As a self-taught artist, he became a famous master of "wine still life", having come up with a new watercolor technique

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Believe it or not, what you will see now are absolutely not color photographs, as it might seem at first glance, but stunning watercolors American self-taught artist Eric Christensen … Looking at his work, you understand more than ever that there is no limit to human capabilities. Nevertheless, art critics are not always supportive of the work of this master, considering him to be just a "redrawler". What do you think?

In his youth, trying to reveal his talent in any area, Eric Christensen at one time studied music and botany, even tried himself in the literary field. But in the end, he began to get satisfaction from drawing. I chose watercolor for my work. Moreover, it was based on an unusual technical method in work. Eric began to write with a dry brush. Basically, they write like this in oil, but the newly-made artist did not know that it was not accepted to paint like that in watercolor. He never attended art school and did not come across the peculiarities and technique of this paint. Therefore, he began to draw as his intuition suggested to him. It was this technique that allowed the author to find a zest that became his hallmark. It is not for nothing that they say that all great discoveries are made by mistake.

Applying in places up to 30 layers of watercolor paint on paper, Eric soon began to create incredibly vivid, realistic paintings, reminiscent of photographs. Thus, the author's style was developed. The works of the watercolourist, who unknowingly invented a new technique in the watercolor technique, were very liked by some, but not by others. But this did not upset him at all …

Using this unusual technique for watercolor painting, Eric painted everything that could be of interest to a novice artist. To a large extent, these were various vases with flowers, vases without flowers, just some flowers. Therefore, still lifes depicting various objects have become a very logical continuation of his creative career.

Eric's skill grew from year to year, but he never managed to stand out from the huge number of artists working in this widespread genre. For 10 long years he was looking for his niche, working as an author of still lifes, but at the same time the audience did not distinguish his work from the same type of hyperrealistic works of other masters. And, by the way, in the modern world of art, realism is not particularly favored, and even more so in still life, because the great Dutch and their followers "staked out" for themselves leadership in this area for many centuries to come.

Wine Still Life by Eric Christensen

But one day fate gave the artist a chance. In 2001, Eric Christensen, having gone on a journey, found himself in the Napa Valley - the famous wine-growing region of California, famous for its vineyards, laid out among the hilly countryside. And needless to say that this wonderful place captivated the artist's creative soul so much, where "grape clusters play in the sun with rare emeralds and bright ruby, and dusty bottles with noble wine are kept in dark cellars", where stunning views of the natural landscape of the valley literally swallow with its grandeur and tranquility.

And somehow it happened by itself that the artist received a commercial offer to create something like an advertising poster, where an image of wine bottles and glasses of wine would be a mandatory attribute. Moreover, everything had to look super realistic, in the smallest details, almost like in the photo, but at the same time even brighter and "tastier".

As it turned out, in order to very accurately show the true beauty of this sunny drink, a rare talent is needed to convey the mood. And the self-taught artist with the accuracy worthy of high-quality photography, conveyed the play of wine in the sunlight, and the label in the smallest detail, and created an interesting composition, and guessed the color, and spiced it all up with a light romantic mood. Thus, the winemakers got their own artist, and Eric - admirers and customers.

A little later, this business idea and the customer's marketing move abruptly changed the creative credo of Eric Christensen. Initially, "wine watercolors", which began as a commercial project, grew into the direction and style of the artist, who shaped him as an unsurpassed master of watercolor painting in the genre of still life. Since then, he has enjoyed astonishing success and growing popularity as the most famous and unique artist in the Napa region - Wine Country.

The subject matter of the painter's paintings has been practically unchanged for almost two decades. These are “wine still lifes”: glasses of wine surrounded by berries and fruits, wine bottles on the table with flowers … And quite specific bottles of wine with real labels - just like an advertisement for wine products. Sometimes it is difficult to understand whether it is a painting or a photo. Eric, in fact, creates living pictures, drawing inspiration not only from wine, but from the surrounding nature, which he often depicts in his works as a background.

In his technique, he still uses up to 30 layers of watercolor, which speaks of the amazing hard work and talent of the original master. Watercolor is not oil for you. It is almost impossible to fix the error. Christensen's work is, in fact, very similar to the photo, but this is not a photo. And they are not watercolor (in the usual sense of the word), but also not oil.

Having achieved some success in his work, Eric opened his own art gallery in a small picturesque town in the heart of the Napa Valley. And this idea turned out to be very successful. Articles about Christensen and his unusual talent have been published in national newspapers and magazines, and much has been said about him on television, in particular on the television program Wine Country LIVING.

Today he is the most famous American photorealist artist in watercolor technique. And for almost 20 years now, Eric Christensen has been called the "wine artist" - says the master.

Christensen continues to write stunning images that tell us about life in Wine Country and delight those who collect and collect such art. His stunning work is successfully exhibited in galleries throughout the United States and Europe. The world's leading galleries and private collectors are fighting for the right to own his unique works. They are sincerely admired and admired …

The work of Eric Christensen has long been deservedly appreciated by critics who consider him one of the most talented hyperrealists of the new millennium. But at the same time, his paintings cause a lot of negative responses. Some experts are still inclined to consider Christensen a "merchant" and a "redrawer". Here we can only say one thing - everyone has the right to their own opinion …

Nevertheless, the demand for the master's work speaks for itself. By the way, on the art market today a very decent wine abstraction can be purchased for $ 100-300, and Christensen's "wine still lifes" cost from $ 2,000 to $ 12,000. Still, there are people who like hyperrealism, and who are willing to give decent money for it.

Many artists work in the genre of still life, but only a few become known to the world, and among them the name of the American artist David Chafits occupies a very worthy place. Seeing once, the magic of light and color in his mysterious still lifes - you will never forget.