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  • Sketch #1

    pencil // year

    A Story to Tell: The following is a series of sketches I created of homeless men. A neighbor who knew of my work invited me to come to her church where a group of volunteers were taking care of these guys. The church had a medical facility, and the aids were washing the feet of these men, taking care of them, giving them their meds. The guys were so humble and glad to be there. They all had a story to tell and they didn't mind me sketching them.

  • Sketch #2 - Daryl

    pencil // year

    Capturing the Humanity: There was something very special about being there, about the humanity of the situation. That's something that's very important to me and I hope it comes across in my work, and in these sketches in particular. I hope that each sketch illuminates a kind of humanity.

  • Sketch #3 - Paul

    pencil // year

    Sketching as Basis: I love line, the quality of a line and the way lines intersect, connect and flow. I'm very linear in terms of imagery and these drawings are a good example of that. I begin with a loose sketch, just getting shapes down, and then return with a black line, defining those shapes. I left the pencil marks on these deliberately because this is a rough process. Sketching is the basis of every piece I create.

Neil Shapiro Artist Statement


Whether it's my portrait work, my landscapes, or my illustrations for both newspapers, magazines or children's books, I hope you find some common threads here. I think you'll see that, despite the intended audience for any particular piece, that I have a deep respect for line, shape, and form. I think you'll see that I have a love for letterforms. Perhaps you'll get an idea of my sense of humor, or my handling of various media. I've been creating imagery for as long as I can remember, and I can't imagine not doing so.

There's so much more to draw, so much more to paint! First, though, I really must get a bite to eat.

- Neil Shapiro // Chicago
 
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