We were intrigued with Mr. Courtney’s story after seeing it go viral on social media and reached out and asked him to tell us about his journey as an artist over the last 50 years. Enjoy!

For more than 50 years, I have worked as a professional artist in both commercial and the fine arts, a painter in oils and watercolors. I am passionate about art, all art, and have been perfectly content with the support and recognition that I have received as an artist which is neither of great significance in the greater world of fine art or outstanding in financial gain. However, one small post, without agenda or intention, has seemed to blow up social media, with criticism, contention, conflict, and at the same time, praise, and respect. On several different platforms, I received over 150,000 likes, over 2,000 comments, and over 1,500 shares.

I posted side by side self-portraits painted in oils, that were done 50 years apart. One is the younger me, 21 years old while a student of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The other is the 71-year-old me, painted after 50 years of painting and noticeably, 50 years of living. I’m an old guy now.

The reactions that followed on Instagram and Facebook were from several levels. They included the juxtaposition of a young man to an old guy, the differences between the 2 styles and which was better, and my skills as a painter-from complimentary to calling me a fraud. Religion, philosophical mumblings, and creepy messages were part of the commentary.

My style provoked a host of comments such as, “It’s a photograph”; “It’s AI”; “Why bother painting this way. Look at a photo”; “Painting realistically is pointless”; and more… Granted, many of these comments were knee jerk reactions, posted anonymously behind the veil of social media, without a thought to qualifying their opinion. It amazes me why some comments were so disrespectful, but that is the freedom of posting on social media.

On the flip side, the complimentary and supportive comments were greatly appreciated. Who doesn’t like compliments? “Incredible.”; “Amazing”; “Wow!”; “This speaks volumes. The growth alone is inspirational.” “It literally says ‘Never give up, keep going and growing.’” “U make amazing paintings.” These are just a few samples from Instagram and Facebook posts.

It is important to provide some information about myself and my artwork. I paint in a realistic style. In my opinion, it is not a photo realistic style. All my work, whether in oils or watercolor, is realistic. It is what I find to be challenging and most personally satisfying. I use photographs as an initial platform for my final intention, as reference for many details like lighting, color, and texture. However, it is my intention to take my painting beyond the photo, editing as I paint, incorporating those details that will enhance the completed project and eliminating those that may clutter the composition and what I am trying to portray. There are some photographs that are best as just that, photographs. I don’t paint what shouldn’t be tampered with.

I am a graduate of The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia PA, where my focus of study was painting. Following my education, I was employed as a billboard artist for outdoor advertisers in the Philadelphia area. Working on location at heights of 60 to 160 ft, using a scaled drawing as a guide, I painted images realistically for advertisements to be viewed from the passing automobile traffic on the highways below. Billboard painting is now an art lost to digital reproductions on vinyl sheets, stretched over a frame. It was commonly thought that all billboards were posters. In fact, the largest boards were all painted, and only small signs were posted as you would wallpaper. I did not focus on my own artwork until my children were older, some 25 years after my graduation from art school.

It seems natural, that I would pursue a realistic painting style with my own work, which began with watercolors. Of course, there was a slight transition from painting 20-foot-high images to 20 inches, but I made the appropriate revisions. One irony of my story is that now, for the most part, my work is being viewed on a cell phone, approximately 6” x 3”. The average “dwell time” is 1-2 seconds for viewing cell phone images. The average time viewing a billboard while driving in a car is 6-8 seconds.

Each of my paintings is practice for the next. I continuously try new techniques, improving on what I know and have presumably mastered, making small changes to how the compositions move, and hopefully, becoming better at my craft with each painting. I continue to educate myself on the techniques of the masters or those whose work I personally admire. I am inspired by bits and pieces from many sources and each painting has small parts of this learning process. It should also be noted that combined with my art education, which can speak for itself, billboard painting provided a wealth of experience with recreating the illusion of real images with paint. My sole job in this field was to depict an image that was a replica of the real thing so that viewers would think it was a photograph. My ability to seamlessly blend colors didn’t come solely from talent. It is from 25+ years of painting in the air very quickly.

