How did you become a painter?
It took time. I've been drawing since I was little, but when I wanted to go to art school after high school, I was told I had too much of a science background and not enough a literary one. At that point, I completely stopped drawing and painting. I studied technical subjects. Actually, it came back to me later. Eight years ago, after my mother passed away, I needed an escape, and I found it in drawing and painting. I haven't stopped since. I'm getting more and more requests for paintings, so I went for it. I have a website, social media accounts, and I registered as a professional artist three years ago, while still working as a project manager.
On your website, you offer commissions. Do you paint on commission or do you sell existing works?
Both. I will be selling paintings that I create throughout the year, but it's often more commissions that people place with me—portraits of family members, of animals they're attached to.
In these portraits, is it the gaze that interests you?
Yes, absolutely. Whether human or animal, the gaze holds so much. I paint it trying to give it intensity, so that it conveys emotion to the viewer. I also see this emotion in the viewer's gaze when faced with a loved one or a deceased animal they cherished. I see that there's something in the painting that evokes emotion in them, whether it's joy or a pang of sadness. And that often comes through the gaze.
How do you go from the monkey sticking its tongue out to the ferocious panther?
They each correspond to what I wanted to express at that moment. The panther represents tension, an inner strength, while the monkey is full of humor and derision. I paint what I feel. Painting is my escape. When I paint, I stop thinking about anything, and it liberates me. But I also want to bring joy.
Is the absence of color as powerful as color?
Initially, I worked a lot in black and white with just a touch of color, often blue or yellow, in the eyes to intensify the gaze. Color to break the monotony of black and white. I also do classical drawing. But I also have very colorful, very dynamic paintings in a pop art style that I really love. I can spend hours and hours applying layers of red, yellow, or blue to achieve completely opaque colors with no transparency.
@bigorre_org