The Story Of A Self-Made Portrait Artist

Emotions, moods, and fleeting moments are so difficult to capture on canvas that many artists avoid doing portraits. However, portraits are the specialty of one self taught artist who hangs his in the Marion home he shares with his wife. He put together the faces of an American tap dancer, an actor a scientist, the composite between three famous comedians, the traditional cast members of a long running science fiction TV series, a former TV reporter, various rock stars, athletes and entertainers, and his friends for a single montage called "Faces". He makes still photographs from videos to achieve his goal, which often nets him a face with emotions he didn't anticipate. The montage, which took him a year and a half to finish, is somewhat autobiographical because it includes figures that influenced him during the time he was drawing it.

His other walls are filled with individual portraits of the lead singer from Babes in Toyland, who is a Russian gymnast and singer songwriter. He does most of his work in pencil, graphite, and charcoal. He widened his skills with conte crayon and colored pencils. Colored pencils became another of his skills with his first sketch of him and his Japanese wife, who is from Kobe. With it, he attempted to combine traditional American art with Japanese wood block print. Taken at City Hall in December 1996, their close up wedding photograph serves as the basis of this drawing, which he enhances with personal and Japanese symbols. Thank you for reading about portrait artists and paintings.

He could not leave out their three cats, which could not be present at the actual wedding. He turned the face of one of the cats into a mask from Japanese opera, which supposedly wards off evil spirits. Another cat is sitting in a position that brings good luck.

The couple in the drawing is wearing kimonos. He covers the drawing of his wife in the kikyo, a flower that is her matriarchal symbol. In order to draw notice to the gingko tree, he drew it past the third cat, past the vertical blinds, outside the room. The idea came for the gingko, which symbolizes longevity, from a tree at the University of Iowa.

The couple first got a chance to collaborate with this 1997 drawing. He left his wife in charge of developing and assessing new ideas. His wife says the drawing is one of their prizes. He plans to draw figures onto landscapes, which are his next milestone. Thanks for reading about paintings and visit portrait painting ideas for more resources.

Four of his pieces have been published in a book, one of which serves as the cover, but he has not had his own exhibit. The book editor was made aware of his art by a staff member. The editor was so moved she sent an email saying she admired his technique, blend of portraiture and architecture, and portrayal of depth amidst humor. Since his childhood days, when all he drew were action heroes and rock stars, he has gone very far. His expression is so advanced that can draw any image or perception he wants. For him, it starts with a clean mental image, which he improves with additions or changes.
Koodal Kannan Painter, Artist