ABOUT THE ARTIST
Brian McCulloch was born in Oklahoma in 1976, after high school there was a chance to persue an education in art or enter military service. Enlisting in the US Navy seemed like a practical choice but it was also a good artistic choice in the long term. After four years as an Avionics Technician a decision was needed as to either re enlist or enter the private sector, this was based on whichever came first, being promoted to E5 or finding a good paying job. He was hired by duPont Aerospace three hours before being promted to AT2.
After spending several months with the company he ended up in Mississippi. On a trip to Georgia Brian purchased a 1980 Honda CB750 motorcycle with a rattle can paint job for 800.00. While looking through the magazines in a local book store he found a magazine about using an airbrush to paint hot rods and decided to give it a go. All this conspired to eventually bring him to the Blair School of Art in 2001. The class was glamour and pinup illustration, seemed simple enough and not too demanding.
So Very Wrong. The class taught by Dru Blair started with the transparent techniques used since the days of Vargas but moved into an assignment Dru had to paint Penthouse model Alex Arden. This was a small, absolutely photo real, depiction where the class found themselves in an artistic crash course in color theory, realism, and technique. He was hooked.
Brian took every class Dru had to offer in North Carolina and practiced obsessively, failing for many years and throwing away more paintings than he would ever like to think about trying to master these techniques. Five years of practice finally culminated in a single painting in 2006 that was created in a 90 day period of unemployment that professional photographers mistake for photography. Now came the hard part, what to do with it?
When talking to various artists and celebrities and sharing a couple snap shots on a cheap digital camera the response was universal. 'Why aren't you doing this professionally?'
So here we are, taking commissions for Aerospace projects, painting the odd book or graphic novel cover. And never losing focus on the most important aspect of art.
The simple fact that technique is just a means to an end.
Whether you're working in oils, or a graffiti street art stencil what the painting or drawing is trying to convey is decidedly more important. The fundamentals of drawing and composition matter more than how a thing is painted.
What a background in 'photorealism' provides is freedom from having to compromise a painting due to a lack of technical skill. To create more visually interesting images to serve the clients needs.
If what you have seen interests you feel free to contact us at any time.
After spending several months with the company he ended up in Mississippi. On a trip to Georgia Brian purchased a 1980 Honda CB750 motorcycle with a rattle can paint job for 800.00. While looking through the magazines in a local book store he found a magazine about using an airbrush to paint hot rods and decided to give it a go. All this conspired to eventually bring him to the Blair School of Art in 2001. The class was glamour and pinup illustration, seemed simple enough and not too demanding.
So Very Wrong. The class taught by Dru Blair started with the transparent techniques used since the days of Vargas but moved into an assignment Dru had to paint Penthouse model Alex Arden. This was a small, absolutely photo real, depiction where the class found themselves in an artistic crash course in color theory, realism, and technique. He was hooked.
Brian took every class Dru had to offer in North Carolina and practiced obsessively, failing for many years and throwing away more paintings than he would ever like to think about trying to master these techniques. Five years of practice finally culminated in a single painting in 2006 that was created in a 90 day period of unemployment that professional photographers mistake for photography. Now came the hard part, what to do with it?
When talking to various artists and celebrities and sharing a couple snap shots on a cheap digital camera the response was universal. 'Why aren't you doing this professionally?'
So here we are, taking commissions for Aerospace projects, painting the odd book or graphic novel cover. And never losing focus on the most important aspect of art.
The simple fact that technique is just a means to an end.
Whether you're working in oils, or a graffiti street art stencil what the painting or drawing is trying to convey is decidedly more important. The fundamentals of drawing and composition matter more than how a thing is painted.
What a background in 'photorealism' provides is freedom from having to compromise a painting due to a lack of technical skill. To create more visually interesting images to serve the clients needs.
If what you have seen interests you feel free to contact us at any time.
