By Nicole Krebs
For the Times
MONROE — Cory Newingham has had art as a part of his life for a long time, taking it up himself for fun and with his job as a graphic designer. When painting for fun, he focuses mainly on gouache and watercolor, favoring gouache a little more.
“I started with watercolor when I was younger and then discovered gouache, and I’ve been using that more recently,” he said.
He really got interested in art after seeing what others could do and was inspired to try it himself.
“There was a favorite artist of mine, Alex Pardee, who did artwork for one of my favorite bands in high school. I kind of really liked the style and the way he used the watercolors and acrylics, so I kind of just imitated it, and then I really liked the feel of the paint — how fast it dried and how I could work with a lot of layers quickly without having to wait for it to dry like with oil or even acrylic. It was the process of my attention span keeping up with the paint that I liked,” Newingham said.
Throughout the years he’s been doing art, he’s made a few art pieces that he would describe as his favorites.
“I have a zombie arm that I painted that’s probably been my favorite,” Newingham said. “I painted that in college, but my more recent favorite would probably be the ghost and balloon.”
He’s been interested in art and doing it in some form for as long as he can remember, having been surrounded by it growing up and continuing with it into his adult life.
“My grandma was really into art. My grandpa would cut out wood pieces and she would paint them, and my mom always did crafting, and my dad did some woodworking too, so I’ve always been around it and it’s always been an interest. I went to college for graphic design and now I do that for a living, so art has kind of always been a part of my life. It has kind of come and gone, but it’s always been there,” he said.
His inspiration shifts depending on what he’s in the mood for at the time, but the autumn season is definitely a big inspiration for him.
“Usually around Halloween time I get pretty into painting and stuff because I’ve always been a fan of the Halloween season, and fall kind of gets me in the mood for painting,” Newingham said. “But I get inspired by what my family and friends are doing and what mood I’m in at the time. If I need to relax, I’ll paint something or work on some drawing because it helps me unwind and relax a bit.”
Newingham has been doing art for most of his life and truly enjoys creating pieces when he can. If anyone sees paintings they like, he still has a couple of prints and stickers available. You can reach out to him through his Facebook: corynewingham.art.
