Visual Art – Minneapolis
My specialty is hyperrealism. My goal is to replicate what I see or perceive while focusing on attention to detail, use of color, and light sources. I use value and tone to make my work more powerful. Incorporating exaggerated colors have become my trademark in my drawings and paintings.
Color is never a set thing. It is always relative to what's next to it. Depending on the time of day and what kind of light is shining on the subject, the subject may appear a different color than what it really is. It is important to me to portray that in my artwork. For example, most people see water as blue, but when I look at water I see a variety of colors such as reds, yellows, and greens, along with the blues.
I never rush a piece of art and take great pride in my attention to detail. Details, such as the sparkle of eye shadow, a blemish or mole, wrinkles in knuckles, and each individual strand of hair are challenging to create, but very rewarding. The more I focus on the object, the more detail I see and those details must go into the drawing for me to be satisfied. By including so many objects that seem to dazzle and twinkle in the light, it allows the viewers to slow down and get lost in my meticulous details. I want to create a speechless reaction in my work.
I enjoy combining my love for photography with my love for drawing and painting. I do shoot my own photographs to work from unless it is a specific photo from commission work. I begin by sketching my outline for my drawing or paintings. This generally takes me between 5 to 15 hours. I don’t use a grid, but instead rely heavily on my ruler and calculator to create a larger version of my photographs. My drawings normally take me between 20-200 hours; a 18x24 inch drawing takes me roughly 100 hours to complete.
Colored pencil is my favorite medium, but it is very time consuming. Colors must be layered and combined to create the perfect hue I am trying to recreate. My use of color and attention to detail is how I want to be identified.