Spotlight on Philip Myrick

In the spotlight today stands Philip Myrick, a 25 year old painter from Kennesaw, Georgia. Like so many of our featured artists, Philip can't remember a time when art was not a part of him. He grew up painting, drawing influence from family, friends, life experiences, and the world around him. Artists the likes of George Grosz, Francis Bacon, and Paul Cezanne also had a major impact. Philip's favorite media is oil on canvas using brushes, pallet knives, and "stuff I pick up off the street." He is currently working on his own tarot card series, painting both the major and minor arcana. In his open time he works with his friend, Doug Cole, on his films. Philip's has great outlook and direction, saying, "I hope to help broaden the influence of art in Atlanta and change the idea of what southern art is all about."

Stop by at the below locations to check out more of Philip's works:
http://godcharon.deviantart.com/

Sarah Babich - Painting through the Pain

Our featured artist today is 17 year old Sarah Babich of Missouri. Sarah is fairly new to the artistic world, having only begun painting a few years ago. Shortly after she started doing abstract paintings she joined deviantART.com, "I'd say it definitely influenced me a lot," she says. "I draw inspiration from everything I see...a lot of times I don't know what I'm painting until halfway through." Using acrylic paints, her fingers, and a pallet knife, Sarah has already created many pieces that portray great emotion. She wishes to progress as an artist and work on differing styles, realism especially.
" I have fibromyalgia and I use art as an outlet to distract me from my pain. I try to make paintings that seem happy, so maybe they can make people feel better when they look at them."

If you wanna take a look at a great up-and-coming painter stop by at:
http://cheep.deviantart.com/

Capturing Beauty - Sanne van Splunter

Today we take a look at Sanne van Splunter, a budding photographer who lives in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. She began to get involved in serious photography about 5 years ago, but attributes her entry into the practice to her dad who taught her the basics and let her use his camera. Her current camera is a Canon EOS 350D and her favorite lense is the 70-200mm 2.8f IS USM. Among her major influences Sanne lists her dad, the DeviantArt community, and an equine photographer that she met by chance. "Meeting her made me realize that professional photography was not just marriage reportage, but could also be pet photography, something which I like very much," she says. Someday Sanne would like to make her photography into a career and be counted among the professionals.
"I want to keep evolving as a photographer. I do not want to do the same thing over and over again."

Go take a look at Sanne's wonderfully composed galleries over at:
http://www.svsfotografie.nl
http://tigress-phan.deviantart.com

Damir Bogdan - "the Goal is the Journey"

Welcome to the world of Damir Bogdan. A world of breath-taking flowerings, beautiful light symphonias, and awe inspiring fractalscapes. At the age of 30 Damir began dabbling in digital art when he received his first computer. Seven years later he has amassed an amazing portfolio filled with pieces so vividly colored and artfully designed that they will demand your attention for hours on end. To create his self-explorative masterpieces Damir mostly uses Apophysis 3D and Photoshop. He lives in Slovenia where he practices meditation and produces experimental electronica music.

To see more of Damir's incredible work or listen to his music visit:
http://love1008.deviantart.com/
http://www.myspace.com/love1008

Nei Ruffino - Colorist Extraordinaire

Today the spotlight falls on Nei Ruffino, a 25 year old freelance colorist from Los Angeles, California. Having never taken any formal instruction, Nei started off as a tattoo artist. Through word of mouth she fell into the career that she now loves and works on various projects from the likes of DC Comics, Zenescope, Hasbro, and Fantasy Flight Games. Nei attributes her entry into the comic world to Dawid Strauss and cites him as being one of her greatest influences, which also includes Christian Lichter, Steve Firchow, and Hueng Tae Kim. Nei's tools of choice include Photoshop CS3, Painter 2 & 9, and her Intous 3 special edition 6 x 11 wacom tablet.
When asked what she wished to achieve with her artistic career, Nei's response was, "I wish to achieve a well known status that lets me work on the things i really enjoy." She then added, "I recently had to reevaluate that question in my mind. It used to be to work on batman, but i have recently achieved that. I still feel i am fairly new in the industry of comics, so i have a ways to go."
On a less artistic note, Nei enjoys chocolate chip soft chews and pecan sandies, prefers cats to dogs, is 5' 2" tall, and will not marry you.

"It can only be two ways....i will either die...and therefore not be able to do art anymore.....or not be able to do art anymore and then die. I cannot imagine any other life."

If you wish to seek out more of Nei's pieces or contact her check the links below.
http://www.neiruffino.com/
http://bakanekonei.deviantart.com/

In the Spotlight... Alexandra Prillaman

Our first featured artist is Alexandra Prillaman. At the age of 21 she hails from Richmond, Virginia. Involved in art from an early age, she began posting pieces online her junior year in high school after she became aware of the internet art community. Some of her major influences stem from digital artists such as Matt Dixon and Nic Klein who "are able to infuse their work with so much life and personality while keeping it gritty, organic, and real." With her Intuos 3 tablet and Photoshop CS3 she produces amazingly colored works using very simple brushes, no tricks, and only one layer while listening to bhangra music.
“I would love to land a job as a concept artist for characters in video games, RPGs, or movies,” she says. “I’d also like to illustrate children’s books, so I’m a little torn.”

You can find more of Alexandra's wonderful work (along with a few purchasable prints) at either of the following links:
http://aprillaman.com
http://thundercake.deviantart.com/

the Art Spotlight

Hello and welcome to the Art Spotlight. Very soon these pages will be filled with wonderful works of art as I present one artist every day. As of today I am currently working on gathering the necessary information and making selections as to who will be featured. I have an amazing list of hopeful participants. It may take a few weeks for me to get into the groove of my own personal blogging process.
Thanks for taking the time out to visit this site. Next time you come by I promise there will be some content worth your perusal.
Chris