I refer to my education, experience, and intentions as an artist for those who believe my paintings are photographs or AI. They are painted. They are not digital renderings, and I don’t have any experience using AI. For those who don’t care for realism in art, you are entitled to your opinion. I love all art and I appreciate fine composition, unique use of color and materials, skillful technique, and most importantly, the final impact that a piece has on my sensibilities. The parts making up the whole and the story they invoke are a fascination to me, but the final product is the show. Art is my passion. It is what I live and breathe. People like to offer their opinions on any matter, and they have that choice regardless of how those opinions were formed. It would be nice if they would ask more questions beforehand.

Thank you to everyone who participated in viewing my work and making comments.

_________________________

Author’s Bio:

Phil Courtney is a graduate of The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Phila, PA. Following his education, he was employed as a billboard artist for outdoor advertisers in the Philadelphia area for more than twenty-five years. Phil began showing his own work after moving to Cape May, NJ in 1995 with his wife and children. His work has been shown locally at the former Washington Street Gallery, the SOMA NewArt Gallery, the FAN Gallery in Phila., The Ferry Gallery at the former Ferry Park. His work is also part of several private collections in South Jersey. Phil has also participated in the John Peto Museum International Juried Art Exhibitions. The Nature Center of Cape May featured Phil as their artist in residence for their annual fundraiser in 2019, “Catch of Cape May”. 

Phil has been teaching watercolor workshops for the past several years in the Cape May area and at the Rehoboth Art League. He paints a variety of subjects, indoors and out, using oils or watercolors. He is proficient in both mediums. Phil has developed techniques for capturing the unique atmospheric conditions of the seashore, and the play of sunlight and shadows cast by the intricate details of Cape May Victorian architecture. His oil paintings of flowers capture the very essence of their purity with the freshness of being just picked. They are luminescent and elegant, calling attention to the intricacies, textures, and the collaborating parts of the living whole.

Images all courtesy of Phil Courtney.

The post Striking a Pose appeared first on Art Business News.

And there are plenty of other, even crazier examples!

Looking at these examples, it can be rather hard to believe that anyone could ever think of using these tools and materials for painting. But, how can we blame them if, as was said earlier, art knows no limits or boundaries? Besides, if it wasn’t for their odd approach to painting, many of these artists would probably remain unnoticed and, if you think of it this way, it makes pretty good sense why they decided to go far beyond traditional brushes. After all, that’s what made them stand out.

Now, guess what? You can go the same path and also make your paintings stand out if you start thinking beyond the brush. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have to use your tongue or blood to paint. You will be surprised by how many more traditional tools you can use.

So, if you are a painting enthusiast yourself, in this article, we are going to tell you about six tools that can make your paintings more fun and definitely more unusual. Let’s dive in!

Blow Torch

Let’s start with something more or less not as surprising. As some of you may already know, regular blow torches (like the ones you can easily find in a local hardware store) have long found an application in art.

If we speak about painting in particular, special art or regular chef torches are mostly used for acrylic pour painting. This form of painting, along with alcohol ink art, is trending these days as many people find it relaxing and even somewhat meditating. The torch, in this case, is needed as a heat source that helps you reduce the surface tension of the paint layers, close bubbles or air pockets, and allow colors of different weights to mix more smoothly.

Sponge

This next tool is also not as odd and most likely can be found right in your kitchen. Sponges are widely used for painting not only by kids and amateurs but also by professional artists.

If you research a bit, you can find dozens of different sponge painting techniques. This tool can be used for a variety of purposes as well. Just to give you a few examples, replacing your brush with a sponge can help you reach very different color combinations, regulate levels of transparency or sheen, and add different textures to your artworks.

