My Ardent Passion in Life

(2016) ' Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania ' Colored Pencil

Michael Houliston is considered both a fine artist and surface designer with more of a passion for traditional studio work.
I hold a B.F.A. degree in Printmaking from Wilkes University, 1991 along with master level coursework from Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science in the early 1990’s.

My portfolio over the past decade consists primarily of dry media, namely drawing & composition featuring a very strong interest in colored pencil works. It has focused on small to mid sized finely detailed and crafted two-dimensional designs, both realistic genre and abstract pattern creations with a big inspiration drawn from textiles in my abstract renderings. Subject matter from the 1990’s was primarily realistic in which I focused primarily on architecture drawings of NYC landmarks, with meticulous-highly detailed designs of Manhattan’s astonishing buildings –

( Empire State, Chrysler, the Carlyle Hotel, the Dakota on Central Park West to name a few. ) Following that period, I then transitioned towards developing original patterns in drawing( both hand made and digital ) but mostly hand rendered and a lot of it abstract for years to come. I have drawn considerable inspiration extracting sources from both natural and man made forms through what I actually see that is of intrigue to me in the outdoor world, and by means of numerous photographs compiled as reference. Objects sourced, then rendered are of a wide range from jewelry to furniture to metal, intricate wood and masonry materials in architecture, to interiors, sculpture and basic infrastructure formations, or whatever catches my eye that I can develop into a stunning piece of art. I take anywhere between one and possibly seven pieces of shape that I find interesting and compose it into harmonious motifs which are made in a repeat to cover the picture plane. The principle of overlap, underlap, interlock, and color variation are employed quite a bit in my work. I strive for vibrant colors with a dynamic two-dimensional construction, and a small percentage of pieces that are monochromatic.

With form hand drawn in and set up as a finalized pattern and desirable layout , I then spend considerable amounts of time with modeling the forms to create the illusion of three dimensional depth. This is achieved by meticulous handling of the pencils with soft application from light to dark. If you view my style and handling of the medium, the finished piece appears painterly-

( perhaps goauchelike, watercolor, or even dry chalk pastel looking) where viewers have questioned me in regard to how they are produced. The answer to them is that I merely use Prismacolor pencils.

I am an artist who constantly has the need to proliferate more work, one highly inspired by Pablo Picasso not only in terms of his approach to art, but in his vast quantity of pieces that he had executed. I will not equal his amount during my lifetime, but he as a creator has definitely instilled the ardent desire and ambition in me to always continue to make more and more.

Printmaking is another medium I have been involved in, since it was my concentration in undergraduate study, namely relief printing and some Serigraphy. With both, I have always applied the concept of pattern design especially making use of linoleum prints. The construction and hands-on-experience of merely carving out the image itself is rewarding and an accomplished skill as much as the producing of the edition.

My thorough love and interest of pattern design in both printmaking and drawing stems greatly from not only my intrigue of innumerable shapes in our world in front of our eyes, but also in my influence of textile design involving clothing and fabric.

( 2018) Untitled, Colored Pencil Mounted on Board
$ 175.00

( 2012) Corel Draw
WalIpaper Design

( 2012 ) Pattern for Giftwrap
Corel Draw

( 2008) Untitled
$ 150.00 Colored Pencil on Board

( 2017) Untitled
$ 150.00 Colored Pencil on Board

(2017) Colored Pencil on Board
Preliminary Study for a Painting

(2012) Untitled, Colored Pencil on Board
NFS

(2012) ' Knights of the Round Table '
$ 200.00 Colored Pencil on Board

(2017) ' Things'
$ 75.00 Colored Pencil on Board

(2017) Colored Pencil on Board
*Small preliminary study for future gouache painting