Artist Douglas Potter presents a collection of delightfully whimsical paintings inspired by science fiction and adventure. View more by visiting his website.
“Dancing Cats” watercolor, 15″ x 11″
I started my lifelong art odyssey before I started school. Someone sat me down on the spiral-patterned linoleum of my grandparents’ kitchen floor with the Sunday comics in all their colorful glory. Someone equipped me with paper and crayons, and I started trying to copy those comics. The newspaper is where I read my first words.
“New Mexico Lizard” goauche on board, 10″ x 8″
In school, I drew on a ruled tablet behind a book while the teacher was talking. I specialized in dinosaurs, fueled by the inspiration of Alley Oop comics and science class. The school library provided boys’ adventure stories, mostly underwater adventures filled with illustrations of ocean creatures. I refused to borrow non-illustrated books.
“Sunflowers” oil on board, 18″ x 12″
Then we read “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury in literature class. Shortly after that, I found “The Martian Chronicles” in the school library, which expanded my attention to other worlds. I found myself drawing planets and rocket ships and trying to imagine what Martians looked like.
“New Mexico Frog” goauche on paper, 4″ x 5.25″
I started reading comic books and quickly fell in with others who were so afflicted. A few of us started creating our own comics and even dared to print copies to reach more readers. This led at least one of our number into printing as a vocation. I had an art class in high school where I struggled to draw still-life objects. It was in this class that I first attempted figure drawing of my live classmates (fully clothed).
“Western Pears” goauche on paper, 8″ x 13″
Then prerequisites in college stifled any interest I had in a mainstream academic pursuit of art. In 1969, I unexpectedly landed in the U.S. Army. After a period of time, there that was unrelated to art, I leveraged the G.I. Bill to enroll at Texas Academy of Art, an art school in Houston founded by a couple who had studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.
“Coconino” watercolor on paper, 8.5″ x 10″
Their mission was to provide a practical art education; they accomplished this by hiring successful working local commercial artists as faculty. They quickly attracted students from all over the U.S. and built a reputation for producing skilled, versatile graduates. At the end of a year and a half of intensive, full-time work, every graduate possessed a portfolio of work and gainful artistic employment.
“Morti” oil on canvas, 10″ x 8″
The public library also introduced me to N.C. Wyeth, Norman Lindsay, and Arthur Rackham, an experience that sparked a lifelong engagement with fine art and its history. Since then, my work has spanned comics, graphic novels, book illustration, political cartooning, and painting across media. In one word, I am a fantasist.
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