When Jeff Little was a boy, he enjoyed walking in the acres of woods behind his grandmother’s house.

Many years later, these woods located outside of Charleston serve as a major influence to many of his artistic pieces.

“I can just remember walking through the woods and being in awe of the beauty of my surroundings and knowing that I wanted to create pictures of what I saw,” Little said.

Little will receive an award Sunday during a reception celebrating the 17th biennial Drawing/Watercolor: Illinois competitive exhibit at Tarble Arts Center. His work, “Spring Creek Morning,” and the works of Eastern Illinois students and members of the surrounding communities will be on display from Saturday through Feb. 22.

Little has been submitting his art in exhibits at Tarble since the mid-1980s.

“I feel very fortunate to be winning an award,” Little said. “Unfortunately, I don’t believe I will be able to attend the award ceremony.”

He said the piece, “Spring Creek Morning,” is a good example of showing the i

portance of the horizon line.

“I typically start with the horizon line and go from there, it gives me a sense of where everything will go,” Little said. “For ‘Spring Creek Morning,’ I tried to capture a dark creek with a hazy morning glow and from there, I shaded.”

The drawing/watercolor exhibit will feature art forms of mainly water-based painting media, drawing media, collage or any combination of the three.

The drawing and watercolor exhibit doubles as a competition for the artists displaying their works. The competition is for all citizens of Illinois with the first place price (Best-Of-Show award) being valued at $2,000.

Along with the cash prize, the winner will have their piece of art displayed in the permanent collection of the Tarble Arts Center.

Award winners will be announced at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday at a reception in Tarble Arts Center.

Little, a graphic designer for State Farm Insurance agency, began his artistic career at the age of 10.

Little said he usually concentrates on landscape and figurative drawing that normally focuses on the horizon line of the artistic piece.

Little, 46, is a graduate of Parkland University and said that his time at the university helped him understand the art of painting.

Little lives in Tuscola and said he knew that he always wanted to be an artist.

He said that at an early age, he would sit in libraries for hours looking at art books, without reading who painted the pieces.

“At a young age, I didn’t understand what was going on,” he said. “So, I sat home at night and just opened my mind to take everything in about the photographs.”

Little mainly focuses his artistic works on Illinois landscapes.

He said his artistic pieces are sometimes spontaneous and others are planned out.

“The figure pieces are the ones that can sometimes take years,” Little said.

As a boy, Little had been interested in the woodland landscapes and birds in Illinois.

These two themes are main focuses of Little’s works.

Little praised the efforts that Michael Watts had put forth to bring the show together.

Watts is the director of Tarble Arts Center.

“Michael and his staff have gone to great lengths to make sure the show is done right,” Little said. “The students really get to see world-class artwork and without certain individual’s efforts, it would not be possible.”

Little explained that there are benefits to these exhibits that are not only for the artist, but for the viewer and the community as well.

“I can remember when I first started going to art exhibits. I was amazed to see all the types of art. With all the different types of art it opened my eyes up to the endless possibilities that come with being an artist,” said Little. “These exhibits typically bring a lot of people with different tastes, so it is always good to get different views.”

Wanna Go?

Who: Jeff Little

What: A show featuring the art of Jeff Little, Eastern students and community members

When: 2:30 p.m. on Sunday

Where: Tarble Arts Center

How much: Free