Bubble Wrap

If you want to have a very relaxing art session or want to add an eye-grabbing “bubbly” print to your masterpiece, then you can simply use a bubble wrap that came along with your most recent parcel.

This tool is often used in painting to create a really fun effect with inks or acrylic paint. And it is also often being used by kids because it is extremely easy to use – all you need to do is to put paint on top of the bubble wrap, press it to a paper or canvas, and then do whatever you feel like doing to create more and more unique patterns.

Hair Comb

We bet that a hair comb is something most of you have somewhere in your house but have you ever thought about using it for creating unique artworks? Probably not. Although not many of us would think of it, you can be surprised to learn that it is a rather popular tool among artists (and not just painters).

This tool is something most of us always have at hand, and it is easy to use. And the best part of it is that using a hair comb for painting really enables you to unleash your creativity. There are hundreds of patterns you can create with a hair comb – from straight lines to circles, waves, various geometric forms, and more. It can be used for hatching, as well as for adding texture and depth to your artworks.

Scrunched Up Paper

Another interesting and unusual tool you can add to your painter’s kit is a regular scrunched-up piece of paper. It can work great for adding texture and blending colors in a more unusual way. And it is also very easy to use. You just need to scrunch up a piece of paper, put the colors of your choice on top of it, and press or drag it on your canvas to add unique effects.

Body Parts

We’ve already told you about a couple of artists who kind of went to extremes in using their bodies for painting. The good news is that you don’t have to follow their lead and paint your works with the most unexpected parts of your body, but you still can use your body as another tool for painting.

Most often, artists rely on their hands, feet, toes, and fingers to create their masterpieces. As many of you probably think now, that’s a technique used by children to make their first steps in painting. That’s true. But this doesn’t mean that professionals or adult enthusiasts can’t use the same technique to create stunning paintings – if you need proof, just check out a few works by Iris Scott, an artist who made her name specifically on finger painting.

Final Words

If you think that’s all, think again because the number of tools you can use for your artwork is truly unlimited. If you are wondering what else you can use, the answer is – pretty much anything you can find! Apart from what we’ve mentioned so far, some other tools that can come in handy include:

• Toothpicks;
• Toothbrushes;
• Forks;
• Spoons;
• Feathers;
• Fruits and vegetables;
• Plants and flowers;
• Dish scrubbers;
• Coins;
• Stones;
• And plenty of other stuff.

Hopefully, reading this article was fun and enjoyable. Now, you know that your brush set isn’t the only thing you can use to create attention-grabbing paintings and have more fun than ever in the process of creating them!

In conclusion, the only thing we’d like to advise you is to never be afraid of trying new things – experiment with tools, use various materials, don’t limit your imagination, and let it get a bit messy. When you cross this line, that’s where true art is born!

Author’s Bio: This was written by a specialist from EssayService, Julie Gunn. She is a history essay writer with many years of experience but, apart from writing, Julie finds her passion in painting. In this article, Julie shares a list of unusual tools that painters can use to create outstanding artworks.

The post Going Beyond Brushes: Top 6 Tools to Use for Making Your Paintings Stand Out appeared first on Art Business News.

A: Hello, hello! My name is Tom Lohner, I am addicted to painting and creating. Luckily this is more than a positive “addiction.” My passion became my job about five years ago when I sold out my first art show in Vienna. I create acrylic paintings on pre-collaged canvases or wood panels and I am known for my new art deco style. 

Q: What is your background?

A: In 2008, I finished my degree in communication and graphic design in Graz / Austria at the Ortwein College. I worked my way up through commercial and video production design agencies until I found myself as the art director for CC-Lab where I created stage designs for Lady Gaga, Smashing Pumpkins, Fatboy Slim, Eli Goulding, etc. I quickly switched to art after meeting my current manager who told me, “you can only be successful if you put everything onto one card”, which I did…and he was right. I started doing what I loved most, painting. I learned art from French superstar, Nicolas Thomas, and the American painter, Judith Jay.

Q: How do you work?

