Evan Harrington
by Michele Malinchak
Evan Harrington has been described as having the sensibility of a painter from both the old and contemporary worlds. Some of the influences that feed his work stem from other interests seemingly unattached to art: aviation and carpentry.
While painting is his priority, his flow is often interrupted by these other pursuits. “My studio is home base,” he says, “but I’m always on call for different interests.” These all inspire his art and bring a unique perspective to his work.
“I like the busyness,” he says of his schedule, which is often all over the place.
Born and raised in Bucks County, Evan is a relative newcomer to the art world. Yet he has reached a level of mastery typically obtained by artists who have painted much longer.
Much of his work includes portraits and still life, but his subjects span everything from airplanes to fiddler crabs. There’s a timeless quality to his still life work that evokes the past while hinting at the present. No matter how simple the subject, his goal is to create an experience for viewers combining the richness of art history with the current world.
In the painting Dawn featured here, Asian artifacts appear almost as actors on a stage bathed in soft, golden light. By dramatically contrasting light and shadow he brings drama and energy to the scene. Note the price tags left on some of the objects suggesting they exist as antiquities but in the modern realm.
The painting’s title has a double meaning which he describes: “Dawn is a great time of day … the sun rises and new opportunities are available to us. Ironically, it’s also the start of a new perspective to my painting.” In an interview with Rhonda Garland of the Silverman Gallery, he explains, “What I began to realize is that I found success intermittently removing myself from observational painting and spending more time seeing what the paint revealed to me.”
Evan’s work is known for its strong composition and design from which subtle narratives emerge. “In most still life,” he says, “there is no world outside of the painting. They are objects sitting in a closet. I try to paint them as a part of something bigger.”
Prior to painting, half his preparation is in the form of thumbnail sketches and the other half is in written form. He writes notes regarding colors, subjects and the contrast of objects which he later refers to. Speaking again with Rhonda Garland, he says, “Often my goal is to plan heavily for a painting and then when it is time to approach the canvas, allow for full spontaneity.”
When painting portraits, he refers to photos yet doesn’t fully rely on them. He’ll do several sketches first, trying to ascertain his subject’s unique personality and incorporates elements about the person in the painting.
For example, in his portrait of a man called Bruce, Evan has painted the subject in his everyday brown jacket and red baseball cap letting his personality shine through. In another portrait, a young boy is depicted holding a toad in his cupped hand, and in ‘Academy Studio,’ a woman is painted with her water bottle nearby.
Evan was taught to paint and draw from an early age by his father, artist Glenn Harrington. “I was already grounded in art and got that initial push from my father.” Would he have become an artist if his father had worked at another profession? He hesitates briefly and answers, “Probably not.”
One can see similarities between the work of father and son, but on closer inspection, subtle distinctions appear. “I would say the big difference between our work is my dad lets his brushwork remain visible in the completed painting. Mine are there as well, but perhaps not as visible.” The two also differ in subject matter. While his father favors figurative work and landscapes, Evan paints more still life and portraits.
His father remains a strong influence and Evan often seeks his opinion on paintings. “He always helps me push it to the next level,” he said. “If he doesn’t tell me what to do to problem solve a painting, he directs me to another artist’s work for inspiration.”
Evan has a long list of artists he admires and spends a great deal of time studying them in his studio. Edgar Degas, John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Diego Velazquez, Daniel Garber, Franz Kline, Andrew Wyeth and Richard Diebenkorn are among his favorites.
In addition to his father’s instruction, Evan took art classes after school and during summers with local artists Frank Arcuri and Niko Chocheli. He attended Plumstead Christian School and upon graduating studied at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts earning the school’s certificate in painting in 2011. He later attended the University of Pennsylvania where he took classes in film making and U.S. history.
“I liked the old Charlie Chaplin films and wanted to bring cinematography into my paintings.” To help him create films, he used story boards, graphic layouts that break down the action into specific frames. This technique was also helpful in helping him plan fine art compositions.
He’s a fairly quick painter and generally works on five paintings at a time. “It’s an open-ended process,” he says. “I wait for them to talk to me and then pollinate each one.”
Oil is his medium of choice, though for his own personal work he also enjoys drawing with Bic ballpoint pens and painting in watercolor. “It feeds into my oil paintings.”
As to favorite subjects, he loves painting dogs most of all and owns a Shetland Sheepdog. What interests him more, however, is the mood of things rather than subject matter.
