®
Artists
News
If you are interested in works of art by Theodore Robinson please contact us:
management@paks-gallery.com
Munich
Vienna
gallery by the castle
Heidenreichstein
Theodore D. Robinson is an American multimedia portrait artist and photographer living and
working with his partner between Palm Springs California and the South of France near the
Spanish border close to where Salvador Dali resided.
Theodore has been drawing and painting since watching his mother Melinda who was also an
accomplished artist paint when he was very young. Other family, as well as his friends and
teachers, encouraged his artistic talents and helped him earn his Bachelor’s degree in Fine
Arts from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. In the course of various experiments, he
discovered his style of portrait work by combining drawing, painting, and photography toward
the end of his formal education. In his Portrait Painting gallery on this site, you will see one of
his earliest portraits of music legend Sting for which he used as his source a tiny black and
white photo from an, even then, old magazine. Theo enlarged it with a neolithic-era Lucy
machine foreshadowing how he would develop his own unique style. A year or so later he
accepted his first commission to re-create a nearly destroyed laminated photo of Tom Cruise.
That set the direction for the next thirty years of Theodore’s work, specifically using source
material of questionable quality and transforming it into a superior visual drawing or painting, a
unique reproduction of something that might have otherwise been lost.
It is difficult to place Theo’s work in one medium or genre as he mixes ink with pencils in his
portrait drawings and watercolors with acrylic in his paintings, not to mention using spray paint
with both to create his signature backgrounds. His influences range from DaVinci to
Caravaggio, Corot to Frazetta, and Nagel to Warhol in roughly chronological order, to name a
few. Theodore submitted his early portfolio slides to Warhol’s Interview magazine but alas, by
then the era of cover illustrations had been lost to photography courtesy of the new owner’s
vision, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to develop and hone his individual style and
skills. Theodore’s work is somewhat photo-realistic but he feels it is more accurately described
as ‘photo-idealistic’ and optimistically believes it could be part of a new movement in a post-
digital post-photoshop world he foresees in which fellow dinosaurs and retro old-school artists
are appreciated and preferred to everyday visual trickery.
Until then he is semi-retired from accepting commissions, but Theo says that if someone has
the right project anything can be possible. He rarely exhibits publicly as portraits don’t
generally sell well off walls unless they are of Marilyn Monroe or homages to DaVinci or
Warhol. In addition to the occasional commissions for his portrait drawings and paintings,
Theodore also accepts requests for portrait photography. To have more information on
purchases and his varied services, projects, and related fees or any general questions please
contact info@robinsonarts.com View his work on this site and several other online platforms
for independent artists at the following links.
Education:
Bachelor’s in General Fine Arts 1990 University of Arizona
I think my style of drawing or painting has stayed relatively constant though I know technically I’m
much more confident and proficient in what I’m doing now & that covers drawing, painting &
photography. By being independent with no “boss" I was free to evolve as an artist however I
pleased. And believe me, I do not take that freedom for granted. I was very fortunate.
When I’m photographer using a reflector as a “flash” in my portrait photography it is often with the
idea & intent already in mind of doing a drawing from a photo after, soon if it’s a commission, later
if it’s for me. Remember I was influenced by Interview magazine and the work of Richard
Bernstein so once I take photos I have to edit and evaluate if there are any I can “improve” in a
drawing or painting. That’s harder than you might at first think. Make different. I always imagine
my work on the cover of Interview. Still.
A painting usually takes a few days depending on size & complexity. A drawing can be same or
take longer, sometimes much longer. I am probably not considered “prolific” (if you only look at
one medium I work in. Remember I draw, paint, photograph, photoshop & write) And it depends if
it’s a commission & if there’s a deadline. I have finished some drawings in several days. But if
commissioned I will always give caveat that it may take longer than desired. Here’s the thing;
Portrait drawings that are not high contrast like my drawing of Gong Li can take a long time
because of the amount of pencil work, all the soft grays. So in effect the more a picture is high
contrast black & white without much gray the faster it is done. Here’s another factor to consider;
sometimes (often) I get what I call “artist’s block” where I'm basically stuck & can’t “see” the
problems or what to do next. So what helps immensely is to put the portrait away for awhile, take
a break, a week, two, sometimes longer. Do something else. Then when I look at it again it’s with
“fresh” eyes, it’s like I can then see (& fix) everything “wrong" with it. This can drive clients a bit
crazy but I try to explain this process in the beginning. I’m usually able to give a reasonable due
date though depending on the image I’m working from and of course whether I’m also taking
photos for a drawing or painting or not.
Where I work: At the moment I just started a 30x30 inch portrait painting of fav musician Bryan
Ferry that has taken over much of my dining room. I do have an office but where I draw is
dependent on light, being close to my music, coffee & weed ;-)
I think my nature as an artist is as a classicist, though it was artists like Bernstein, Frazetta &
Nagel that inspired me most in the beginning. Ive even been called a "renaissance man". As an
artist with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts I’m classically trained. I’m not one of those artist’s that
rejects what came before to make something “new”. I’m not sure what “modern views” are but I
love combining media, mediums & genres which has been considered breaking the rules. As you
know I wear several “hats” and that seems fairly modern. You might say I’m a bit of a rebel though
in that since the beginning I don’t fit into a “Fine” or Beaux’s Art style because I mix media using
illustration technique and my work is often considered too classical to be strictly commercial
illustration.
Theodore Robinson
David Bowie
2017
Acrylic, Watercolor & Spray Paint
Peter Gabriel
2022
Pencil & Ink