A: When I have ideas and visions I quickly sketch them into my sketchbook, capturing the idea within a short time. I schedule time for painting, prepare canvases with collage work, paint on it with acrylics, and then lacquer it.

Q: What art do you most identify with?

A: I most identify with pop surrealism, art nouveau, pop art, surrealism, and new urban art movements. 

Q: What has been your favorite experience so far as an artist?

Q: Who inspires you?

A: My three-year-old daughter, my wife, and music. Songs that push me further than I could imagine possible, great artists like Greg Craola Simkins, Lori Early, Mark Ryden, and many others of pop surrealism and the Lowbrow movement. I’m also inspired by the director and crazy mind Tim Burton.

Q: What is the best advice you have received?

A: Focus on what you are doing right now, breathe, and live in the moment. 

Q: When you are not working, where can we find you?

A: Either in my Whirlpool or with my daughter painting on her mini desk.

Q: Have you been inspired in a new way since the shelter in place orders? Anything new? A recipe, an exercise recommendation?

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A: My name is Samir Sammoun and I am an oil painter. 

Q: What is your background?

A: I was raised in Joun, Lebanon on my family’s 1,000-year-old olive plantation. My father, Fares Sammoun, was a broker at the Port of Beirut, and an olive grove farmer. My mother and father were married for 65 years and I am the third child in a family of six children; five boys and one girl. I began painting at the age of 13, while continuing formal education. After completing my studies at the Ecole des Artes et Metiers in Beirut in 1969, I emigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the age of 21. There, I obtained an Engineering degree in Electronics.

Q: How do you work?

A: I work in a series of images from one palette. I work with oils on jute and linen canvas, applying a heavy impasto, created in fast emotional bursts of energy. The result is a spontaneous rendering of the subject, as if a flickering effect of light is coming through. Critics like Noel Meyer of MAGAZIN’ ART said, “Sammoun attempts to make his audience feel the wind blow through the trees, the heart in the air and the colors of the sky…”

Q: What art do you most identify with?

A: Critics identify my work as Modern impressionism. I am mostly influenced by Vincent van Gogh, but also by Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet. However, my technique is exclusive to me. I would put it this way: in a specific canvas, my work is 90% Samir Sammoun, 5% van Gogh and the rest is a combination of other masters.

Q: What has been your favorite experience so far as an artist?

A: From an artistic point of view it is of course and with no doubt, the discovery of my technique and subjects of paintings in the 80s, followed by, and still continuing the research to introduce new subjects and build on the experience of the technique, which evolves smoothly without a break from the past. Collectors can recognize a Sammoun executed 35 years ago and connect it with what I do today. From a career perspective, my favorite experience was definitely my participation in the first Artexpo New York in 1996, which I continue exhibiting every year. Thanks to Artexpo New York, galleries in the United States discovered my work and began representing me. Other important benchmarks in my career are listed below:

Museum exhibitions:

• Boston Museum of Fine Arts, “Give the Arts a Chance” project 2014, 2012, 2011

• Plattsburgh State University Art Museum, Plattsburgh, New York, 2009

• Latino Art Museum, Pomona, California, 2008

• Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Art Gallery, Quebec Nov–Dec 2005

• Retrospective at the Marc-Aurèle Fortin Museum, Montreal, November 2003 to January 2004

• McCord Museum, Montréal, Group Exhibition 2002

• Permanent collection of the Latino Art Museum, Pomona, California

• Permanent collection of the Plattsburgh State University Art Museum, Plattsburgh, New York

• Permanent collection of the Champlain Museum, Lake Champlain, New York

• Permanent Collection St.Joseph’s Oratory Museum, Montréal, Québec, Canada

• Permanent collection of Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development Museum, Kuwait

Publications:

• Boston Museum of Fine Arts “Give the Arts a Chance” Catalog 2011, 2012

• Fine Art Magazine, Samir Sammoun in Montreal, Channeling Van Gogh, Victor Forbes, Winter 2006

