"Artists on Twitter" - @Oilybloke - Portrait Artist.

@Oilybloke  PORTRAIT ARTIST - Oils.

There are two things I love about @Oilybloke, which are relevant to this blog post. He paints the old masters in a style which is not only complimentary to them, but also oozes originality in style. Secondly, he shares my passion for cake. He has painted since he was a child, but progressed to paint with oils just 4 years ago. He states that it was his father, also a fine artist, who influenced him to do the same.

The first painting I saw of @Oilybloke’s was his Vermeer 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' study. Being a lover of contemporary art myself, there was something seductive to the mind, about the old masters being painted today, fresh and yet, still knowing what the cult value of such a representation means to the world of art. Of course this brings into question Walter Benjamin’s argument of aura and authenticity.  @Oilybloke’s painting flips Benjamin’s argument around. In that yes we know for sure it wasn’t painted by Vermeer, but instead of gripping onto the idea of authenticity, we still hold on to the fact that the piece still ignites a sense of aura, because it is the appreciation and homage being paid to Vermeer, which makes us take on a completely new thought process, for when we visually digest and connect to the piece.

Being a portrait painter, @Oilybloke not only reignites iconic portrait imagery into the 21^st century, he also paints contemporary figures which are recognisable to our contemporary times.  This is what I love. Having the knowledge to understand the cultural and social disconnection between let’s say Jodie Marsh and the Girl with the pearl earring, but then again, because of @Oilybloke’s attention to detail and hyper realistic technique, we can form a relationship subjectively between the two, even the similarity in composition between the two aids us in this. Time scale becomes irrelevant and it is the representation of two women painted in a beautifully pure style. It is the technique and talent that we celebrate. When talking about a hyper-realistic style, @Oilybloke relates to artists who achieve realism in their work, such as David Kassan and Jeremy Lipkin. Ultimately, I can look at one of @Oilybloke’s portraits, not even know the person, but still be given an understanding of them, of their mannerisms and nature somehow. This is a great achievement for any portrait artist, and for me is paramount to our connection with a piece of art.

Not only does @Oilybloke paint a variety of subjects but we can also see a variety of style and certainly experimentation with colour and composition among his selection of works. I think one of the main attributes which attracted me to @Oilybloke’s work is his excellent use of chiaroscuro. A pioneering technique utilised by the old masters and as a monochrome photographer myself, a technique which is very pleasing to the eye in any form of art. @Oilybloke’s use of chiaroscuro highlights his attention not only to detail, but it is this detail which creates such an array of textures, which bring the pieces to life. I can be as bold to say that we could describe him as a “human camera!” reviewing a high resolution photograph and relaying all of the visual information onto a canvas, but with just as much personality, soul and charm, permeating through and diffusing from them. @Oilybloke’s portraits are deeply humanistic. They are fun, original and his choice of image, scale and composition makes for a great set of animated, vibrant pieces.

@Oilybloke has recently run a twitter competition, offering tweeters the chance of having their portrait painted by him, you can follow the progress of the winners images by checking out and following his blog  

http://oilybloke.blogspot.com GO FOLLOW!   @Oilybloke 

BY @JileyArtRade