His work has been exhibited across the country and one of his paintings, ‘Harvest,’ was chosen as the cover art for the September 2019 issue of “Icon” magazine. Currently his paintings are shown at the Silverman Gallery in Holicong, PA where he will have a solo show this fall.
When he’s not painting, Evan pursues his other interests, one of which is aviation. He’s had a passion for flying since he was a boy and airports were always exciting places to visit. He and his family would often watch planes at Van Sant Airport in Erwinna, PA and at the Philadelphia Airport. The day he graduated college his parents gave him a gift certificate for a discovery flight on a Cesna 172. It sparked his desire to become a pilot and after taking lessons, he now holds a Commercial Multi-engine Instrument pilot certificate. He’s been flying for eight years and is a part-time charter pilot for Peregrine Air Charter. Departing from Allentown or Philadelphia, he carries passengers to destinations along the East coast from Nova Scotia to Florida.
“Being able to travel and see several cities in one day makes the world smaller. I have always loved looking at maps, so the visuals of aerial perspectives fascinate me.” Even before a middle school science teacher introduced him to topographical maps, as a child Evan would draw objects like houses or trees from the top down.
He’s always been able to turn hobbies into profitable pastimes and doing what he loves makes it all the more gratifying. Carpentry is another interest that has paid off. “I’ve always been drawn to aesthetics in one way or another,” he says, and began doing carpentry with his father. Eventually he mastered the skills to work for construction companies like Trueblood Design Build where he worked for three years.
Now he says, “I take on select jobs to get me out of the studio. Typically these projects include custom trim-work which I will design and draft on paper then construct and complete myself.”
The Doylestown based artist enjoys other hobbies like tennis and plays in a league with his dad. He listens to all types of music, likes to garden and grow his own vegetables. Evan and his wife have two young children and he credits her for allowing him the space he needs to paint.
For all his accomplishments, Evan, who is 32, is quiet and unassuming. He’s hard on himself and still feels like he’s just starting out. “I try not to look at the accolades and don’t want to get complacent,” he says. “Art is the most ambiguous pursuit as far as having a goal to reach. It’s not like flying or carpentry where you advance to a certain levels. Each painting is its own accomplishment and then you move on."
Explore more of Evan’s work on his website, www.eharringtonstudio.com or at www.silvermangallerybuckscountypa.com.
Michele Malinchak is a freelance writer and avid gardener from Quakertown, PA.
by Michele Malinchak
Evan Harrington has been described as having the sensibility of a painter from both the old and contemporary worlds. Some of the influences that feed his work stem from other interests seemingly unattached to art: aviation and carpentry.
While painting is his priority, his flow is often interrupted by these other pursuits. “My studio is home base,” he says, “but I’m always on call for different interests.” These all inspire his art and bring a unique perspective to his work.
“I like the busyness,” he says of his schedule, which is often all over the place.
Born and raised in Bucks County, Evan is a relative newcomer to the art world. Yet he has reached a level of mastery typically obtained by artists who have painted much longer.
Much of his work includes portraits and still life, but his subjects span everything from airplanes to fiddler crabs. There’s a timeless quality to his still life work that evokes the past while hinting at the present. No matter how simple the subject, his goal is to create an experience for viewers combining the richness of art history with the current world.
In the painting Dawn featured here, Asian artifacts appear almost as actors on a stage bathed in soft, golden light. By dramatically contrasting light and shadow he brings drama and energy to the scene. Note the price tags left on some of the objects suggesting they exist as antiquities but in the modern realm.
The painting’s title has a double meaning which he describes: “Dawn is a great time of day … the sun rises and new opportunities are available to us. Ironically, it’s also the start of a new perspective to my painting.” In an interview with Rhonda Garland of the Silverman Gallery, he explains, “What I began to realize is that I found success intermittently removing myself from observational painting and spending more time seeing what the paint revealed to me.”
Evan’s work is known for its strong composition and design from which subtle narratives emerge. “In most still life,” he says, “there is no world outside of the painting. They are objects sitting in a closet. I try to paint them as a part of something bigger.”
Prior to painting, half his preparation is in the form of thumbnail sketches and the other half is in written form. He writes notes regarding colors, subjects and the contrast of objects which he later refers to. Speaking again with Rhonda Garland, he says, “Often my goal is to plan heavily for a painting and then when it is time to approach the canvas, allow for full spontaneity.”
When painting portraits, he refers to photos yet doesn’t fully rely on them. He’ll do several sketches first, trying to ascertain his subject’s unique personality and incorporates elements about the person in the painting.
