As a young adult, John Cook was first exposed to the works of Nicholai Fechin, and this experience had a major impact on Cook that continues to this day. John Singer Sargent's direct, fluid strokes inspired the spontaneous dashes of paint that give John's works their dramatic surfaces and energetic compositions, as did watercolors by Frank Brangwyn and Winslow Homer.  The still-life and floral paintings of Henry Fatin Latour bring strong influences for color, texture and composition.  Today, John Cook incorporates similar elements into his work and refuses to limit himself in subject matter.

In a phrase, "a kind of impatient realism" is a definition that John Cook applies to his work.  This is an excellent description of the action and energy that permeates his canvases.  There is a spontaneous nature to the paintings that retells the artist's need to quickly achieve the essence of light as it dances, pierces, careens, and bounces to find its way throughout the subject.  Cook states, "As for my style of painting, if I could do a painting in less than 60 seconds I would be pleased.  Sometimes I feel the urgency to attack a canvas and capture the intensity of my mind and emotions without respecting the necessary effort of the image to be valued as fine art."

John Cook attended school at the University of Texas at Arlington and the Art Center School in Los Angeles, where he received an advanced degree in illustration.

Awards:

The One Show - Art Directors' Club of New York

Illustrators Shows: Dallas, Los Angeles, Denver, New York

Top 200, Arts for Parks, 1991 - National Park Service

National Museum of Sport