Americana
2016

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A new edge on contemporary painting

You may be thinking, wow she painted that?
Yes, I did :)
But what if I told you this painting only took about two hours?
You may be in disbelief because realistic portraits can take days to complete for many accomplished artist. I am just a young chemistry major with a love for art. My only art education and background is what I learned in high school.
But perhaps there is a secret to this, perhaps you can learn it to. This is my honest review and experience using this form of art.

What If I told you this is no mere painting on a canvas, but instead, a photograph and a real human being.
Maybe the eyes were too realsitc to convice you it was a painting in the first place.
Let me introduce you to a new, developing form of art, and an artist who seems to not be all that she cracks up to be.

So what is this?
This is an illuision.
This is a real human being who has been painted to seem 2-dimensoinal.
In my high school painting class, our final project was to create a homage to a contemporary painter. I chose Alexa Meade, of whom I had been seeing a lot from lately in the art world. I really enjoyed her work of art, my only issue was not being able to turn in an actual canvas painting. After further discussion with my art teacher, He agreed to let me photograph my live painting in such a way that Alexa Meade does. All I had was an iphone, a piece of thick paper, and some paint.
What I learned from this project is that I, a very immature and not very good painter could accomplish something not that difficult. All this required was basic understanding of how the face and body is formed using lights and darks. Anyone with a basic understanding of potrature could do this honestly.
Upon completely this project I was SOOO excited to share my art with her. And upon doing so, I sent her a facebook message

Now, I was quite disapointed with her response. I guess I was expecting something more friendly?
"Really edgy" is all she had to say?
I looked up to her so much and just was expecting something a little more.
So yeah, I was disapointed with her response.
I did another set of portrait paintings for my photography class, in which I improved much more on my sell that it was just a painting. But this time, I dissociated myself with the Meade brand.
People having been painting themselves and each other for centuries. And I'll be damned if I let my artistic vision be undermined by someone who was inspired and created a brand for herself.
Way before there was Alexa Meade, there were men and women who stood on the streets painted, potraying themselves as statues.
I'm not sure where Alexa Meade got her inspiration. But all of our ideas are inspired from somewhere.
Are our ideas even ours? Or a curation of our experiences?
Maybe I'm a little salty. But hey that's what you get.
Alexa has done some really amazing paintings. Fantastic ones.
And others that are not so great, and honestly seem thrown together, sloppy, and lack vision. Others I admire very much so. This is my honest opinion about her work.

Sometimes poeple forget that IT IS OKAY to not like some art. I swear I get sick of hearing people say "ooo" "ahhh" to everything they see art-related just because it's art. It's okay to say that painting looks like someone threw up on it. It's okay to say you don't like certain types of art.

For example, Jackson Pollock is very famous for his abstract paintings where he literally just splattered a bunch of paint everywhere on the canvas, Which at the time, was revolutionary, and paved a way for a new type and understanding of art. I respect this.

But honestly, I hate his work. Like there is no talent in it at all. Honestly. A five year old could do it. There have been artists who dedicated their entire lives to their careers, painting things you could never imagine being able to do. And honestly are overshadowed by artists who think of something new and trendy and lack the discipline and talent of their predecessors.

Like honestly people. Someone paints a black triangle and you are in awe over something you could do for $5 at the craft store.

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But back to Americana, the painting at hand.
The Model's name is Nathan, a former friend's boyfriend.
Nathan had interesting feature and an longer neck that almost gave him an unrealistic sense to his proportions. It really provided a visual interest to the photo.
He was a really great model and even let me put paint in his hair which God knows is not east to get out.
Here I use my signature red and blues.
The paint of his face is a lot of chaos, which I will stray away from in my future paintings.
Below I have attached more photos and part of the process
AND A SNEAK PEAK OF AN UPCOMING ARTICLE ;) That involves my roomie @trendytraveler

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@Truthtalks
https://steemit.com/@truthtalks
January 26th, 2018