• Musée des beaux-arts de Montreal – Galerie d’art Catalog. Foreword by Michelle Dionne, First Lady of Quebec. 2005

• Fine Art Magazine, Samir Sammoun Fields of Faith, Groves of Gratitude, Victor Forbes, Spring 2004

• Fine Art Magazine, Samir Sammoun Walking with Giants, Victor Forbes, Spring 2003

• Musèe Marc-Auréle Fortin Museum Catalog “Sammoun au Musée Marc-Auréle Fortin” 2003

• MAGAZINART, October 2000 : Samir Sammoun, Artiste Peintre de Grande Classe

• Samir Sammoun, Artiste Peintre de classe internationale, Pierre H. Savignac, 1996

• National Library of Canada, 1993

• Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, 1992

Q: Who inspires you?

A: As an artist, mostly Vincent van Gogh as I stated before. My paintings are based on where I live and places I have an emotional connection with. So mainly I paint scenery from my birthplace Joun in Lebanon, Brossard, Montreal in Quebec Canada, Ile d’ Orleans near Quebec City, Toscana Italy, Paris, Florida and the Miami beaches, Boston Park, and Central Park.

Q: What is the best advice you have received?

A: In 1995 I was exhibiting at an Art Show in Montreal. Two representatives from Artexpo New York came to my booth and advised me to start showing my work at Artexpo New York. In March 1996, I was at Artexpo New York. That was the beginning of my success.

Q: When you are not working, where can we find you?

A: You can find me on the golf course.

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A: I’m Karin, (pronounced Car-inn) I live in Los Angeles, California, which has been my home base since 2012. I’m an artist and an actress.

Q: What is your background?

A: I grew up in Norrköping, a city about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm. My dad is fully Swedish, and my mother’s parents immigrated from Latvia during the second world war.

When I was nineteen, I left Sweden when I finished upper secondary school. I knew there was so much more out there in the world, and I wanted to explore before choosing my path. I never studied any arts or attended University. Instead, I traveled the world. I lived for extended periods in Greece, England, New Zealand, and Australia before moving to the U.S which I fell in love with immediately. I’ve done a lot of modeling during the years and later moved over to acting, which has always been a big passion. I started to establish myself as an artist four years ago.

Q: How do you work?

A: I like to work fast and with movement, usually on large canvases. That’s one reason I like working with Acrylics and on various projects at the same time to get a break from over focusing on one particular object. My work is pretty international and universal in scope, usually starting with a subtle and sophisticated palette of color, composition and texture. Finished canvases are rendered using a variety of materials including acrylics, oils, gold leaf, glitter, and now, real diamonds. The result is a balance of realistic and dreamy expressions highlighted by golden touch. My creative mind explodes with ideas when I’m active, like a run in nature, that is golden.

Q: What art do you most identify with?

A: Modern Fine art with a dreamy touch. It’s realistic and perhaps surreal at the same time.

Q: What has been your favorite experience so far as an artist?

A: People’s interaction when they stumble upon my art. It’s amazing how art can trigger so many emotions and feelings. And how each person connects with a painting differently. I love watching people react to my paintings and get lost in the moment. Every time I witness this dynamic, it reinforces the fact that creating art and capturing nature is my purpose.”

Q: Who inspires you?

A: My inspiration doesn’t come from only one individual, it comes from everything alive. There’s a lot of things in life that inspire me; humans, animals, and nature. Things from the past, present, and  from my dreams. Capturing nature and wildlife makes me feel good. My current Art Series is based around wildlife conservation and endangered species and their feelings towards each other. When I create my representations of animals, they are very human and yet have a sense of purity. I also find myself inspired by the way I experienced different cultures in terms of how people in those countries related to animals through my travels.

Q: What is the best advice you have received?

A: Always stay authentic, I only compete with myself, because In the end I am the only person who is with me my entire life. I don’t let anyone’s opinion of my work affect me. My visions and creations are from my reality only and as an artist I am here to share them.

