he’s happy doing it, and when it stops being interesting to him, he moves on. He also said he felt he was at a point in his art where he was the best he could be, at least when it comes to landscapes. Currently, his abstract work is what’s fascinating him.
“My work right now is really about joy and fun, and I have a good life and it’s reflective of what I’ve been doing recently,” Burkey said.
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Revealing that he still has a bit of the technical illustrator in him, Burkey’s approach to painting is methodical in its implementation.
“I’m doing a lot of masking with my color. That way, I get a real hard line,” he said. “Watercolor can be very beautiful when it merges with another color. I’m not good at that. I’ll put down one color and let it dry and then put down another.”
His method takes a lot of preplanning. Burkey sketches ideas and even chooses suitable colors before putting paintbrush to canvas.
“I do a lot of preliminary drawings,” he explained. “I will try to come up with a composition that pleases me. I’m still very detailed in that respect. I always know what my painting will look like before it’s finished.”
Burkey said thought goes into each color he chooses. He picks up a color and thinks about how it will fit into the overall composition. At this point, he said he understands the colors he uses so well, he knows exactly whether their combinations will look the way he wants them to look in the completed picture.
The process takes patience and time, of which Burkey said he has plenty. Sometimes he gets into creative spirits and devotes many of his hours to painting. Other times, not so much. Since he doesn’t rely on income from painting sales, it all depends on how much fun he’s having.
“I’ve been in moods where I’ve worked every day for four to five hours. Last year, I produced 35 paintings, which is by far the most I’ve done, but it was because I was having so much fun,” he said.
See how much fun Burkey’s been having when he shows his work at the Shepard Hall Gallery in the Santa Maria Public Library throughout January. The show will include many of his landscapes, but also his more recent abstract work.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone considers each letter as she writes. Contact her at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 6-13, 2011.