ARA: My art process consists of my fingers, a paintbrush, and a canvas. That’s for traditional acrylic paintings. For abstract work, I use artists’ pens and heavy white paper. With the sole exception of 1987's Mechanical Butterfly, I do not use rulers or airbrushes. My artwork is ultimately manifested as fine art prints.

A: I was trained in art at an early age, and my training was very organic: my hands, pencils, paper. Blend with your finger; not your eraser or your spun-paper blender or your pencil.  Get your hands on the art and work your craft.  I took my first formal lessons with wildlife artist Bill Velmure of Wakefield, MA, in 1978 when I was 12.

In 1987 I earned an art minor degree as a North Adams State College undergraduate student. I studied not just value and composition, but also art history. I was wowed by the ziggurat at Ur and the relief and literacy of the Narmer Palette. And I considered the Book of Kells to be the most intricate artwork I’d ever seen. In my Junior year I was granted Independent Study status and this allowed me to explore ideas outside the classroom.

During my Art of Ancient Americas study, I took a one-hour drive with the chair of the art department to a traveling exhibit of Mayan artifacts. I am pleased to say that we identified faint but definitive markings on a particular exhibit, and our discovery contradicted the carefully printed display placard!

A: I incorporate computers in my printmaking, and a professional lab takes my file and produces my prints. My prints are high-resolution digital photographs of my original pieces, produced on Kodak ENDURA paper. I consider the ENDURA prints to be my definitive artwork because I am able to restore colors and add texturing to the pieces. I can also adjust proportions, if necessary.

Q: What do you enjoy most about producing art?

A: I have an affinity for botanical portraiture.  Something about the curves, sharp edges and points is very natural for me to depict.  I enjoy seeing colors flex their emotions, compelling their mix of shape and chroma in ways that are very much alive. 

I enjoy the moment when the piece I'm working on begins to show it's becoming something appealing. It's the moment of eyelid fluttering on a doctor's table; the object now has life. And the single most enjoyable moment is when I deliver a piece to a customer.

I also enjoy depicting fine detail and a good quality line. I judge all artwork on the quality of the line, whether it's work by the masters or the artist up the street. That, along with composition, are important to me. Then we can talk about theme, hue (color), and value (the range of lights and darks).

Q: Many of your pictures mix blues and greens.

A: Yes.  I love the combination of blue and green; it's from childhood memories of Christmas tree bulbs.

Q: What do you enjoy least about the artistic process?

A: When I'm in the middle stage of a painting or drawing, there is an ambiguous obligation to something I can't even see yet. I move forward on faith that something artistic and appealing will come of it. But the work looks very ugly in the middle days. Except for "Find the Sun", which looked perfect from the first moment's brushstroke to the last.

A: I am influenced by Twentieth Century history, from the 1930’s through the 1970’s. As soon as I was able to hold a book I was moved by histories from the Second World War. The book that changed my life was Richard Tregaskis’s GUADALCANAL DIARY. I was eleven years old and his writing took me far away from home. I still have the original 1943 edition, and re-read it often. Tregaskis wrote it, and Random House published it, before the US forces had secured the island from the Japanese. It’s a fresh, under-written, personal and detailed account of the first two months of the turning point in the Pacific War.

And of course the diary of Anne Frank was a huge influence on my teenage life.  She humanized a war of which all I'd previously loved was the hardware-- the tanks, planes and artillery.  Her writing gripped me and has never let go.

A: What I term "Radio Theater", that is, vintage radio stories from the 1930’s, ‘40’s, and early '50's. I have thousands on MP3 and listen while I paint and draw. That’s been my process since 1980-- draw while listening to audio theater. The shows I enjoy the most are Suspense, The Shadow (Orson Welles’s two seasons), The Mysterious Traveler, X Minus One, the CBS Radio Mystery Theater plus a smattering of others. Radio Theater is a lost art form.  Do you want to talk about artists who exhibit pure talent and control?  Then let's talk about Herbert Marshall, Ben Wright, John Hodiak and Joseph Kearns. The radio acting they did in the early 1950's influences me tremendously. With the exception of Welles, I have never heard an actor totally control and own an audio performance like Hodiak did. Listen to "Dateline: Lisbon" and "The Mountain". Pure, stunning, absolute control and confidence. That is inspiring.

Music is also a part of my process. I like Motown and rock & roll from the 1950’s and ‘60’s, all the pop and soul from the ‘70’s, and New Wave and heavy metal from the 1980’s. So be it Olivia Newton-John, The O’Jay’s, the John Barry Orchestra, or Judas Priest, I love it all. Music is a means of expression, I so much want to understand it and graft it into my life.  If I had to identify with 10 years of music, it would have to be 1975-85. That way I could squeeze in the Eagles, The Spinners, Al Stewart, Rush and Motley Crue. All fill me with positive energy.

Visually, I am interested in the texture, designs and architecture of man, and the designs, motions and textures of Nature.

A: If a person wishes to buy a piece, they can email me at ara@arahagopian.com.  Or they can phone at (978) 251-7657. I make an effort to offer size and price ranges so that the work is affordable. I also add value to the art by limiting the number of editions and by signing each piece. As my artwork is very much a cottage industry business, I prepare each piece myself, and that includes matting and framing. You are getting a true labor of love.

I offer (image) sizes of  3"x2", 5"x7", 8"x10", 11"x14", and 16"x20" inches, with prices ranging from $25.00 to $1,000.00. All the pricing and shipping details are on my ART SALES page.