The Pillow, 40" x 32", May 2004This was another important painting for me: it was presented as a wedding gift to a very dear friend I met at university and his intended bride. The image is based on a black-and-white photograph by Howard Schatz.
Hiring models is expensive and lacking an art school education, I also lack the confidence to claim, 'I am an artist'. I simply don't have the cahones to advertize and I think Darling Beloved might have something to say about naked ladies posing for me anyhow. Using photographs as the basis for my learning has been the only way for me to develop my skills.
There are lots of great photographers but to advance my understanding of the process of painting the human body would have taken much longer than the four years I have been l;earning if not impossible without the images Howard Schatz has created. Alive, the human body is constantly in motion and even dead, the processes of life continue down other murkier, more turgid avenues. The skill of capturing a moving body as Howard Schatz can with dancers (see his Waterdance images) and acrobats (his work with Cirque du Soliel) is unmatched for detail So ,Mr Schatz, if you're reading this: Thank you.
