As part of the celebration that's occurring on the 20th for Traditional Artists on DA, I thought i'd take up the excuse to do an art feature on some of my personal favorite artists in the traditional medium.


So lets get to it shall we?



In no particular order-


=bmessina (abstract painter) -fairly new to DA, but he already has a dazzling array of abstract paintings in his gallery. My big appeal to them is that they have this natural quality about them, like tree bark, clouds, trees, stone and even rust. The colors invite you to look closer to figure out the world inside. I find his works very exciting, and immensely enjoyable.





~Bengine (painter)- haunting and sureal portraits. I love the way she uses her paint application. It's immediate, yet conveys depth of her subjects. She retains that expressive nature throughout her pieces.





now for a complete opposite-



*Doc-Hammer (portrait painter)- I've had the esteem honour and pleasure in actually seeing some of his paintings in the real and in progress. Photos barely convey what it is to be face to face with one of these master pieces (and as you can tell, already they are to die for.) Rich, meticulous, and drenched in love- true works of art that deal in craft, skill, and tradition.
What i love the most about them is the incredible lighting, the emotional drama he brings out of his models, and how he makes them have that odd quality between life and death. He also brings back that dirty word in art, "beauty." Truly my friend's works are beautiful. (something that seems less in vogue these days, though i think it's making a come back.) Doc is a constant inspiration to me, to really push my own work in my paintings, and that I should never forget what it is to really know the importance of craft. (which really, it's a great basic foundation to everything you do in art. With a strong background in construction of images, you can do exceptional things in the art world. *gets off soap box*)





~chumps- (painter / illustrator)- Dear me, I've been watching Steve's work for some time now. Steve has a full grasp on how to convey movement, structure, and a very odd lyrical quality to his works. They're compelling because you never know what to expect. He ranges from this fine art concentration to this very odd illustration style, sometimes mixing up the two and just merging these sensibilities together, often times abstractly. The pieces i chose barely do his body of work justice, and were hard to choose. I can't recommend his gallery enough. It's a real treat and a surprise to go through. The thumbnails don't even do a good deal of it justice.





~kainwhite1- (painter) When i look to Kain's works I'm always reminded of the surrealist painters- particularly Odd Nerdrum. His pieces have this dark, yet uplifting quality about them. They're shrouded in mystery, and always leave you with some sort of chill as if a ghost is left with you (a haunting memory.)





~sick-snowangel -Visceral, disgusting, disturbing, (dare i say sexual?) and yet beautiful all at the same time. There's this authentic nature to her work that's hard to pin-point with words, so i'll be brief. You're compelled to look at her pieces, to figure out these worlds she manifests. There's just something to her work that keeps me coming back.





~bbijann -( painter/sculptor) - I just started watching the talented guy not to long ago. He has a great deal of that traditional artist values of painter to sculptor. He has a great sense of depth in his paintings, and his sculptures are dead on. I must admit that i'm only watching him for his paintings. But one has to acknowledge the sheer amount of talent it takes to do both. Which if you've ever sculpted before, you know the degree of difficulty it takes to bring something into a 3-D space. (i added one more piece here to feature one of his sculptures.)





~dhayman85 (painter)- And last but not least we end with Daniel, whose works are a great combination of figure painting and abstraction (which as you know is one of my personal favorites in style.) His imagery is dark and vivid. Darks are dark, brights are bright all in the same space too, and thats just so fucking cool. Just yummy.





Don't forget the 20th is "Traditional Art Day."


-Chandra

(if you like this article and these artists, please favorite it! Thank you!)