Featured Artist Barney Levitt

Oil painter Barney Levitt approaches his creative work with humor and charm. Enjoy his portfolio, and learn more by visiting his website.

 

 

I am a visual storyteller. As a child, I was always drawing. My parents enrolled me in art classes at the local library when I was very young.

 

 

My aunt, also an artist, gave me my first easel and set of oil paints when I was twelve years old. I entered university as a Biology major, but soon switched to Studio Art, concentrating on painting and drawing. I was spellbound by the works of the Dutch and Flemish Masters, particularly Vermeer.

 

 

After graduating with a Fine Arts Degree in painting from S.U.N.Y at Oswego, I took a detour out west and became a ski instructor in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I continued to paint in my spare time, doing oil portraits of the farm animals on a small farm where I lived in a one-room cabin with no running water.

 

 

Mary’s World (a take on Wyeth’s Christina’s World) was my first large oil portrait of Mary the Goat. She wasn’t particularly cooperative as a model, but I captured her essence in the end.

 

 

I eventually moved to Boston and frequented the local art galleries, getting inspiration from contemporary artists such as Stone Roberts, Robert Jackson, and Scott Fraser.

 

 

The turning point came when I applied for and was accepted as a full member of The Copley Society of Art, a prestigious and highly competitive organization, and the oldest non-profit art association in the U.S. Over the years I eventually became a Copley Master and began to take my painting more seriously, getting invitations to show in well-established galleries.

 

 

Much of my work is narrative driven and rooted in realism, but I also create classical still life set-ups in the style of the Dutch Masters. And then there are the quirkier paintings full of whimsy or humor. I strive for imagery that captures the viewer’s attention. Titles are important to me, as they give the viewer better insight into what I’m trying to convey.

 

 

I create my paintings in layers beginning with a loose underpainting of burnt sienna, adding more and more detail to each successive layer. I usually have several paintings in progress at one time.

 

 

I love sharing my work with the world. If I can get a laugh out of the viewer, or make them gasp in surprise, I’ve attained my goal.

 

Barney Levitt invites you to follow on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

 

 

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