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March 28, 2024 7:07 pm
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Local Youth Deciding Where Life Will Take Him

Josh Lewis a local artist and student at Moapa Valley High School.

by Tim Robison
Moapa Valley Progress


Josh Lewis started drawing when he was 11-years-old. Lewis watched a friend who specialized in graffiti art who, according to Lewis, would draw as easily on paper as he would on old train cars.

Lewis expressed an interest in this type of art to his father, Glen Lewis. The elder Lewis encouraged his son to give it a try. The young Lewis found he had a skill at the graffiti art, which his friend had introduced him.
“I never painted graffiti on train cars,” Lewis said. “I mainly drew on paper. I did paint a little bit on some of the old cars around the farm my family lives on but grandpa didn’t like it, so I stopped.”

As with many artists, Lewis’ best work comes as the result of an emotional state of mind. “I get into a mood and when I’m there its like I can draw anything,” Lewis explained. “I can still draw when I’m not in the mood but it’s not as good.”

At this point in his young life, Lewis’ talent is quite organic in its roots and follows the path of his interests. His beginning interest in graffiti art moved on to drawing landscapes. Being a fan of Mickey Mouse his interest also moved instinctively to cartoon drawing. He also became fascinated with the human form. According to Lewis, he is interested in mastering the drawing of the human face.

Interestingly, Lewis has not excelled in his art classes he has taken in school. Lewis claims that this arises largely from his lack of desire to jump through the hoops of the Valley’s academic art establishment. Of course, an artist who works through his passions cannot be ordered to create upon demand. At the same time many artists could well be reminded of the words of art critic Robert Hughes that, “On the whole, money does artists much more good than harm.”

With the muse of the human form now overpowering Lewis’ art, one is reminded of the artists of the Renaissance and their enthusiasm for the graphic details of the human form and physiology. Lewis says he is learning to master drawing the human face and head. Like many artists before him, Lewis said that he is learning his lessons on the face by mastering the drawing of the human skull.

Despite Lewis’ interest, he is still not certain that a career in art is what he will pursue. He is currently working to graduate from Moapa Valley High School and then plans to enlist in the Army for two years. Lewis said that he plans to spend two years in the military and see if that is a career for him. Still he would like to follow art in some way. Lewis said that he has a standing offer to apprentice at Rix Tattoo and Body Piercing in St. George. He admits that there may be loftier realms than this where an artist can make a living. But he points out that a tattoo artist, on a good day, can make as much as $3,000.

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