Q: When you are not working, where can we find you?

A: When I’m not painting, I’m out in nature, hiking or running. I travel a lot so it’s always something going on in my world. You can also find me hanging out with my pets, like my cat and chickens in the summer. I love to be creative in the kitchen too, that’s another way for me to relax and of course spend quality time with loved ones. 

Karin Brauns will be exhibiting her work this April at Artexpo New York at Pier 94 Booth #409.

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Q: Introduce yourself – who are you and what do you do?

A: My name is Erik Renssen, I am an artist living just outside of Amsterdam. I was born in The Netherlands in 1960.

Q: What is your background?

A: At the time, my parents thought it was better to do architecture instead of Art School, so I studied architecture and worked at an architects office for 11 years! In the evenings, however, I always painted and attended Art School at a later age. In the end I proved my parents wrong, art turned out to be a good career path for me and it made me a very happy man.

Q: How do you work?

A: I spend my days painting, drawing, sculpting and making traditional prints like lithographs and linocuts.
My studio is situated on the waterside in our garden. We (my wife Suzka who runs our gallery in Amsterdam and our kids) live in a small village called Broek in Waterland.

When making a painting I start with a base layer and make my sketches with charcoal straight on the canvas. I then go over it time after time until I am satisfied and have the right composition.

Then slowly the color palette starts coming to me and I begin applying the colors, layer over layer, scratching away and adding patterns as I move along. I sometimes look at my canvas through a mirror to check if it is ‘right’ or I’ll put the canvas upside down. It is helpful to see it from another perspective. My signature comes last, when I am happy with the result and consider the painting finished. This is an exciting moment, letting the painting go off into the world.

When stone printing I work in Amsterdam, at one of the last traditional stone print studios in the Netherlands. Drawing an image on a stone, printing on paper by hand, stone after stone, color after color to obtain the end result.

It may take me 2 months to finish an edition of artwork and things can be challenging till the very end. It is only with the last, dark, and most often black layer that the lithography gets its definition. All is possible till then. When a lithography turns out beautifully it feels like a victory.

Same goes for linocutting. Although I do the actual cutting with sharp knives in my studio, using the ‘lost method’, an invention of Picasso, cutting all layers from only one slate. I take the linoleum slate back and forth to and from the traditional print studio situated in the attic of a monumental house in Amsterdam where the traditional presses are.

Q: What art do you most identify with?

A: The works of Pablo Picasso and his contemporaries like Braque, Matisse and Modigliani. From earlier times I like to study Vincent van Gogh and Cézanne.

Q: What has been your favorite experience so far as an artist?

A: Every time I see people totally happy or touched when obtaining a piece of artwork I made. To spark that emotion is very rewarding.

Q: Who inspires you?

A: All things around me, everything around me. I use everyday objects and situations to make my still lifes and portraits. People I meet with distinct features will appear in my paintings.

Q: What is the best advice you have received?

A: Look well at your predecessors and try to understand their inspirations. Then follow your heart and walk your own walk. Your path is unique and it will lead you to the best places. Be stubborn and true to your own passion. Go for it, do not hesitate or hold back. Take risks.

Find someone who can promote your art for you so you can focus on your work.

Q: When you are not working, where can we find you?

A: In our garden, enjoying the birds, while reading a book about plants and biodiversity. In Amsterdam, with friends in the bar of Soho House Amsterdam.  In Paris at the Picasso museum or bar La Palette On holidays in Ibiza, hiking, relaxing and painting (oops, working after all).

Erik Renssen will be exhibiting at Artexpo New York 2020 [Booth #303]. To learn more about Erik and Renssen Art Gallery visit his website. renssenartgallery.com 

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Jackie Fuchs was in the hair industry for 40+ years, training with top professionals and owning salons in New York City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Throughout her career as a hairstylist, she put herself through college and graduate school and ultimately became an art teacher in Massachusetts and New York City. Eighteen years ago, Jackie moved to the Hamptons while pregnant and raised her daughter there. While in the Hamptons, Fuchs opened four hair salons and also became a Real Estate agent.

