Exquisite Arts Magazine Vol 3 - Nov/ Dec 2016 | Page 8

Your artwork is impeccable. How long
have you been an artist? What is your
artistic background?
I've made a living out of it since 1980. I consider
myself as an almost self-taught artist because I do
not believe in drawing schools or higher level of
lecture on academies. You can't teach anybody to
draw or paint but it is possible to inspire a young
student with the right supplies at an early stage.
That can be acquired with the old fashioned
relationship, master -pupil.

What do you enjoy most about oil
painting? Is this your favourite type of
medium? If so, why?
I like all the different mediums I'm involved with
because they challenge me to different
approaches all the time: The old fashioned
realistic style of oil painting acquires a dark
umbra type of ground on the canvas because you
take active use of it in the shadows of the human

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flesh. On the other hand it can't rival the sense of
bright light that you can create by spacing out
some of the surface of the water color paper in the
finished work, in contrast to a baroque style of art
where everything has to be painted. Charcoal
drawing is the art of creating the line you don't see,
just feel. Therefore there is no favorite, only one
common law; don't be too tough with you pencil
when you draw. Not too much information when
you catch the line. Do not underestimate your
audience.

Many believe that artists have a social
responsibility or that art should convey a
deep rooted message. What are your
thoughts, what does art mean to you?
I consider myself as an artist belonging to the
group of new realists where the human being is
looked upon in a new light and painted strongly
figurative. The meaning of Clair Obscure, in
Italian chiaroscuro, is light in the darkness. I do
believe in social awareness for artists, and I say to
my students that this training technique in