Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Michael Shapcott



Michael Shapcott is an artist from Hartford, Connecticut. He initially studied Illustration at Paier College of Art in Hamden, Connecticut but changed his major to fine art after two years. He often cites the use of both backgrounds in each work. He typically starts a work with a finely detailed graphite drawing on illustration board or canvas, then lays thin layers of acrylic, oil paint, or other media on top. All the works have a feeling of spontaneity and looseness, but the amount of detail keeps the work from looking "easy."
His work typically features up-close portraits of young women or animals (typically birds). On his website he says that music and nature inspire a lot of his work, as well as Native American Culture.

His website is: http://michael-shapcott.com/blog/

I highly recommend it, as he answers a lot of technical questions about his work and gives great advice in his blog and faq sections.

And he posts a lot of videos like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRfWUyOLJXM&feature=player_embedded#at=427

In which he sings/dances/demonstrates how his technique works.

2 comments:

  1. I'm not sure why but I can't stop looking at this one. I love the textures and colors. I probably keep staring because I wonder how he did it. I will certainly look at his videos on his technique.

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  2. This is a really interesting piece. The colors are really nice and earthtoned, mostly on the cool side, and really ofset the alluring eapression of the girl to give this sort of calm sudduction to the viewer. I think he also does a great job using the hair and the fait random lines that contour the face to move the eye through the work. The hair covering half the face also allows for a kind of mystery to intrigue the audience.

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