Tom Kollins is from New York City and has lived in the Northern Virginia area for quite some time. He began drawing in earnest, when traveling through Europe (courtesy of The US Army) because his car was too small to carry all his camera equipment. Further motivation came when his job required extensive travel and he needed something to occupy long nights in an endless series of hotel rooms.

Focusing primarily on watercolor, Tom strives for a mood or emotion rather than strict realism. For that reason, there are no rules in his work, such as never use black or do not mix opaque with transparent colors. The strategy is to do whatever works.

Tom especially enjoys sketching on location. Designing a picture, from what is usually much too much information, is challenging and rewarding. Recently, Tom has been exploring charcoal as a medium, focusing on portraits and figure studies.

Tom’s work has been displayed at The Art League in The Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA.