J R Underwood studied painting and sculpture at the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, Oklahoma. His painting studies were under the direction of Eugene A Bavinger, an eminent abstract expressionist painter. He received both an undergraduate and graduate degrees in Fine Art. His early paintings of the mid 1970’s were also abstract expressionist works depicting the dynamism of nature that combines light and color visual complexities involved in the depiction of abstract space. His paintings were exhibited at the Fred Jones Museum of Art in Norman, OK and at the Contemporary Arts Foundation in Oklahoma City, OK and are in several private collections.

In 2009, he retired from the business world and began painting again; his paints are now pixels instead acrylics and his canvas is his monitor. He digitally paints on the computer using the same techniques as a traditional artist. The end result is a very vibrant painting with the similar characteristics of both a oil and acrylic painting. He works from photographs of the chosen landscapes. Expression with color allows him to be free while creating the landscape in the way he perceive it. He attempts to capture the sensations and revelations he experience when he is in the midst of nature. He paints not to paint precisely what he sees, but what he feels and what he want the viewer to see. Once a painting is completed on his computer he transfers them to canvas or paper utilizing a Giclee print process which lays down high quality vivid pigments on canvas, paper or metal. The pigments are archival and are colorfast for 80 years or more. The artist offers "Limited Edition" numbered and signed prints that he has embellished with brush strokes and sometimes acrylic paint in areas of the print. Open stock prints may also be available as well. His recent works are in private collections in the United States and internationally.
His Southwestern landscapes reflect naturally beautiful compositions with vivid colors and many times dramatic skies stemming from the inspiration he felt when visiting some of the National parks and the southwestern United States. He has merged the dynamism of nature that combines light and color of his Abstract Expressionism into the Impressionistic Realism of his "Southwestern Impressionism Series".

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