I took an art class in high school but mostly did cartooning as a teenager in my spare time. In the 1970's I dabbled in oil painting but never really became dedicated to it and eventually gave it up. After retirement I started attending a basic water color class for beginners. In addition to water color painting, I started experimenting with acrylics and was encouraged to enter a few of my paintings in the Ventura County Fair. I did have some success and started doing mainly acrylic paintings on canvas. After a while I decided to try acrylics on other surfaces. This led me to painting on old surfboards, skim boards, and snowboards. In my 40 year profession I did a lot of drafting by traditional methods and then later switched to computerized drafting (AUTOCAD). I believe this technical type of drawing enhanced my desire to attempt artistic endeavors post retirement.
Underwater surfboard and skimboard paintings by Ventura-based artist Allan Baxter.