Original artwork description:

I paint nudes. Not for profit — these works rarely sell. Many women often hesitate to welcome another woman in their apartment, even a painted one. And yet, I paint.

To me, the nude is the most compelling subject an artist can pursue. It demands everything at once: the nuanced language of skin tones, the delicate balance of warm and cool light, and above all — the drawing. Drawing is sacred.

I come from a classical realist tradition, and I teach academic drawing and anatomical form at two fine art institutions. When the anatomy is off — say, an inaccurately placed acromion (the point where the scapula meets the clavicle) — it doesn’t look like bone, but like something grotesque, a flaw. When it’s drawn correctly, harmony returns. This applies to every anatomical success and misstep.

Each of us responds to what we know. Bad advertising leaves me indifferent — though it drives my wife and son crazy. But a poorly drawn figure? That strikes me like a blow. It makes me physically uneasy.

To paint the nude is to attempt the highest form of mastery, it reveals who we are — and how far we’ve come. It’s an honest measure of artistic truth.

I don’t claim this path is for everyone. Many gifted artists paint only landscapes — and that's fine. Every artist follows their own path. But for me, the nude remains a lifelong search: for form, for color, for composition, for meaning.

Materials used:

Oil

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