Brian Buck

Artist Biography:
You might say that Brian Buck and the artwork he produces are simply complex. At first glance his works appear simple, almost all of them are black and white and he loves to use nature as a subject. However, when you look closely at one of his award winning pieces the complexity can boggle the mind – his art form is pointillism and the simple picture of a bird, fish, or rhinoceros might take many months and millions of black dots to produce. Complex indeed. Brian’s first foray into pointillism was a high school project he did for his father featuring Tour de France racer Greg LeMond in 1989. A year later he did a pair of grebes in the water followed by some depictions of bicycle parts and more wildlife; Brian had found his niche. While he admits to being “more self taught than anything else”, Buck did study privately under renowned wildlife artist Rosemary Beamish-Blower. When asked about the appeal of pointillism, Brian replied, “I love the level of detail. You get into a zone, it is almost like therapy.” Brian’s weapon of choice is a disposable pen. The Sakura Pigma Micron has a tip that is only .20mm, but this is the only size pen he uses. Creating a larger piece or making part of a piece completely black merely means more dots from the tiny instrument. The father of two, Anna and Tyler, he has lived in Grand Rapids with his wife Mary for 12 years. In the past year, Brian’s work has begun to resonate in West Michigan. Two of his pieces were accepted into the 78th Annual Regional Art Competition in Muskegon, he was a finalist at the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts and he placed third in the West Michigan Regional Competition hosted by the Lowell Area Arts Council. © 2006 Cliff Yankovich