[soft music]
- When you're looking at someone's face,
you can-- you can almost tell, like,
you know, almost, like, what they did for a living
or, like, what type of life they lived.
*
Why is that? I don't know.
But I feel like it's my job to capture that.
[light percussive music]
I'm Philip Salamone,
and I'm an artist and instructor at Atwood Atelier
and also at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin.
It's hard to say when I realized
that I was gonna do art for the rest of my life.
I sort of feel like it chose me, you know?
I tried choosin' other paths,
but I couldn't tear myself away from it.
The style of drawing and painting that I do,
I'd probably call it traditional or classical,
realistic or representational.
I would say that painting from life
is kind of a staple of it
in the sense of I feel like 'I really thrive on that energy
of being there with the model.'
[mellow guitar music]
*
My studio is also a school.
It's called the Atwood Atelier.
And it's basically a space
for people who were like me when I was younger.
And for so much of my life,
I had wanted to learn how to draw or paint realistically.
It's just for people who have that same--
that same bug.
When you're circling that model stand,
every artist is emphasizing a different truth.
And they all kinda look like the model,
but they all have their own bias on it.
There's a connection with people
who have this kind of same really unique interest,
and I think just being able
to kind of have that connection with people
and to not only share knowledge,
but to share, like, you know, this is possible.
You know, it's possible to, like,
surprise what you thought you were capable of
or to make money off of it
or just to kind of lead by example in a way,
I guess.
[brush strokes]
I think just making something that's beautiful
and meaningful and skillful
is just such an amazing thing to--
I just feel so grateful that I'm able to do that.
[heartfelt music]
*
Yeah, it can be so many things.
It can be like-- it's like a meditation,
it's like a self-discovery, it's a sense of purpose.
It's just a way to, like--
to process the world and yourself,
and it's something to strive for
and focus on and to lose yourself in.
If it's-- something about that model
really, you know, can bring something magical
outta that artist, I think.
*