JW-Jeong

Aristotle once said, 'A corpse is repulsive, but the painting of a corpse can be beautiful.' And I say, 'A pimple is repulsive, but the painting of a pimple can be beautiful.' It's the magic that keeps me practicing on hyper-realistic portraits!

I'm often asked if I use a projector, a printed canvas or grid for my paintings. To be blunt, the answer is simple 'no'. I do use several vertical & horizontal lines as the guide to put the object in the right position only when the canvas is big(over 1m high). The reason I don't use those technical methods is simple; I'm an old-fashioned man! I consider myself more of an old craftsman than an artist in modern-day concept. For me, practicing and perfecting my craft is as important as creating a good piece of art. Some people say the process doesn't matter as long as you have a good outcome, but I don't believe that. I don't feel com

I've been painting since I was quite young. But still, I am overwhelmed and intimidated once I am facing the vast 'whiteness' of a blank canvas. Like Goliath to little David, the empty space challenges me and I recoil. I think being a good painter is nothing other than to overcome this fear of blank canvas. Just like Van Gogh said, a good painter never fears the canvas; The canvas fears him.