Sept/Oct 2018 - David Bender

David Bender was born in Erie, where his parents quickly recognized his unique talent and sent him to art school at the age of five. David continued his training in art throughout all of his formal education until in junior college he was drafted into the army where he served in Vietnam. After his time, he decided to attend the University of South Florida where rather than become an architect as he’d originally planned, he pursued his greatest passion, graduating instead with a Bachelor of Fine Arts as well as a mentorship under one of his most influential teachers, Theo Wujick. Under Wujick, David learned lithography and advanced his drawing skills to the next level of professionalism.

Throughout his career as an artist, David has created artwork for events, local shops, galleries, commissioned clients, and has donated pieces regularly for charitable causes. His current focus is on oil painting and a new line of modern abstract work which has recently gained attention across the US. Though time & again, he finds himself going back to his roots with the penciled drawings he enjoys.

“The animals in ‘Wild’, are painted in a way that depicts each creature in the same form one might see in a human portrait. It is my motive to capture a moment in which the subject is so deep within their own nature they let their boundaries down, be it the eyes or location that give them away. In painting this series, it is always interesting to discover the details of each creatures complexity, and to find the patience to represent it accurately.”