Howard Bolter: Just a Moment

In 2018, I began dedicating significantly more time to my artistic endeavors, particularly drawing. Having always been passionate about capturing the human form, especially through portraits, I decided to refine my skills by attending life drawing courses and frequenting local drawing co-ops.

While I had always enjoyed working with graphite, I have, over the past few years, embraced charcoal pencils as my preferred medium. This transition has enabled me to create larger format pieces while maintaining the intricate details I love. With charcoal, I can achieve dramatic light and dark effects and a rich tonal quality, often enhanced with toned paper. Charcoal’s forgiving nature allows for experimentation without ruining the piece, which I find invaluable.

Charcoal portraits have become my primary artistic passion. I enjoy the challenge of capturing a strong likeness of my subjects, believing that my honest and detailed drawings convey the model’s character and uniqueness. Recently, I began photographing subjects for my drawings, a departure from my previous reliance on other reference sources. Though I have numerous photographs of family and friends, most were not taken with a charcoal portrait in mind. To find suitable portrait photo opportunities, I began (albeit nervously) approaching strangers with distinctive features or a style that caught my eye.

My portrait of Laura was the first piece I set up, photographed, and drew. Laura, with her remarkable face, proved to be an outstanding subject, and that portrait became my first drawing accepted into the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competition in 2023. Since then, I have grown more comfortable approaching people to ask for their permission to photograph them.

The drawings in this exhibition reflect my portraits created over the past few years. Some are of friends and family who graciously volunteered for a photo session, while others are of individuals I approached in museums or restaurants, who kindly spared a few minutes of their time. Through my art, I strive to communicate the unique qualities of each individual.

Howard has been attending the Minnesota Figure Study Collaborative at Zeller Studio for several years. At the 2023 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition he won the Minnesota Figure Study Collaborative award for “the most creative use of a figure in art” with his self portrait.

Howard’s award winning self portrait

And here is a sampling of his works