Like many, Saul remembers his thirst for art starting with coloring books in elementary school. With some encouragement and a little nudging from teachers, he applied to the LaGuardia High School of Music and Art. His experience there, coupled with his talent, landed him into the prestigious and highly competitive Cooper Union, a tuition-free school that focuses on Engineering, Architecture, and Art. After graduating, Saul worked as a graphic designer for the NY Times Promotions Department. After seven years, he found Commercial Art and Advertising to be unfulfilling and returned to school to pursue Science. He spent the next forty years working in Biology, where his visual acuity and eye for detail played an important role.
It wasn’t until his retirement that Saul returned to art. Retirement afforded him the opportunity to tend to his plants, a lifelong passion, but this time with brush and paper. Saul began taking figure drawing classes with me after studying Botanical Illustration. His interest in careful drawing methods was partially a reaction to the idolization of De Kooning back in his Cooper Union days. Saul's work was representational even when the style being promoted was Abstract Expressionism. His scientific mind allows him to appreciate the principles that hold things together, explaining his interest in light and form.
When asked how he chooses his subjects, Saul replied, "I once heard the idea that Cézanne painted dozens of apples because he liked them." His adopted motto, taught to him by his art director many years ago is, “Don’t let the pencil control you.” I think Saul’s unspoken motto is to paint what you like, but don’t stand in the way of making it better. Inspired by subject matter he feels an emotional connection to, Saul creates beautiful portraits of his wife and family.