Upper Lake >> Steve Koelling hasn’t had a single art lesson since the eighth grade. And up until three years ago he’d never painted a person’s face. But you wouldn’t know it, not with his extremely realistic style. Upon first glace his work often looks more like a photograph than a painting.
It’s easy to look at his images and marvel at the skill, but Koelling insists the impressive work is due to perseverance, not raw talent. He’s spent three to four hours every day of his adult life honing his artistic skills, and he believes that anyone would be where he is if they did the same. “I think any time you’re given the opportunity to do it often, you’re going to naturally get better at things,” he pointed out.
Koelling doesn’t ascribe to the “practice makes perfect” mentality. “Perfection is also an opinion,” he said. “I don’t strive for perfection.”
Sometimes, we are our greatest enemies, Koelling continued. The first step to failure is believing you can’t do something. “I look at very difficult job, the first thing that goes through my mind is, I can do it, I’ll do it,” he said.
It may not come as a surprise that he rebelled against traditional art education. He felt classes should teach techniques, but he found that his educators only wanted him to mimic other’s styles. After junior high he made a point to stay away from the classroom. “I believe art is a form of expression,” he said. “You take whatever is inside and you do it yourself.”
Just as important as hard work is a strong support system, something Koelling has had since he was a child. It all goes back to a dinosaur painting he created in kindergarten. While it may not have been anything extraordinary, Koelling’s mother made him feel as though he’d created the best dinosaur there ever was.
Her encouragement was unwavering, up until she passed away in 1991. “She was that person in my life who always made me feel like I was the greatest person in the world,” Koelling said. “When that person moves on it has a bigger impact on what you do in the future.”
Even today his family and friends are a constant presence in his life, encouraging and helping him along. Though people may look at his work and see an accomplished artist, Koelling feels that struggling artists, those without anyone standing beside them, are far more impressive than him. “What separates me from the starving artists is my support system,” he confessed. “I don’t think I could do this without my support system.”
Though he’s enjoyed it since a young, art was always just a hobby for Koelling, who works as a graphic designer. Then three years ago his painting blew up, all thanks to a baseball game.
When Koelling and his publicist attended a Giants game, which turned out to be a no hitter, Koelling wanted to commemorate the special day. He went home and painted a picture of the Giants playoff championship game and gifted it to his publicist, who was “blown away.” One thing lead to another, and Koelling was eventually commissioned to paint a whole host of teams across a number of sports.
Up until that point he had been working mainly in oils. But suddenly Koelling needed to turn out four paintings a month. With a drying time of six months to a year, oils were no longer feasible. So he switched to acrylics. It’s his main medium now.
Painting sports players is a research-heavy task. Koelling strives not just for realism, but to focus in on specific expressions and poses, those quirks that make an athlete memorable. He doesn’t want to paint a simple picture — he wants to capture a personality.
Funds from a commission help pay the bills, but nothing gives Koelling more joy than witnessing a client’s reaction as he unveils his rendering of their favorite team. “Being rich and making money is not what’s successful,” he said.
Koelling spends a good portion of his time working on sports commissions, but in his free time he branches out, painting whatever has caught his attention, anything from sea turtles and anime characters for his two daughters, to vineyards at the request of his wife.
He’s also heavily inspired by other artists. Recently he took a trip to Tahoe, where he visited a number of galleries and listened to curators talk at length about the work adorning the walls. He left with a goal in mind — eventually people would talk about him, too. “That’s a legacy I would like to have one day,” he said.
Koelling is the featured artist of the month at the Lake County Wine Studio, 9505 Main St., Upper Lake. His work, everything from sports teams to abstracts to nature, will hang on the walls through the end of September. Contact the wine studio at 275-8030.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
