Curtis Woody
Creative art is a seducer; few forms of it are more capable of luring an artist out of total reality into hours of total involvement than stippling (the art of drawing with dots). How much time should be devoted to the development of images, how detailed or loosely interpreted should images be, these are entirely up to the artist and the style by which he or she wishes to be known. Among the artist who mastered the uniqueness of this technique was French impressionist Georges Seurat. His painting “Sunday On The Grand-Jatte” has moved art lovers for decades. Like Seurat, Prince George’s County artist Curtis G. Woody, with whom he happens to share a birthday, has been moving art lovers for three decades. He has spent thousands of hours and millions of ink dot creating his unique drawings.
Curtis shows extraordinary skill in capturing the candid sensitivity of the human subject with
his epitome of patience and rational approach to the problems of light. He keeps pre-drawing to a minimal -just enough to locate the outline of a figure while at the same time paying carefulattention to the study of composition. Some of his major works have no less than 10 small drawing before putting together the formal composition.
“I look for subjects that have an inherent emotional quality: however this is not essential since subjects can be adapted or modified through style to achieve this effect.” Ordinary people
and their lifestyles are important to Curtis. Their struggle to survive, the joy and sadness of day to day living, and the sensitivity found in facial expressions provide a rich pool of subjects for new statements in ink. The innocence of the young and the calm acceptance of the elderly offer an unlimited arry of opportunity to understand, through art, how common the spirit of human emotion is to all.
After earning an Associate Degree in Commercial Art at Thomas Nelson Community College, Hampton, Virginia. Curtis, his wife Jacqueline and their son Jonathan have made their home
in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Curtis has been successful in meeting his professional goals,
from past positions as technical illustrator with LTV Aerospace to art director of NPC Associates, to present national recognitions of his drawings.
A recipient of numerous award, Curtis’ name and art work can be associated with art patrons such as Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer, NBA Basket Ball player “Tree” Rollins, Madame Leah Tutu, wife of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and the Honorable Alexis Herman, Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Labor. Curtis was one of two artist commissioned for the “one per cent for art” component of Enoch Pratt Free Library’s $3.2 million renovation project.
His career is characterized by a continuing allegiance to his cultural heritage. The honest candor with which he captures ordinary people remains the great strength of his interpretations of the world in which we live-interpretation to be remembered for decades
to come. Curtis is truly the dot man.