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Tim Okamura

 Tim Okamura, “The Fight Club”, 2012 , oil, mixed media on canvas, 112 x 130 inches
I can't remember exactly how I found Tim Okamura. But I looked him up and started following him on Instagram because I was so obsessed with his paintings. He paints in oils, layers and layers of oils. If you see his pictures from the side, they have so much texture and depth. I love that he portraits strong women. The beauty of who they are is palpable. On one of his posts he showed how he works. He starts by making a sketch of his model with vine charcoal on his canvas. Then, he works from undertones forward, correcting and overpainting again and again. Occasionally, you'll get a glimpse of his paint palette - it's a gigantic mound of oil paints, I love it. The backgrounds in his paintings are often collaged and spray painted, very urban and super alive. He was born, grew up, and went to school in Canada. He moved to the states to get his M.F.A. at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He lives and works in Brooklyn, the perfect place for the inspiration and the models for his urban portraits. I had no idea how famous he was until I started reading bios and articles about him as a studied him for this art journal. I guess part of the reason is that he often replies to my comments on Instagram. I guess that is something I love about him even more- he isn't too famous to answer naive  questions from a novice artist. His models are usually his friends. He likes working with people he knows because he can imbibe their soul into the portrait and he says it's nice to be with someone you like if you've got to spend hours with them in the studio. 

Tim Okamura, “Tell-A-Vision”, 2012, oil, mixed media on canvas, 88 x 62 inches


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