Meet Buddy

Growing up in a family of artists — painters, jewelers, weavers and potters — Bahe “Buddy” Whitethorne Jr. grew up on the Navajo Nation watching his father, Baje Whitethorne Sr., paint and draw. He worked with watercolors and pencils throughout his childhood, and didn’t realize until later on that he had a knack for one of the most difficult mediums to work with.

He took an incredible journey through art. After spending a decade in the world of computer graphics and the publishing industry, Buddy made his way back to the art he grew up with, embracing new mediums and a new way of looking at traditional Navajo painting. Buddy said it was his foray into the world of computers and technology that eventually brought him back to art, something he said he didn’t realize was a viable career. “I told my dad – you know, you’re the painter, I’m going to go do computers.” But then he found out about computer graphics and design — programs like Adobe Photoshop and InDesign and Buddy began experimenting with vector art. After working as an art director for a publishing company for nine years, he made his way back to painting. Once Buddy settled back into his artistic roots, he began to explore with new mediums, including a new-found love of acrylic paints, which he then worked with for the majority of his projects. But like all of his work, he adds a twist — he used techniques designed for oil, airbrush and watercolor paints to give his acrylic works depth and movement.

Buddy wasn’t only a painter, though. He managed all of the major aspects of his career, thanks to his experience in the publishing and computer industries.

Art was always more than a commercial venture for Buddy. He took advantage of opportunities to give presentations and talks at schools on the Navajo Nation about the importance of the arts and how to turn artistic talent into a career. He also contributed art to the communities he grew up in, including an 8×18 foot mural at the Tuba City Boarding School, which he completed in about three days.

He joined a Grand Canyon Youth river trip, where he taught students to work with watercolors along the shore of the river. “That experience, sitting on a rock, painting the cliffs — I’d never done that before. So while I was down there, I got all these sketches of the river and the whole thing, and I gave them to the kids at the end of the trip.” Working fast was one of the things that Buddy embraced during his career.

Buddy integrated Navajo mythology into his work, using a variety of color techniques.

As he carried on the family tradition — his father has been an artist for more than 40 years and his brother and sister are also artists — Buddy strived to add his own influences and experiences to his work. “My father is really well-known, those are some pretty big shoes to fill,” he said. “But one thing I am so glad he told me is ‘Look, I took the art here. You don’t have to do what I do.’” Buddy followed his father’s advice and was able to take his art in a unique direction.

While working as art director for a publishing company, Buddy said he didn’t know much about picture books, so he began exploring the drawings and depictions in mythology books. That, he said, led him to Jung’s work on personality archetypes. He also began to delve into color theory.

Buddy said he wants people who look at his paintings to remember a part of themselves — that’s why he used archetypes and symbolic colors that everyone can connect to.

Buddy’s style changed and evolved over time. He was inspired to learn how to better paint people after seeing a woman’s face in a street art mural. “I painted the woman’s profile, and it didn’t look much like a person. So I needed to learn how to get better at painting people.” After sitting down in his studio, Buddy said he put himself through ‘art school’ teaching himself about symmetry, balance and composition — all elements found in his work.

As for his style, Buddy described it as having a Renaissance type of quality blended with a kind of street art, comic-y style. He had great respect and appreciation for traditional Navajo painting but he felt like it’s been done enough in the past.