Artist Statement

   As a boy of 12, I decided that I wanted to be an artist. To that end, I spent most of my energy in drawing and painting and learning from other artists, including my father and grandfather. I now realize that this informal education in art and creativity was more useful than anything being taught in my formal education.

   My professional association with other artists through the years, my art history background and the privilege of teaching many talented students, has allowed me to develop the techniques and philosophy that I now employ in my work.

   My work falls, most closely, into the category of "classical realism." This approach utilizes drawing and painting techniques developed during the Italian Renaissance. Unlike "photo realism," which attempts to convince the viewer that every nuance of a painting is exactly as a camera might capture a subject, I want the viewer to respond to the paint. I am referring to one's response to the movement of the brush, the relationships of the colors, the texture of the paint and the sensations they evoke.

   Beyond that, I want the paintings to appear "real" in their own right, not simply as a picture of something, someplace or someone.

J. Craig Greene
self portrait

Click and learn how to commission a portrait by artist J. Craig Greene.