These Are PAINTINGS And No, I'm Not April Fooling You.

I thought this would be the perfect post for the first of April, a day when most people are punking, pranking, and just plain joking, because this artwork is pretty hard to believe. But it's for real.

Mundane Made Magnificent: Michael Ward Paints The Mystery Of The Ordinary.

A self-taught artist, Michael Ward captures what British-born philosopher Alan Watts called "the mystery of the ordinary" in his acrylic paintings of things we often overlook in our daily lives. Based on photographic images, his neo-realistic interpretations of unspectacular environments and people in the world around us are composed and rendered in such a way as to bring out the beauty in what one might have previously considered mundane, if not ugly.

Here are several of his paintings:





















Biography (courtesy of the artist):
I began my artistic career doing pen and ink renderings of historical architecture. I began painting in 1980, first in gouache, then in acrylics. Artists whose work I admire and draw inspiration from include Edward Hopper, Charles Sheeler, Richard Estes and Vermeer. I am most interested in depicting what Alan Watts called the mystery of the ordinary; the workaday world we live in without seeing until we are forced to focus upon it, as in a painting.

Nearly all my paintings are based on photographs I have taken, primarily of Southern California scenes, over the years. Though it was never my intention to depict nostalgic scenes, many of the images I have painted have disappeared or been radically altered in the ever-changing landscape that is Southern California. Thus nostalgia is thrust upon the works. But what I am really after is bearing witness, and making people stop what they're doing and pay attention, to something they may have never seen before, but that makes them feel “I know this.”

I am currently working on a series of house paintings. These simple, ordinary, unnoticed places have hidden interior lives, though they do not reveal them to us. The houses are from a variety of locations in the United States and Mexico. They are the place you grew up in, a place of nurture, experience, trial, memory and forgetting. They are all a common size, to symbolize our shared experience of being human.

Phyllis Lutjeans, Museum Educator and former curator, has said of my work: “Although Michael Ward may be called a neo-realist painter his work can ultimately be described as abstract realism. The picture image is photographically realistic, but within the context of the painting his compositions are complex and almost abstract. Deciphering the work section by section one sees how a multitiude of individual complete compositions are put together to form the entire work. For me the viewer is confronted by a realistic image that puzzles us and clearly tells the story simultaneously.”

As a painter, I am self-taught.

Michael Ward Art and Design


A book of his works is available here on Blurb

See his paintings at Pasadena's Tirage Gallery

Other galleries that represent Michael Ward:

Mesa Art
789 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627
949.548.3570

Studio Gallery
18001 Skypark Circle, Suite R, Irvine, CA
949.851.9181

Contact the artist directly here.

New and Beautiful Paintings by Stephen Magsig. City Views Opens At George Billis Gallery.

above: Stephen Magsig, 68 Mercer St., Oil on linen, 30 x 24"

I've been a longtime fan of Stephen Magsig's work having introduced you to his Urban Alphabet paintings and his Postcards From Detroit back in 2009.


above: Magsig's Urban Alphabet, a series of small scale paintings of letters from city signs (I own the "A", the "O" and the "K")

Stephen's latest show, City Views, opened yesterday at the George Billis Gallery in New York and features several new pieces that capture the flavor and ambiance of New York. The oil paintings on linen depict urban storefronts, cast iron facades, street corners, neon signs, bridges and city views in Magsig's inimitable style.


above: Stephen Magisg, Manhattan Bridge, Oil on linen, 30 x 60"

Void of human figures, his paintings combine the early morning light of Edward Hopper with an adept realism. Long shadows, empty street corners and closed cafes exude an emptiness while simultaneously appearing inviting. His work successfully combines the aspects of a large inhabited city with the quietude of a personal and private moment.

168 Mercer St., 40 x 30":


54 White St., 30 x 24":


Brooklyn Bridge Shadows, 30 x 60":


Duane St. Shadows, 48 x 40":


Bass Ale, 42 x 36":


40 Walker St., 62 x 48":


Bleeker St. Shadows:


Lincoln Tunnel Ventilation Tower, 24 x 30":


Rheon Cafe, 42 x 36"


281 Church St at White St., 62 x 48":


Nolita Corner, 30 x 24":


Broadway Shadows, 20 x 16":


108 Franklin St., 20 x 16":


Sunday Morning Shadows, 24" x 30":


The show runs through May 25th.

City Views, George Billis Gallery
521 W. 26th Street, B1
New York, NY 10001
April 23 - May 25, 2013
Reception, Thurs April 25, 6-8 pm
www.georgebillis.com

Stephen Magsig website

If you never saw his Urban Alphabet or Postcards from New York, see those here.

Consider Your Mind Blown. The Phenomenally Realistic Graphite Drawings of Kelvin Okafor.

above: graphite drawing in progress by Kelvin Okafor

Kelvin Okafor describes himself as a "Passionate penciled artist. Highly interested in detail and precision." I'd say that's an understatement once you see the phenomenally realistic graphite drawings created by this UK Illustrator. As astounding as the finished pieces are (it's truly difficult to discern whether or not they are photographs until you look extremely closely), the evolution of the drawings shown on his blog, and as videos on his YouTube channel, will blow your mind.


above, clockwise from top left: Timeless, Undeviating and Mana drawings by Kelvin Okafor

I'm sharing my five favorite finished works of his along with some images of his work in progress for you to see what I'm talking about. He almost always begins with the eyes and finishes with the clothing. His ability to render hair is beyond compare. My mind is blown and after viewing these yours will be, too.

Mana
His second drawing of model Mana.
Medium: Graphite pencils/Charcoal/black coloured pencil/on sketching paper.
Pencil brand - Faber-Castell
Paper type - Acid Free Cartridge paper 17 x 24 inches


In progress:


Final drawing of Mana on board:


"Undeviating" (Emmanuel)
A drawing of model Emmanuel, entitled "Undeviating"
Medium: Graphite pencils/black charcoal/black coloured pencil/on sketching paper.
Pencil brand - Faber-Castell
Paper type - Acid Free Cartridge paper 18 x 22 inches


In progress:


Final drawing of Undeviating (Emmanuel) on board:


Aisha II
His second drawing of Aisha.
Medium: Graphite pencils/black charcoal/black coloured pencil/on sketching paper.
Pencil brand - Faber-Castell
Paper type - Acid Free Cartridge paper 17 x 24 inches


In progress:



Final drawing of Aisha II on board:


"Timeless" (Jamal)
A drawing of model Jamal, entitled "Timeless."
Medium: Graphite pencils/black charcoal/black coloured pencil/on sketching paper.
Pencil brand - Faber-Castell
Paper type - Acid Free Cartridge paper 17 x 24 inches

In progress:



Final drawing of Timeless (Jamal) on board:


Adam II
His second drawing of Adam.
Medium: Graphite pencils/black charcoal/black coloured pencil/on sketching paper.
Pencil brand - Faber-Castell
Paper type - Acid Free Cartridge paper 15 x 24 inches


In progress:



Final drawing of Adam II on board:


Kelvin is a graduate from Middlesex University with a B.A. (Hon)s in Fine Art. On his flickr profile he claims that "He aspires to create art as vivid as eyes could see."

I think he's done it.

See all of his work over here on his flickr account. 

A big thanks to Vicki Mayer for bringing Kelvin's work to my attention.