Featured Artist Lis Zadravec

Colored pencil artist Lis Zadravec captures treasured moments and the wonder of childhood in her stunning portfolio. Enjoy, and visit her website to see more.

 

 

I have always loved to tell a story through portraiture, and often tell stories through girls and women. I choose my subject based on qualities of her character and add the surroundings from my own imagination and experiences.

 

 

In recent years I have added more animals into my work. I feel they make the stories richer and more magical.

 

 

I have a point of view in my work that is always the story of hopefulness. I think this is why I often choose younger subjects.

 

 

Life comes at us like tidal waves at times. When one event ends, another rolls right over us. When I was in my twenties, I once said that growing up was a big slap in the face. But I have learned that if we can retain the hope of youth, the belief that if I put my hand out a bird will land on it, magical ideas, then we can see the good in the storyline of our lives.

 

 

I have had a lifelong love affair with portraiture. Most artists who do find 19th-century portraiture the pinnacle of expertise in this genre. We love John Singer Sargent and William Adolphe Bouguereau.

 

 

I am also a fan of the staged work of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. The illustrations of NC Wyeth, Maxfield Parish and Norman Rockwell. The flash, the staged storytelling, the familiarity of great storybook illustration. I like to bring these elements into my pictures.

 

 

If they inspire, transport you or bring a hopeful outlook then I have achieved one of my goals.

 

 

My other goal is to do this all with colored pencils. I still work like the painter I was trained to be. Layering, color-mixing, even changing whole areas mid-painting or letting the piece evolve as I work. I am from the old-school, pre-photoshop era. Copying a photo would be sheer boredom and is not the process of creating a composition.

 

 

As I strive for excellence in my work, I have come to believe there is nothing I could do in oils that I can’t do in colored pencils. And maybe better.

 

Lis Zadravec invites you to follow on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

 

 

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