Will Armstrong named his current body of work The Tin Can Tourist after the nickname given to the first RV vacationers. Shiny silver trailers on the bumpers of cars revolutionized American tourism. Since 2002, Will has spent twenty weekends per year traveling, racking up more than 300,000 miles on a rotating cast of trusted (though admittedly abused) vehicles, most recently with an Airstream trailer. The road holds countless stories, and in his work they can be found. Tales of out-of-the-way BBQ shops, cheap motels, and barrels of gas paid on questionable credit, and roadside dives and the musicians that crawl in and out of them.
The Tin Can Tourist is the soundtrack of the road; songs and artists are embedded in the towns they made famous. Bob Wills, Johnny Cash, and Muddy Waters are as much of an influence as Frank Miller and Thomas Nast. The lines of the road become indistinguishable from the lines of the pen; the same is true for the subject and location. Will draws with an oil-based pen on a collage of vintage maps and sheet music. An acrylic wash over the drawing gives the work a painterly style.
Will Armstrong
DRAWING + MIXED MEDIA
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