For example, in his portrait of a man called Bruce, Evan has painted the subject in his everyday brown jacket and red baseball cap letting his personality shine through. In another portrait, a young boy is depicted holding a toad in his cupped hand, and in ‘Academy Studio,’ a woman is painted with her water bottle nearby.
Evan was taught to paint and draw from an early age by his father, artist Glenn Harrington. “I was already grounded in art and got that initial push from my father.” Would he have become an artist if his father had worked at another profession? He hesitates briefly and answers, “Probably not.”
One can see similarities between the work of father and son, but on closer inspection, subtle distinctions appear. “I would say the big difference between our work is my dad lets his brushwork remain visible in the completed painting. Mine are there as well, but perhaps not as visible.” The two also differ in subject matter. While his father favors figurative work and landscapes, Evan paints more still life and portraits.
His father remains a strong influence and Evan often seeks his opinion on paintings. “He always helps me push it to the next level,” he said. “If he doesn’t tell me what to do to problem solve a painting, he directs me to another artist’s work for inspiration.”
Evan has a long list of artists he admires and spends a great deal of time studying them in his studio. Edgar Degas, John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Diego Velazquez, Daniel Garber, Franz Kline, Andrew Wyeth and Richard Diebenkorn are among his favorites.
In addition to his father’s instruction, Evan took art classes after school and during summers with local artists Frank Arcuri and Niko Chocheli. He attended Plumstead Christian School and upon graduating studied at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts earning the school’s certificate in painting in 2011. He later attended the University of Pennsylvania where he took classes in film making and U.S. history.
“I liked the old Charlie Chaplin films and wanted to bring cinematography into my paintings.” To help him create films, he used story boards, graphic layouts that break down the action into specific frames. This technique was also helpful in helping him plan fine art compositions.
He’s a fairly quick painter and generally works on five paintings at a time. “It’s an open-ended process,” he says. “I wait for them to talk to me and then pollinate each one.”
Oil is his medium of choice, though for his own personal work he also enjoys drawing with Bic ballpoint pens and painting in watercolor. “It feeds into my oil paintings.”
As to favorite subjects, he loves painting dogs most of all and owns a Shetland Sheepdog. What interests him more, however, is the mood of things rather than subject matter.
His work has been exhibited across the country and one of his paintings, ‘Harvest,’ was chosen as the cover art for the September 2019 issue of “Icon” magazine. Currently his paintings are shown at the Silverman Gallery in Holicong, PA where he will have a solo show this fall.
When he’s not painting, Evan pursues his other interests, one of which is aviation. He’s had a passion for flying since he was a boy and airports were always exciting places to visit. He and his family would often watch planes at Van Sant Airport in Erwinna, PA and at the Philadelphia Airport. The day he graduated college his parents gave him a gift certificate for a discovery flight on a Cesna 172. It sparked his desire to become a pilot and after taking lessons, he now holds a Commercial Multi-engine Instrument pilot certificate. He’s been flying for eight years and is a part-time charter pilot for Peregrine Air Charter. Departing from Allentown or Philadelphia, he carries passengers to destinations along the East coast from Nova Scotia to Florida.
“Being able to travel and see several cities in one day makes the world smaller. I have always loved looking at maps, so the visuals of aerial perspectives fascinate me.” Even before a middle school science teacher introduced him to topographical maps, as a child Evan would draw objects like houses or trees from the top down.
He’s always been able to turn hobbies into profitable pastimes and doing what he loves makes it all the more gratifying. Carpentry is another interest that has paid off. “I’ve always been drawn to aesthetics in one way or another,” he says, and began doing carpentry with his father. Eventually he mastered the skills to work for construction companies like Trueblood Design Build where he worked for three years.
Now he says, “I take on select jobs to get me out of the studio. Typically these projects include custom trim-work which I will design and draft on paper then construct and complete myself.”
The Doylestown based artist enjoys other hobbies like tennis and plays in a league with his dad. He listens to all types of music, likes to garden and grow his own vegetables. Evan and his wife have two young children and he credits her for allowing him the space he needs to paint.
For all his accomplishments, Evan, who is 32, is quiet and unassuming. He’s hard on himself and still feels like he’s just starting out. “I try not to look at the accolades and don’t want to get complacent,” he says. “Art is the most ambiguous pursuit as far as having a goal to reach. It’s not like flying or carpentry where you advance to a certain levels. Each painting is its own accomplishment and then you move on."
Explore more of Evan’s work on his website, www.eharringtonstudio.com or at www.silvermangallerybuckscountypa.com.
Michele Malinchak is a freelance writer and avid gardener from Quakertown, PA.