The Art of Mik Smith - A Return to Realism
A great many people are becoming increasingly bored with the types of Art that are on sale by many modern painters.
The Art scene can be very fickle and has fads of various things for a brief period before lumbering on to something else.
It was only a couple of years ago that 'minimalist beachscapes' were all the rage.
I remember seeing my first one of these whilst in Bristol and being quite impressed.
That was before the hundreds of other Artists jumped on the bandwagon and inundated the market with carbon copies.
Let's face it, a 'minimalist beachscape' is a great idea for a picture, maybe even a series of pictures, but after that it becomes rather bland and repetitious.
Once you have seen one, you have seen them all.
At the time of writing there is a resurgence of Artists who are concentrating on 'realism'.
One of the foremost of these is Mik Smith.
If you have yet to see Mik Smith's work and you like your pictures to be realistic then I would strongly recommend him.
His pictures are currently selling quite well and he has been receiving a lot of praise.
His exhibitions are always impressive and are getting busier as he is slowly becoming better known.
In terms of subject matter, Mik Smith specializes in nudes, still life and animal studies.
When I say 'animal studies' though, they are certainly not how you would envision them.
One of his most popular themes has been his 'Half-Cat' series.
These are superb and ultra-realistic studies of one side of a cat's face.
The results are visually startling.
Mik uses extreme lighting (almost reminiscent of Caravaggio) which gives his pictures a very dramatic and sometime disquieting edge.
Based in Lincolnshire, England, Mik Smith has exhibited in many parts of the country as well as twice in Germany.
In a recent interview he said; 'I have always liked Realism.
If anything, I like to try and push my work beyond that.
' If you are already familiar with his work then you will know that he often succeeds at this.
When asked about his thoughts on Abstract art he replied; 'There is nothing wrong with Abstract Art as long as you remember that it is one part of a picture.
Strong, abstract compositions are great; I use them myself all of the time, but if you employ Abstract without the other integral parts then the results are usually cold and sterile.
It is like decorating a brand new house.
If you were to get the paintwork done and not bother to fit doors or to hang wallpaper then you will just end up with a 'shell' devoid of homeliness.
' As if his exhibition work is not sufficient, Mik Smith is currently working on several other projects.
These include a series of greetings cards, a graphic novel and a children's book.
In all of these things his characteristic strong style is evident; the painstaking detail, the subtle exaggeration of shapes and shadows and his inclination toward 'Super Realism'.
If you have a taste for Realism and for Representational Art then Mik Smith is most definitely worth a look.
The Art scene can be very fickle and has fads of various things for a brief period before lumbering on to something else.
It was only a couple of years ago that 'minimalist beachscapes' were all the rage.
I remember seeing my first one of these whilst in Bristol and being quite impressed.
That was before the hundreds of other Artists jumped on the bandwagon and inundated the market with carbon copies.
Let's face it, a 'minimalist beachscape' is a great idea for a picture, maybe even a series of pictures, but after that it becomes rather bland and repetitious.
Once you have seen one, you have seen them all.
At the time of writing there is a resurgence of Artists who are concentrating on 'realism'.
One of the foremost of these is Mik Smith.
If you have yet to see Mik Smith's work and you like your pictures to be realistic then I would strongly recommend him.
His pictures are currently selling quite well and he has been receiving a lot of praise.
His exhibitions are always impressive and are getting busier as he is slowly becoming better known.
In terms of subject matter, Mik Smith specializes in nudes, still life and animal studies.
When I say 'animal studies' though, they are certainly not how you would envision them.
One of his most popular themes has been his 'Half-Cat' series.
These are superb and ultra-realistic studies of one side of a cat's face.
The results are visually startling.
Mik uses extreme lighting (almost reminiscent of Caravaggio) which gives his pictures a very dramatic and sometime disquieting edge.
Based in Lincolnshire, England, Mik Smith has exhibited in many parts of the country as well as twice in Germany.
In a recent interview he said; 'I have always liked Realism.
If anything, I like to try and push my work beyond that.
' If you are already familiar with his work then you will know that he often succeeds at this.
When asked about his thoughts on Abstract art he replied; 'There is nothing wrong with Abstract Art as long as you remember that it is one part of a picture.
Strong, abstract compositions are great; I use them myself all of the time, but if you employ Abstract without the other integral parts then the results are usually cold and sterile.
It is like decorating a brand new house.
If you were to get the paintwork done and not bother to fit doors or to hang wallpaper then you will just end up with a 'shell' devoid of homeliness.
' As if his exhibition work is not sufficient, Mik Smith is currently working on several other projects.
These include a series of greetings cards, a graphic novel and a children's book.
In all of these things his characteristic strong style is evident; the painstaking detail, the subtle exaggeration of shapes and shadows and his inclination toward 'Super Realism'.
If you have a taste for Realism and for Representational Art then Mik Smith is most definitely worth a look.