art treatise
color, craft, and impossible detail
A doodle habit turns into an art career
EATHER DIVOKY
has been making
art for as long as
she can remem-ber,
beginning
with early experi-mental
drawing
just to have something to do.
“I started drawing out of boredom,”
she says. “I was a really quiet child
and I wasn’t ever around a lot of other
kids. I needed to find a different kind
of outlet.”
These youthful forays helped her
focus and allowed her to channel
energy, curiosity, and emotion into a
cathartic habit.
Divoky’s roots as a young creative
seeking ways to be artistically and
intellectually engaged are evident
in the drawing style that the rising
star exhibits today. Her work is built
around a technique she terms “super
doodles,” aptly named for its origina-tion
in a classroom setting.
“I really developed my drawing
style in class, which isn’t great, but it
is what happened,” Divoky explains
with a chuckle.
The artist’s distinctive technique entails a laborious process of finely
and intricately detailed drawing; every square inch of paper is filled
with elaborate line work and complex patterns. This attention to detail
is used to develop both the background and the subject matter of the
piece. After the image is rendered in pen or pencil, Divoky meticu-lously
adds color using markers, ink, colored pencils and, occasionally,
paint.
In pieces like “Fun Fact: There’s a Cadillac in the Cape Fear,” Divoky
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WBM september 2017
intertwines geometric solidity
with organic fluidity. The piece
depicts a sunny scene in downtown
Wilmington, including historic riv-erfront
homes and landmarks, and
the flowing Cape Fear. The tongue-in-
cheek title’s sunken vehicle is
depicted partially submerged in the
bottom right corner of the paper, sur-rounded
by hundreds of small waves,
conveying the subtle churning of
the river’s surface. Bright yellow and
orange sunbeams radiate from the
top portion of the image, extending
from the focal point of a brilliant sun.
Long rays of patterned light stretch
benevolently toward the cityscape,
bathing the scene in warmth.
The rendering of the scene
includes marine life frolicking at the
bottom of the composition, archi-tectural
details of historic buildings,
and a realistic depiction of the iconic
Henrietta III — the state’s only true
stern wheel riverboat, which offered
sightseeing cruises along the Cape
Fear before being sold to a Florida
company in 2016.
Divoky began making art in this
style in earnest while working on her art history degree at Appalachian
State University, and fondly recounts conversations with teachers and
students who were curious about her classroom drawing habit.
While this is the format she is best known for, she has also worked
extensively in the graphic design field and has used watercolor, wire,
and stained glass throughout her career. Her work in design, and aca-demic
interests in Central American art, graffiti and Pop Art, inform her
intentionally flattened, brightly colored and intricate style.
By Kathryn Manis
H
Heather Divoky works on The Sun, 11 x 17 inches, marker
and ink on paper. Opposite: Heather Divoky at the Leland
Cultural Arts Center where she works part-time.
PHOTO BY ALLISON POTTER