Austin Kuck was born August 11, 1965 in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Three days later he was moved to Colorado where he grew up until graduating from Doherty High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado.   Upon graduation, he wanted to pursue automotive design and engineering; instead he traveled to Palm Springs, where he worked as an artist, as well as an art consultant.  Austin spent several years in various places in California such as San Diego, Laguna Beach, Santa Barbara, and Carmel, just to name a few.  He very much enjoyed growing up in the Rocky Mountains and has since made it his home for most of his life.  From an early age, he took to drawing  on a large yellow  covered drawing tablet, with whatever he could find.  When he was ten years old, he did a painting on the living room wall in his parent’s house.  It was a painting of a buffalo on the open range.   From that time on, he knew he was destined to be an artist.  Austin was awarded several art scholarships, one of which was to study at the Bemis School of Art in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  His time there was very short lived, one day only.  The teachers all seemed to pick on him because the other students would say, “you are better than the teachers”.  Kuck figured out after that day that art school was not for him.  He has been a self-taught artist ever since. 

     Austin has been branded with the nick name “Bic Man” because all of the drawings he does are with a black Bic pen on paper.  He says he likes to draw with a pen because he hates to erase, as it destroys the paper.  Kuck is the undisputed master of drawing with a Bic pen as anyone who has ever had the privilege of seeing his work in person can attest to.  It is truly amazing that he is able to achieve such an incredible level of detail with a ball point pen.

     In 1996, Kuck was selected as the official local artist in honor of the 150^th anniversary of Buffalo Bill Cody's birth. He created all of the murals on the walls of Cassies, an old brothel in Cody, Wyoming where Buffalo Bill himself used to frequent.  Austin worked tirelessly for seven months straight on that project.  In addition, his portrait of Buffalo Bill hung in the Buffalo Bill Historical Museum.

     When asked who his favorite and most inspirational artists were, he responds without hesitation, Peter Paul Ruebens, Rafael, and 14^th century Chinese master artist Nan.

     Austin is an accomplished rodeo cowboy in both saddle bronco and bull riding and has won several buckles.  Austin Kuck's artwork can be found in major important private and corporate collections throughout the United States and worldwide.  Kuck currently resides in Aspen, Colorado and has for the past fifteen years.

   “American history has always been my favorite subject and I draw and paint the most original form of American history: the Native American Indian.” – Austin Kuck