Season 1: The Chateau Season
Episode 15: Kent Curtis-Weakley,
In this episode, I interview Kent Curtis-Weakley, an artist and designer originally from a small farming town in central Illinois who has been living in New York City for almost 16 years, working in Chelsea, Manhattan. KC, as he is known, works primarily in graphite and charcoal, with some work in sepia or walnut ink, and is practising silverpoint – a centuries-old technique that predates graphite. He describes drawing as a meditation for him and shares his discovery from figure drawing sessions that he can draw with great focus for about 20 minutes before needing to change focus – a rhythm he’s built his entire practice around, allowing him to draw all day in 20-minute segments with breaks in between.
KC traces his creative inspiration back to his grandmother, Grandma Weakley, remembering sitting at her kitchen table when he was five years old, drawing and colouring together while looking out the windows at their farm – and how he thinks about her every time he draws now. As an interior designer, he’s always looking and noticing details – how chairs sit in rooms, where light switches are placed, how lighting affects mood.
He began focusing on figure studies about 10 years ago after graduate school, wanting to work with curves rather than the straight lines of interior design, learning to pull figures and faces off flat paper and make them come alive. His work has evolved significantly during the residency, taking a huge leap beyond his expectations. Kent maintains a disciplined routine, rising before dawn at 5.30 or 6 o’clock and drawing from 7am until after dusk.
His advice centres on not listening to naysayers – including his father who suggested business management or accounting instead of art school – and knowing yourself well enough to understand what you’re cut out for. He emphasises following your heart, not giving up, and doing it for the passion rather than the money, because if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing every day, it’s a recipe for failure and disaster.
Connect with Kent Curtis-Weakley
