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| Colored Innocence by Asghar Gonchehpour. |
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One of
the things I love best as the editor for Artist Daily is getting to know the
artists in our community. A few weeks ago, I saw a mixed media portrait in the
Member Gallery that caught my attention. The painting--a girl with wild,
colorful hair and a tranquil expression on her face--looked like some kind of punk-rock
angel. The contrast of bold colors in the figure's hair--red and blue--and her sweet,
tender face were startling and lovely.
I contacted
the artist, Asghar Gonchehpour, to ask about the inspiration for the work, and I
want to share his artistic background and acknowledge the strides he's made in
his artistry. I plan on reaching out to more and more of the many great artists
in our online community in the future. In doing so, I admit that I'm going to
be one busy girl, but it's one of the things I look forward to most in my job.
And who knows--maybe next time I'll be able to feature you!
Artist Daily: How long have you been a painter?
Asghar Gonchehpour: I have been painting for 17 years. I
finished high school in graphic design and got a Bachelor of Fine Arts with
a concentration in painting and drawing from Bahonar University in Iran. As
my whole income is from commissioned paintings and teaching art, I could say I
am a full-time artist. Plus, I do photography, sculpture, and write poetry.
AA: Tell me about the mixed media painting, Colored Innocence. How
did you make it?
AG: It's one of those works inspired from a photo, a simple black
and white photo of a beautiful girl with an innocent look. The colored sketch
was done with Photoshop. On canvas, the materials are mainly oil color and acrylic,
and gesso for ruffled textures that I added late in the process. The toughest
part of this painting was balancing the harsh change in her hair color with the
calm emotion of her facial expression.
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This work is from Asghar's Kitchen series. |
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AA: Why do you call
your website, Art for Heart?
AG
: Romanticism is my favorite movement
in art and literature. I like the way they imagined the world with love and
passion.
AA
: Do you work from
your imagination, or from life, or from photos?
AG
: I am used to watching movies and
seeing photos a lot. Sometimes a photo is a good pretext for inspiring me. Sometimes
for accomplishing the details of a simple imaginary sketch I ask a model to
pose for me. Sometimes my entire work ends up without any references and only
by my imagination.
AA
: Can you tell me about your different series--Kitchen and Sufi Dance?
AG
: There is a dreamlike atmosphere
in the Kitchen series, where we observe a woman who lives in her kitchen, or it
might be better to say she is stuck in there with her pans, concerned with
cooking duties and all the routines that affect her normal life. Sometimes she
just kneels there, gray and thoughtful, or in another scene drowned in the kitchen
floor, unconscious. My intention was to create a female protagonist stuck in
life's isthmus; her feminism is more about the soft side of the human essence.
The storyline in the Sufi Dance series
is inspired by Rumi's poems. You see a figure who is being released or is about
to be, whirling in a mystical dance and heading toward light.
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| A painting from the Sufi Dance series. |
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AA: Why did you join Artist Daily?
AG
: I just wanted to be a part of
this beautiful and artistic world. The ability to upload works directly and get
feedback from real artists is so amazing. Receiving the latest news and
articles from the website is also useful.
Asghar mentioned that he found Artist Daily through American Artist
magazine, and that even after more than 15 years as an artist, he seeks out instructional
resources on drawing and painting techniques, which is why our American Artist 2008 CD is a
perfect fit for him. It can inspire even a seasoned artist and give you
insights into methods and processes that have been used by Old Masters and
contemporary artists alike. And with this American
Artist CD, you get a whole year of the magazine all on one disc. It's an
on-the-go artist's library. Enjoy!