Juggling it all working as a hairstylist, salon owner, Real Estate agent, and mother, Jackie sold ten houses from behind the styling chair. On top of her many jobs, she began sculpting with clay slabs and began her foray into the art world.

On Thanksgiving two years ago, she received an unexpected invitation to Philadelphia that changed her career forever. She visited the Barnes Foundation with her daughter and a friend’s family and fell in love with Modigliani’s work. At this point in her life, she was not working with clay anymore, she had just moved out of her home, separated from her wife, and had a desire to create again. She thought to herself , “I wonder if I can paint?” And there it all began.

She began experimenting with 2D medium, something even as an art teacher she never embraced. Her first show was only a few months later where she exhibited fifty pieces and sold seven. She kept painting and experimented with collages after seeing a friend’s 90-something year old mother’s pieces. Fuchs was inspired by the intensity behind the work, giving her permission to lose her shy filter and include nudes from 1970s Playboy magazines in her work. Since then, she has sold over 295 paintings in two and a half years.

1.) Owning Your Attitude

“We all come to our day, events, appointments, choirs, relationships, actually ‘everything,’ with a history of stories we tell ourselves over and over again. We make these ‘stories’ the truth, regardless of reality. My intention is to help people change their thoughts by empowering them, and allowing a new story to unfold, which becomes proof of an abundant experience. With practice, the old projections of negative stories dissipate.”

2.) It’s Not a Competition

“When I was in Real Estate sales, people commented on how competitive the industry is. I had a different view. Once I got a listing (mostly from my salon clients), I had the attitude that all the agents are working for me, showing and selling the house I’ve been allowed to exclusively list. So, like house sales and art sales, the people who want your art have nothing to do with the people who don’t want your art. Find yourselves around artists who bring each other up. Artists who grow together. People love seeing generosity among people. Be generous with your time and creativity and you will attract the same.”

3.) Demonstrate Your Visions

“Simply act as if you’ve sold everything before you get there. Have your face and body language demonstrate your success. Envision abundance, act as if you have it infinitely!”

4.) Stick to It

“Don’t let yesterday’s reality dictate today’s abundance. This takes practice. If your mind takes you to doom and gloom, redirect your thoughts. You have everything you need to do this, so, practice, practice, practice. It will become a habit, if you do. Stay where your shoes are. Remember, this is fun and people love to be where there is joyful energy!”

Jackie placed 15 pieces, plus several commissions at Red Dot Miami 2019, including Jackie Fuchs “Mona Lisa,” “Office Party,”  “I Want My Life in the Clouds,” “Spray Love,” “Play Something For Me I & II,” “Well, Well, Well…” and “What Do We Have Here?” to name a few.

To learn more about Jackie Fuchs and see her artwork, visit: https://www.studiojackie.com/.

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“This is a passion of mine, and to see the overwhelmingly positive response at West Coast Art & Frame was amazing,” said Mario Mazzone, Larson-Juhl’s business-development manager. “People get excited when they see our Brushstrokes pieces, and it continues to elevate my enthusiasm for the technology.”

According to Mazzone, Brushstrokes enables art aficionados to enjoy the look of an artist’s original brushwork without the high cost. Larson-Juhl acquired Brushstrokes Fine Art, LLC in 2013, and Brushstrokes recently partnered with the Thomas Kinkade Company to produce its new Impressions Collection, a line of impressionist and other plein air works.

The post Newsmaker: Larson-Juhl Now Offering Brushstrokes Reproductions appeared first on Art Business News.

by Julie Jacobs

For 25 years, François Chartier toiled as an art director and illustrator in magazine publishing and advertising, working for such well-established Canadian agencies as Vickers & Benson (now Arnold Worldwide Canada) and creating the visual concept for Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam” and “O” in Las Vegas. He even ran his own studio for a brief period with a designer friend and was a forerunner in offering Photoshop services. But when he turned 50, he decided to change course and took up painting full time. Today, Chartier is among the most renowned and revered artists of photorealism.

