"Red" 2023 Show

This show will run February 1-28, 2023. Artists from around the world were called to submit their work. There were 75 accepted entries and they came from 19 different states in the USA, as well as 9 other countries: Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, and The Netherlands. A variety of styles and mediums were entered, including but not limited to acrylic, collage, digital, glass, ink, mixed media, oil, paper, pastel, photography, plaster, printmaking, and watercolor. The judging criterion was originality, interpretation, quality, demonstration of ability, and usage of medium. Other factors, such as the clarity of the images provided and their ability to be viewed online, as well as relating to the theme, also contributed to our decision. “Best of Show”, “First Place”, and “Second Place” winners received a monetary award in addition to special recognition.

We were very happy to donate 10% of all entry fees from this show to Red Cross. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, providing assistance without discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. For more information, please visit their website http://www.ifrc.org/en/. Colors of Humanity Art Gallery, LLC is not affiliated with the Red Cross. It is our hope that this small act of kindness will blossom and grow to help someone else.

Thank you to all the artists who participated! Your talents and skills gave us a diverse body of work to create this attractive show.

Buyers- Please contact the artists directly for sales. Colors of Humanity Art Gallery does not handle any part of the sale or collect any commission, it is solely between the buyer and artist. You may find a link to the artist’s website or email address below their work.

Born, raised, and living in Alberta, Canada, I almost literally stumbled into this drawing endeavor, although “limped” is more accurate: a hip surgery in 2013 had me step back from an active sports life and rediscover my childhood love of shading with pencils, a passion I have since been pursuing.

I love photorealism for the challenge of capturing all of the subtle details that reveal the distinct personalities of the subjects. I have a theory that a visual artist is a kind of illusionist, and there is something magical about using mere pencil and paper to fool our brains into seeing what it thinks is a photograph. For that reason I also love hyperrealistic drawings, creating images and adding effects that our brains know can’t exist but are coerced into seeing as reality. While my artwork may not be for everybody, most people appreciate the technical side of it and enjoy how I add a little bit extra to my pieces, whether that’s humour, darkness, an underlying message, or a visual effect.

As I have been exploring color pencil - and pondering how different mediums in the art world are viewed in general - I have found myself mimicking the look of messy paint edges for my drawings, sometimes including a drop-shadow effect. In this piece, I play on the phrase 'Red Pill', however with a man named Ted subtly reflected within the capsule as well. The paper is white, so the paint-edge effect and grey space was done with a mix of graphite and charcoal pencil.

While still sticking to my graphite roots, I'm looking forward to getting further into color pencil and its possibilities, knowing that it may be a gateway to painting some day...

To see more, follow along, or say hello, visit:

https://jimsmedium.com

Biography:

Linda McCord works in most of the two-dimensional mediums. She was a gallery owner for 10 years and taught painting and printmaking at her local college. She has taken numerous international awards, and her art in the collection of museums, churches, hospitals, and colleges. She is a signature member of the International Society of Acrylic Painters, Northwest Watercolor Society, Georgia Watercolor Society and California Watercolor Association, and her paintings have been featured in several books. Her work is more mathematical than emotional. She uses mathematical concepts to design her art. McCord is best known for her figurative work in watercolor and acrylic paintings. She has deviated recently to paintings focused on reflections. With her “Car Show” series, the emphasis on the sheen of the cars, the detail in the motor parts, and the distorted reflections, her work has been described as abstract realism.

Statement:

Although I work in most of the two-dimensional mediums, I have used acrylic on canvas for my series of paintings titled Car Show. I focused on the distorted reflections caused by the curve of the surface which creates an abstract quality to the images. As I did the drawings, I discovered all kinds of little surprises in the reflections that I didn’t notice at first glance. I hope the viewer is drawn in to take a closer look at all the smaller elements and my discoveries as I created these. The cars are simply a vehicle for what is happening on their surface.

Michael Scherfen Watercolor Artist

A junior-high-school drawing class exposed me to the love of creating art. But, it was my job during college—as a mail boy for a San Francisco advertising agency—which actually launched my art career. There, excited after seeing, first-hand, the creative job possibilities as a commercial artist, I enrolled at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, from which I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Advertising Design.

Landing my first job right out of college—as an Art Director for McCann Erickson Advertising in San Francisco—was thrilling, but the excitement was cut short. Uncle Sam had other plans; I was drafted by the Army, and ultimately sent to Viet Nam, after working at McCann for only six weeks. Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after graduating from OCS, I was first stationed at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, the state to which my wife and I returned after my Army stint was over, and is the state in which we still reside. Restarting civilian life as an Art Director took place in nearby New York City, where my advertising career spanned 27 years at three agencies, working as a Senior Art Director and Vice President on major national and international advertising accounts, both in TV and print, including the creation of the first national print campaign for Lego Toys. Being challenged to come up with imaginative ideas for brands like Quaker Oatmeal, Panasonic; M&M Mars, Snickers, Starburst, and Nivea Skin Cream always kept the creative juices flowing to the point I never felt I worked a day in my life.

Love of art didn’t end when my job in NYC ended; it continued in freelance form. More importantly, my love of fine art was reignited when I began—for fun—studying watercolor under the mentorship of well-known watercolorist, Donald Voorhees. It had been decades since I had put brush to paper, but the thrill was back!

Painting, now, for over 14 years, I specialize in portraiture and landscapes, and love every minute of it! My interest in landscapes comes from a deep appreciation of both natural and man-made creations, with their endless palettes of texture and color. A rusting fishing boat in a local harbor; a gilded, medieval clock in France; the shifting waters in a Venice canal, all call to me. Similarly, the innumerable, diverse faces of the world offer endless opportunities to show the dignity and diversity of humankind: a gnarly blacksmith from Texas; a craggy, roadside vendor on the Amalfi Coast; an Afghan Pashtun tribesman in layers of native garb. All present a textured, intimate view into a life to be explored. I feel strongly that they have to be painted. And detail is key. When painting, I get lost in the details of the subject mater: the deep wrinkles in a weathered face; the distinctive shape of an expressive mouth, or the joyous glint from a child’s eyes. Each detail extends a glimpse of my subjects to those who view my paintings, but not with a style typical of most watercolorists; my paintings have an opacity not generally used in many watercolor paintings.

I currently hold Signature Membership in the American Watercolor Society, Allied Artists of America, Audubon Artists of America, North East Watercolor Society, Garden State Watercolor Society, New Jersey Water Color Society, and Hudson Valley Art Association. My watercolors have been shown in local, national and international exhibitions, garnering many awards from various local, national and international art societies.

Colors of Humanity Art Gallery

"Red" 2023 Show

Best of Show

First Place

Second Place

Honorable Mention

Noteworthy

"Red" 2023 Show

Photos