Chad Raymo is a self taught Edmonton-born artist who paints primarily in acrylic—with a little bit of mixed-media experimentation thrown in, when the occasion calls for it!
Chad’s stunning portraits blend graffiti-inspired colors and textures with a hint of modern, pop-art sensibilities, making for some very vibrant (and very dynamic) paintings. . . take a look below, and enjoy!
In our first painting for today, Chad used small amounts of brilliant color to highlight and accent the neutral whites and cold blues that make up the abstract portrait above. The shadowed side of his subject’s face recedes into a brilliant star-studded galaxy (or perhaps a moonlight, alpine slope) with just a few bursts of reds and greens to add interest and warmth to the composition.
Below, he used a more impressionist, pointillist, technique along with a deceivingly bright color palette (see those dots of bright blue and purple spread throughout the compostion?) to define a passionate kiss.
There’s a sense of limitless, floating wonder in this second painting – a cosmic shared experience that anchors itself in a quintessentially human act.
And finally, in this third, much more abstract portrait, a darker story unfolds.
At first, you might not think it a portrait at all, but there are hints enough scattered around the canvas to make it clear. The eyes are empty, drained of life, and a bit terrifying – a perfect match for the scattered whirlwind of brushstrokes that form the subject’s face.
In my opinion, this painting is truly more of a portrait of a specific feeling than anything else. . . and I think it’s masterfully done.
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