“By the time I was 40, I found that advertising had changed and was more of a game. It had given me a lot, but it wasn’t [doing so] anymore, so I looked into painting. It was the only logical direction, as my experience, personal taste, longings and training had prepared me for this path,” says Chartier from his Montreal studio.

Chartier wound up detouring and doing Photoshop for many years, soon becoming financially secure enough to just paint. “The idea of having the freedom to do my own thing my own way, workwise, greatly appealed to me. For a long time, it was work, work, work, almost 24/7.”

Typically painting Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Chartier doesn’t put in nearly as many hours as he once did, but his dedication to craft remains steadfast. He spends three to four months on each painting, with a unique attention that creates, “through layering of mediums and the play of the brush, the illusion of depth and [the] sense of presence beyond what is found in photographs.” Such photorealistic quality is evident in all his series, which include Wet Paint, Waterworld, Simply Flowers, Pop Culture Icons and Paper Beauties. His vision is particularly original in the last of these series, Paper Beauties. For this collection, he drapes crumpled tissue paper around a still- life object for an interesting juxtaposition.

“I look at my work as ‘new realism’ rather than photorealism. I’m not trying to be so precise. Very often, the photorealistic artist gets too stuck in the details, (so) that the painting looks too clean, too perfect. I’m trying to get as much mood as I can into my paintings,” explains Chartier, who is always acutely aware of his audience. “All I want is to paint something that people will find beautiful. I would have no pleasure in it if nobody responded to it.”

He need not worry. His work has shown in galleries and collections throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Mexico, affording him the opportunity to meet with fans, which he finds exciting and says motivates him to paint more. He currently is represented in Montreal, at the Plus One Gallery in London, and at the Royal Gallery in Providence, R.I.

Preparation and Process

Chartier describes his approach to photorealism as theatrical. He first must find the right object or objects with which to build a set. He then extensively photographs these objects to ultimately achieve the right composition and lighting. For each painting, he takes hundreds, even thousands, of photos and later uses his Photoshop skills to correct and, in some cases, combine the images. He works from both the selected images and the still life itself.

“Photorealism is very organized and planned, rather than intuitive. I spend a lot of time preparing my photos, more so than for the actual [oil] painting. With the tissue paper, it can be especially challenging, which is why I take so many pictures,” says Chartier, who enlarges the final image for tracing. “But I also like to keep the object around. It can be tricky. … I wonder why a line is not straight in the photo, and I can look at the object and see why.”

He works on big canvases to render his subjects larger than life size. A recent one measures 5 by 5 feet. His goal is “to capture viewers and make them look at something they know but at a different angle with the smaller details revealed in their beauty and simplicity.” Before painting, he coats the canvas with a gesso base to mute any signs of texture and brush stroke. Weeks later, he adds the finishing touches and varnish.

Light-Bulb Moment

Raised in Montreal, Chartier was always interested in the visual arts. He developed his acumen not in art school but on the job, during which he also learned about typesetting, photography and color separation. His first encounter with an airbrush was during a stint at a sign company.

A date with friends inspired his eventual focus on photorealism. He had been visiting New York City and strolling in the East Village after a night of disco dancing. Walking past a gallery on Prince Street, Chartier noticed a painting in the window: “Gumball Machine” by Charles Bell.

“I told myself, ‘One day I’m going to do something like that,’” he says. “That painting changed my life.”

And life is good these days. Chartier has both realized his dream and taken more time for living, enjoying his home, his travels and such pastimes as archery and scuba diving. Still, he admits with a laugh, “Every Monday, I’m very anxious to get back to my studio and my paintings.”

For more about François Chartier, visit francoisc.com

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