My love of painting started in the mid 80's when I was given a box of oil paints as a gift from a distant relative. It was a torrid affair, on and off again for years until 2005 when I met Alexander Rokoff and began studying portraiture and the figure painting under his instruction. That's when intuition met skill. With an interior design background, I enjoy finding the structure of the painting, the skeletal system and furniture ground the features in space. My favorite part of investigating the subject are the many different colors that make up the flesh, it's a constant battle of balance between subtle and garish. Color and texture have always been important to me. Color affects every aspect of our lives whether we are aware of it or not. The smell and texture of the paint, the feel of the brush on the canvas bring me a freedom that I am not able to explain in words, and so I paint.
Serena Van Vranken joined Pixels on November 14th, 2010.
