Decorated plein air watercolorist Joseph Zbukvic describes growing up on a small farm outside Croatia’s capital city of Zagreb as idyllic and reminiscent of a script for a romantic European movie.

“My fondest memory is that of my grandmother, who took me under her wing after seeing my talent for drawing—which I did on any flat surface I could find,” recalls Zbukvic. “She bought me my first sketchbook and some colored pencils. I’ll never forget it, and I shall forever remain grateful to her for spiritual guidance and wise words.”Old Timers, Venice, watercolor on paper, 15 x 21"

Childhood visions of fieldworkers and horses toiling in the bucolic landscape continue to inform the timeless, atmospheric paintings he creates today, but rural landscapes represent only a small segment of the artist’s work. Attending university in Zagreb and later moving to the metropolis of Melbourne, Australia, where he resides today, Zbukvic developed an affinity for city life, explaining the prominence of historic architecture in his work. 

For the past 20 years, Zbukvic has traveled extensively to Europe on painting expeditions and to teach. And while reluctant to choose a favorite destination, the artist admits that Venice, Italy, holds a special place in his heart. Golden Vista, watercolor on paper, 28 x 41"

“It is just simply a place that every artist must paint, and many have done so throughout the centuries,” he says. “It can be tricky when choosing where to paint there, because someone like Sargent has probably done a better version than you ever will. However, it’s up to each artist to present his a current vision using his own individual visual language.” 

Zbukvic’s visual language consists of sharp strokes that define a scene—providing a sense of movement, the details of a building’s façade, a crispness that dissolves into a foggy field of near impressionism. They transport the viewer to the precise moment Zbukvic has immortalized on canvas where one can almost breathe in the cool, misty air. 

“I like to say that the subject chooses you,” Zbukvic says. “It’s a voice, desire, a need if you like, somewhere inside of me that has to be obeyed. That very moment when you decide what to paint is the very beginning of your painting. Not the first brushstroke. Once I do decide what to paint, the subject and the medium completely take over and I totally submerge into the process of solving that vision.”On the Way to Eiffel Tower, watercolor on paper, 14 x 21"

Zbukvik discovered the watercolor medium while taking a university course in industrial design. “I was instantly seduced by the speed and magical qualities of this medium,” he recalls. After class, he immediately drove out into the country and painted a small farmhouse—his very first watercolor. Although he worked in acrylics and oils prior, it lacked the characteristics he finds so compelling about watercolors.

“It only stops working once it’s dry,” he explains. “Those precious seconds during that drying time are a magic world filled with endless visual effects and gifts. Colors merge, soft edges appear, paint runs down the paper and other endless array of magic visual marks appear. To exploit that window to your advantage is a totally and utterly absorbing moment requiring total concentration.”Twilight on Rue St. Germaine, watercolor on paper,  21 x 29"

Zbukvic shrugs off all the talk of feelings, inspiration and motivation and says he takes a more “workmanlike” approach to painting.

“I guess that’s why I like Picasso’s attitude,” he says. “I feel inspired by and get joy from the actual process of painting. If you don’t paint with joy in your heart, then you may as well just take a photograph.” 

Principle Gallery  
208 King Street • Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 739-9326 • www.principlegallery.com 

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