Brian Canfield Mitchell's Rough Canvas Illustrations

BRIAN CANFIELD MITCHELL

Born in Miami in 1976, Brian drew and painted often as a young boy. As his schooling began, the allure of the logic of mathematics lured him away from the artistic world for a time; however, after a long hiatus from art during junior and early high school, the enchantment of arithmetic was finally broken, and he plunged back into painting and drawing, even dabbling in sculpture. After a brief stint at New World School of the Arts College, he left to pursue his own artistic path.

To supplement his income during his "struggling artist" phase, and to keep the creativity flowing, Brian became a professional graphic and web designer, working with a number of advertising firms and completing such projects as art for South Florida radio's Power 96.5 FM and the web site of Star Trek and Star Wars novelist A.C.Crispin. He completed paintings for the South Beach nightclub, Glam Slam, which was owned at the time by recording artist, The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, and did a few private commissions for his family.

Brian experimented for years with oil and acrylic paints, pastels and pencils, paper and fabrics, but found himself always drawn back to the simple yet bold look of pencil on canvas. He quickly discovered his passion was for portraiture and fantasy illustrations, focusing on nature, spirituality, mythology, erotica, and the medieval.

Brian's rough canvas illustrations are done using graphite -- ordinary #2 pencils -- on the raw, or rough, side of gesso-primed canvas. The canvas' teeth makes for a more textured surface than most drawing papers, allowing both a loose sketch style and a tight illustrative style to be applied together. The stark color contrast of the dark pencil on the cream, bone, or off-white canvas (color variations occur between different rolls of canvas) creates a bold, dramatic effect. Colored pencils or other color additions are rarely used as they detract from this effect.

Brian's art has been showcased at conventions across the U.S., including Dragon*Con, MegaCon and Yaoi-Con. He has done live portrait drawings at Renaissance festivals and had illustrations featured in art galleries and magazine publications.

Brian still resides in South Florida and lives with his partner of more than 10 years, Andrew, and various four-legged family members.