Stan Prokopenko

The artist and instructor on his life and future plans

Where did you grow up and how has this influenced your art?

I was born in Odesa, Ukraine, but my family moved a few times as I was growing up; from Ukraine, to Chicago, to San Diego. The culture in Ukraine is very respectful to the arts. Artists are admired.

When I showed interest at a young age my parents tried hard to support my development as an artist. They helped one of their friends move to the US and in return he gave me weekly private painting lessons. This gave me priceless experience with representational art and playing with paint at a young age. I also visited my relatives who live on a farm in Ukraine when I was in my 20s. It inspired me to do a series of paintings based on my experience and the people I met.

In high school I was lucky to live near the Watts Atelier, where I learned most of what I know about drawing and painting. The teachers there highly inf luenced my style and the path I chose in my career.

ROB -LIFE DRAWING An 18 x 24 charcoal on newsprint figurative anatomy study from life. This piece took me six hours.