Luke Buck grew up in Indiana with a love for life, art and nature that is evident in his nostalgic watercolors of Americana. Traveling the back roads in search of scenic places, Buck will sometimes round a bend in the road, and the setting will find the artist.

Similarly, his vivid watercolors, the end result of his wanderings, reach out to the viewer. “I try to include the viewer in my paintings. The viewer is part of my work,” says Buck. His captivating watercolors break out of their borders to welcome the viewer into their quietude, extending an invitation to roam.

Buck’s distinctive borders evolved from vignettes. Finding that sketches were more interesting when surrounded by negative space, he began to design his paintings in much the same way.

His father was also an artist and, even as a child, Buck wanted to follow in his footsteps. He remembers the astonishment of visitors to their home when they saw the oil paintings that filled every available inch of wall space. Having been so surrounded by art at home, Buck thought it was customary.

After graduating, his high school placed him in a position where he worked as a commercial artist, and during his hitch in the U.S. Army he pulled illustration duty. Buck continued to work in commercial art until 1981, when he decided to devote his attention to fine art full time.

Each of his paintings has its own charm and tells its own tale. This is because a setting must have a certain appeal for Buck, either in terms of the subject matter or the feelings it evokes. And just as every locale has its own climate, its own “feel,” Buck’s paintings all have a distinct atmosphere. It was his fifth grade teacher who taught him to keep in mind details such as: “Is the grass wet? Then paint it so you can smell it. Is the sunshine warm? Paint it so that you can feel its heat.” An excellent teacher who loved art and influenced his life, she recognized his talents and helped him to hone his skills. She taught him principles and techniques that even some older, more advanced students did not know, such as perspective.

An intense painter, Buck loses himself in the experience. He prefers to work without any distractions, not even music. From the many reference photos he takes, he may select only a small section of a photo for a painting. Then he indulges in artistic license to entirely recreate it as a snow-covered scene or anything else that his imagination may conjure.

Although Buck has experimented with oils and acrylics, he prefers watercolors for their spontaneity and versatility. It is a medium that gives him the freedom to paint tightly and loosely within the same piece, blending realism with impressionism. The looseness in a piece allows the viewer to use his own imagination to fill in the details.

His father had once advised him to paint, not to please others, but to please each artist’s toughest critic: himself. “Satisfy yourself with a painting. If you’re happy, others will be happy, too.” Remembering those words, when Buck is content with a painting, he always adds a personal touch to it in an inconspicuous place — his fingerprint.