Waiting on the Change by Keith Mikell
Clarke Art Consulting had the pleasure of talking with artist Keith Mikell. His figurative paintings reflect vivid emotions and events of everyday life. At age 6, Mikell’s passion for art would began by drawing sport figures with a childhood friend. Through the years of perfecting his drawings, Mikell would go on to study fine art at San Diego State University and Otis Parsons College of Art and Design. From Mikell’s humble beginnings of drawing, now, his work has been exhibited at the Agora Gallery and the Lucy Florence Gallery of Los Angeles, California and showcased on numerous television sitcoms.
Q: Where did you grow up?
Keith Mikell: I grew up in the heart of Los Angeles California, South Central to be exact.
Benevolent Offering by Keith Mikell
Q: How did you become interested in art?
Keith Mikell: I became interested in art like most artists at an early age, around age 6. My next door neighbor at that time, Ron Lewis, would sit at the kitchen table and draw people from magazines in his home when I’d go over to play and [ I ] ended up at the table drawing with him. I eventually got pretty good at it and from then on was hooked.
Q: Why did you go on to study art at a university?
Keith Mikell: I went on to study art at the university level because I wanted to maximize my skills and felt at that time that was the best way to do so. It was also the best way to measure oneself against or with other artists. Competition has always been a high motivator for me. It goes back to the kitchen table with my neighbor and wanting to be as good as or better than he was.
My senior year of high school I was offered scholarships to The Cleveland Art Institute and The Maryland Institute of Art. I opted for the less logistically challenging San Diego State University and ultimately transferred to Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles — It was creatively and socially from the perspective of meeting and being influenced by artists and cultures from around the world everything I had hoped for.
Corporate America by Keith Mikell
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