Daniel Novotny Bio

My art journey began over 30 years ago in front of a television screen. Upon it close-up images of colorful little abstract shapes appeared and then as suddenly zoomed out to reveal a full-blown oil painting. The painting was replaced by another and another – each more captivating than the last. They all captured a world of utter wonder. Color swirling around in stylized shapes, as if painted with fingers. Yet they seemed refined, not childish. The paintings were representational but not quite realistic. The episode that aired that day was showcasing the work of Vincent van Gogh.

This was my first encounter with art and it imprinted a memory on my mind that won’t fade as long as I live. The experience was so profound that I knew beyond doubt that this was the world in which I wanted to be involved. Despite such clarity I wasn’t able to follow the dream. Obstacles, one after another, all but smothered the fire burning inside me. Fortunately, when the time was right the desire resurfaced, stronger than ever. Art became a channel for expressing my creativity but also a form of therapy. But it wasn’t only means of escape, it was also deep fulfillment that art provided.

I was born in communist-occupied Czechoslovakia. Even though the oppressive regime ended in my early childhood, living in post-communist country meant that self-education was a fairly new concept. I’d been raiding libraries and bookstores for years, always snatching up the latest art books as soon as they were translated and hit the shelves. But the quality of these publications was mediocre at best.

A number of years later something incredible happened. The internet became more accessible. No longer being cut off from the western markets, I utilized the little English I picked up in high school and in the years that followed amassed an impressive collection of art books and films that I’ve read and watched many times over. But even these superior publications didn’t address the essence of what lay behind creating a work of art. I could mimic others just fine and end up with a nice painting. But it wasn’t really mine and it wasn’t really art. I knew there was more to those nice colors and fancy brushwork. I needed to know how to think like an artist, not just how to paint like one.

As a result, understandably so, my early body of work made no sense whatsoever. Eventually, however, a profound change started to take hold. It took a few years but I found my voice. I understood and finally, I discovered the underlying principles that lead to truly creative work. It was thanks to Frank Webb and it all started with his book ‘Webb on Watercolor’. I felt like I got a new lease of life. Thanks to Frank’s generous spirit and his depth of understanding I was able to lay the foundations on which my painting practice is built. Frank was a genuine artist and a generous teacher.

Things snowballed from there. Only four years after my first exhibition I had my second big solo show. It comprised of nearly 30 works that were simply outstanding and on a completely different level than my highly inconsistent first showing. I also won first prize in a national competition and had the exhibition displayed a few more times at different venues due to interest in my work.

But despite such successful start the momentum as abruptly ceased. There was nothing I could do. In a split second all opportunities vanished without a trace. Whatever the reasons, I eventually decided to start reaching outwards. I started a blog where I shared my paintings, ideas and experiences. I also started posting some of my painting demos on YouTube. And I joined a wonderfully welcoming community of portrait artists (Julia Kay’s portrait party), which helped me redefine the way I understood my work. It was some of the most important and satisfying work I’ve ever done because it was truly mine. To this day I feel a special attachment to those portraits. They helped me gain a more profound understanding of what art means to me.

As I continued working on my body of work, my online presence helped me broaden my horizons and meet other artists. They say ‘when the student is ready, a teacher appears.’ My mentor, an artist and instructor Russell Black appeared to guide me towards my artistic goals. Throughout the years I’ve become more and more enthralled by the painters of the California watercolor school. Russell Black is among the last few practicing artists belonging to this exceptional group. Like Frank Webb, Russell helped me on my journey and challenged me to better myself. His guidance pushed me to be a better artist and I will be forever grateful.

As I dedicated myself to my practice, I started noticing that there were many who never got the chance to get proper art education. In 2021 life gave me a bowl of lemons. I lost my job and my health went from bad to worse. I took this as a sign to fully commit. I focused on launching Creative Watercolor, a platform to educate those seeking to learn the secrets of art-making. Since there’s an ever-increasing amount of meaningless content flooding every corner of the internet, I thought long and hard about how I wanted to approach this project. Whatever the activity, I always strive to improve. This applies to my work as an educator. I work hard to make my content better than the last and never compromise on quality and depth of knowledge shared. I feel that most content of today rapidly becomes the garbage of yesterday, because it has little lasting value. It’s created with algorithms in mind, not people. Scrolling addiction and Doomscrolling became a thing in recent years and it is an alarming trend. I wanted to make sure that what I do has the potential for true change and positive impact in people’s lives and goes against this type of exploitation of human psychology.

My ultimate goal is to help real people become real artists in their own right, truly independent and fully aware of their creative powers. If you ever experienced what I did 30 years ago in front of a television screen then I’m here to give you the tools with which you can fulfill your dream.