J.D. Titzel

J.D. Titzel has been a full-time artist for 30 years now. But prior to that, he flew airplanes... J.D. worked 17 years as a professional pilot, where he spent thousands of hours as captain on large 3 and 4 engine jets.

J.D.’s work has been exhibited in numerous shows both regionally and nationally, from the Hudson Valley Art Association, and the New England Watercolor Society National Show, to the Chautauqua Exhibition of American Art National Show, where he won the Arthur Harless Award, the Merit Award, and the Mme. Shda Fang Sheng Awards, respectively. These are only a few of the shows and awards J.D.’s work has garnered.

With his work in private and corporate collections across the world, from individuals across America to a British Ambassador to the U.S., from the G.T.E. Corporation, the American International Life Insurance Co., Thiel College, to Bessemer Railroad and more, J.D. has a following that truly appreciates his talent.

Artist Statement: I paint out of a love and appreciation for the things I paint. I have a wide range of interests, so there is a wide range of subject matter. Art for me is a way of sharing an appreciation for our world. Giving viewers a chance to contemplate and maybe be thankful for what is often ignored in everyday life.

Light can bring out the innate beauty of subjects. Light striking an object defines that object. Values (the gradation from black to white) are of prime importance in a painting. In an oil painting, I first paint it using only raw umber, separating the values. The second layer consists of a patchy color, and this layer will tell you what colors and values are needed for the final layer. In a watercolor painting, I build it up slowly in very thin layers of paint. Some areas of the painting are two or three layers, some areas are ten or more layers. This gives the painting nuances and depth a single color cannot. The average watercolor takes 70 hours to complete. I have spent over 250 hours in a single painting.

Art is a means to better understand the world around us and to express the values and attitudes that are important to the artist, and to our society, our culture.

-J.D. Titzel

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