When David Witbeck first started painting, it was all about shape and composition. Subject matter was just an excuse to move color around—to create balance (or deliberately unbalance it), to play. There wasn’t much of a story being told. And that was the point.
 

“Fast forward a couple of decades, and I sometimes get accused of being—gasp—an illustrator. Oh, the horror!” David laughs.

“I didn’t plan to get more narrative with my work. It just happened, gradually,” he explains. “The paintings started telling stories, and people responded. Galleries leaned into it. Collectors followed. It worked. And I’m grateful for that.”

But there’s always a tradeoff. Or as Joni Mitchell sang: “Something’s lost and something’s gained in living every day.”

Lately, Witbeck has been flipping through old sketchbooks and early work. 

“I’m starting to appreciate things I didn’t at the time. Back then, taped to my studio wall were two little reminders: Simplify! and Exaggerate!,” says Witbeck. “They’re still there, technically—buried under layers of notes and old photos. I’ve definitely wandered away from “simplify.”

That said, the tide might be turning. His recent “silly little gulls” feel like a slight return to that earlier spirit—less narrative, more form. More fun. They’re a small step, but a meaningful one.

“Before all this, before Guy Holding Fish, I was painting just for myself,” Witbeck remembers. “One obsession: sand and gravel operations. I still slow down when I drive past one. All those massive industrial shapes, crossing diagonals, concrete silos—it’s graphic design in the wild.”

So…

“Maybe it's time I listened to those early instincts again.”

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