Stylized – Mixed Media Illustration. Studio Franco. Bracknell

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Self-Portrait. A R C A N U M

Between Painterly and Graphic Art Styles exists a world that I particularly enjoy exploring. And reporting on.
Here I can break some rules.
Or replace some rules in one discipline with rules from another discipline.
A mix ‘n match of expectations.
Like a bag of sweeties with a scorpion in it.

An art style that sits between painterly and graphic art, often referred to as "stylized" or "semi-realistic," emphasizes both the expressive qualities of painting and the clarity of graphic design.

I like sing techniques from both - like simplified shapes, bold colors, and visible brushstrokes while maintaining a degree of realism.

A Blended Reality
Cartooned out on drugs – but still acutely aware that in this hyper-real environment there are some hyper-fantastic element that, whilst un-true, distort the truth around them – the same way as a Black Hole distorts the light passing around it.

In essence, I try to bridge the gap between use these art styles to – combine the expressive freedom of painting and the clarity and precision required in graphic design, to achieve my own unique and versatile approach to the art of visual communication.

chimerical, fanciful, fantastic . . .

Art is Impatient

It starts with an itch
It starts with a flash

Or maybe a mirror

The brush slow at first like it's afraid of what it might reveal

Art is Impatient - It demands - It devours
The bristles scrap whispers in the Silence

It bleeds into grey like a bruise

Each stroke of confession I didn't mean to say
The canvas listens better than anyone else

Do you see it?

The way the red screams but never raises its voice?
The way the shapes don't fit but still tell a story no one

has to hear

Art is a wound stitched in Gold

a quiet rage that never grows old

every shadow hides

every color cries

it's all just truth

dressed in Disguise

the room smells like turpentine

Painterly Style Illustration

1933 Dusenberg. A Classic of early American Car Design. Rendered in Airbrush, Loose brush watercolor and pen and pencil. it is a "Mix" of painting and graphic styles

What Does “Painterly” Mean?
The “painterly” in painting is that you can SEE the brushstrokes.

The opposite of a painterly style is “Linear” and “Graphic” style – the most extreme of which, is Comic Art.

I am not going to get into the finer details here such as Botticelli’s work, or Ingres - suffice it to say that Painting is OF a thing while Graphic is RE - PRESENTATION of an IDEA of a thing.

The Painterly style has intentionally placed brushstrokes. They are the means of creating the composition. A Painting is Painted.

Anything that is not painted is something else that we will discuss later - elsewhere on this website.

Meanwhile - Go and have a peek at these

and regret colors drip down
like tears I won't admit to

figures emerge
half-formed ghosts that know my name

Can you feel it?
the ache and the lines never meet

the way the blue sinks deep
like it knows it will never be enough

Art is a wound stitched in Gold
a quiet rage that never grows old

every shadow hides
every color cries
it's all just truth
dressed in Disguise


What is art if not surrender?
a love letter to pain

a prayer to be seen and
a curse for those who dare to look

the brush knows my secrets
better than I do

the Masterpiece isn't
the painting it's the silence that follows

the way the colors linger
in the air
long after the brush has stopped moving

heart is

Art is Impatient - it waits for no one
Art is a wound stitched in Gold

a quiet rage that never grows old

every shadow hides
every color cries
it's all just truth
dressed in Disguise

What is art if not surrender?
a love letter to pain
a prayer to be seen and
a curse for those who dare to look

The brush knows my secrets
better than I do

A master peace isn't the painting
It's the silence left behind

When your breath follows the way
The colors linger in the air

long after the brush has stopped moving Art is Impatient - it waits for no one

Graphic Style Illustration

Christmas Portrait of a Witch - the Donna Darkwolf. My wife.

Graphic versus Painterly
In the image above – while there is a “suggestion” of movement in the hair – there is no “movement” in the paintwork. The colors are flat – they are not brush strokes.

Paintings can be classified in numerous different ways, sometimes concerning form, sometimes concerning content.

One way is to do with the style of actual physical paintwork and the terms ‘linear’ and 'painterly’. The two can be very difficult to separate in certain cases, but I will try and show you the difference in some more obvious examples.

Graphic Linear painting is based around line and boundary.

There are clear shapes and the outline of forms.

The image is a Freeze-Frame in Time

Like Abstract art, you have to ‘understand’ Graphic art.

Essentially, you must accept that It Is What It Is.

Don’t try to pinpoint an exact meaning for an image.

The image IS the statement.

It does not “mean” something. It “is” something.

Let it work do its work.

Some works are intriguing in subtle ways. Others might grab your attention through their subject matter.
Or their use of color.
Or an interesting juxtaposition of objects, it’s realistic appearance, a visual joke, or any number of factors.

To appreciate graphic art, engage with it by observing its elements, understanding the artist's choices, and considering the context in which it was created, while also allowing yourself to be moved by its emotional impact.

Go Find Out . . .

Partly Air-brushed, Partly Painted, Partly Cartooned Graphic Works & Illustrations

Some of these pop-ups lead to pages of a story.
ENJOY!

Most of the work was commissioned for personal or commercial use. Some was sold by exhibition.
Rendered in acrylic paint, poster paint and ink.

The pop-up images have been deliberately "degraded" to sabotage the attempts of 'art thieves'.

Images with a red border are available for purchase as Hi-Res Digital Prints on: https://www.artmajeur.com/moreno-franco
OR: Contact me directly.