"Morning Blossoms"
Giclee on canvas
Dimensions: 15 " x 20"
Edition of 50

ike Kupka’s artwork captures more than just a likeness of the characters he paints. A graduate of the duCret School of Art in his native New Jersey, Mike’s use of shadow, mood, composition and color help depict a greater range of emotions in all the villains he paints, from Captain Hook to Cruella.

Recently, Collectors Editions sat down with Mike to learn a little more about his life behind the canvas:

What's in your iPod?
What isn’t? I have 3,600 songs, from Coldplay and Lenny Kravitz to Godsmack and Guns N’ Roses.

What are you reading ?
I just bought “An American Vision, Three Generations of Wyeth Art.” I went to the Wyeth Museum in Brandywine, Pa., two years ago. I knew a lot about Wyeth’s work, but it still blew me away to see it in person.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
An artist and a professional soccer player. I used to draw the Sunday comics every week as a kid. I wanted to go to a serious art school that also had a soccer program, but that was hard to find! I decided to just go to art school.

What is your favorite time of the day to paint?
When everyone else is asleep. I go into the studio around 1 or 2 in the afternoon and work until 2 or 3 in the morning. When it’s that late, my phone’s not going to ring, and I can get more work done.

Favorite color ?
Blue. Whenever I go shopping for anything, I always wind up buying blue. Then I look in my closet and everything’s
blue. I’m trying to buy some different colors now.

What is your favorite time of day to paint?
Now. No, wait—right now. No, wait—just now. No—now.

Favorite color?
Red. I mean the powerful pigment exemplified by Winsor and Newton’s Cadmium Red Light oil pigment. I don't use this product, but it’s that exact color. I paint with acrylics.

Where did you go on your last vacation?
Vegas, baby! I love to gamble. Art Expo was there, so I went to that and hung out for six days. Considering I
gambled for that long, I think I held my own pretty well.