Artist's Background
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"My first realization that art would become a very important part of my life happened during a first grade assignment to draw a bird. It was at that early age that my love of drawing and painting began to develop as I came to feel the satisfaction of creating something beautiful from nothing. The challenge of a blank canvas remains exciting and motivating to this day"
BACKGROUND
Michael studied art at Southeast Missouri State University, and graduated with a degree in Art Education. His varied art career has included work as a photo restoration artist, commercial artist, oil painting instructor and Art Director. He also did frequent illustration work for advertising agencies, Hallmark and Computer World Magazine. He took Honorable Mention in the first art show of his career, and received First Place Honors in two additional shows. Although, at times, his profession in senior management for various publishing companies has taken him far from the art world, he has continued to paint throughout his life. His work has included many commissioned portraits, and he has continued to develop his skill as a portrait artist by studying with renowned Evanston portrait artist, Richard Halstead.Artist's Subject, Medium and Style
SUBJECT MATTER
"I have always been captivated with the human face and form. I am especially drawn to the rugged, lined faces of old men, but also enjoy depicting the beauty of young woman. Every face has a story to tell, and I use my skill as an artist to help tell each story. In addition, I have always held a fascination for ships and marine scenes. As a resident of Chicago, and frequent sailor, I don't have to travel far to find plentiful subject matter in this area."
Michael rarely goes anywhere without his camera. He uses it as an additional tool to capture the fleeting expressions, gestures and postures of many of his subjects.MEDIUMS
Michael's two mediums of choice are oil and watercolor. Many of his watercolors are not typical of this medium, often using more intense colors, with great attention to detail. With watercolor he tends to work from light to dark as opposed to his approach with oils, where he likes to establish the dark areas early. With watercolors he may use airbrush to soften or darken some areas, one of many techniques that have emerged through his own process of trial and error. He will use oil if he wants a richer effect or anticipates needing to repaint certain areas. Most of his finer works are oil paintings.STYLE
Michael's style borders on photorealism, but he is also drawn to impressionism. Some of his early influences were Thomas Hart Benton, Norman Rockwell, Winslow Homer and Chuck Close.
"My style is very instinctual. The art world seems to embrace the boldly different over realistic work that is skillfully executed. I admire creativity and strive to combine that with realism, but my key objective is to continually work toward challenging and refining my representational techniques. Realist work requires a multitude of skills including draftsmanship, understanding of light and form, color knowledge, design, creativity and sometimes a degree of abstraction to make it believable. All of these skills are necessary, and if any are lacking, it will show in the work. The essential element, of course, is that the work appeals to the viewer."E-mail meyer@ameritech.com or by phone at 773 973-2148.