Andrea Realpe Fine Art

For the past month I have been dedicated to finishing up the semester and working on my watercolor paintings, but now that I am finally done with class I have more time to focus on my oil paintings. During the semester I have also been working on getting over my fear of formal public speaking and so I developed a painting named "Center Stage". I truly went out of my way to diminish this fear. I went out to a karaoke bar and sang "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi, participated in a runway fashion show, and chose to present my final project. A quote that has motivated me to push through these fear is “do one thing everyday that scares you”  by Eleanor Roosevelt. http://quotes–songs.tumblr.com/post/30611141207/do-one-thing-everyday-that-scares-you-eleanor This quote is special to me because I try to live by it almost every day. For most of my life I have been afraid of a lot of things, so by exposing myself to all the fears and getting out of my comfort

My works Freedom and Broken were chosen to be a part of  an art exhibition at the Chicago Art Department. This is my first group show since I moved from Tallahassee Florida. The best part of it all was that the opening reception was on my birthday. Here are some pictures from the show. :) My paintings Freedom and Broken:D I was having a little too much fun:P The text above is a description about the symbolism of my work by Mercedes Palomino. It is very well written and it is precise. I couldn't have written it better myself:D *Click on the image to view a larger size.   Here are braided loofas that my visual arts class and I put together. My professor Alberto Aguilar also added the photographs that were taken through out the semester. I thought it was a nice touch to the art pieces. This is one of the pictures that was included in the installation. It is a photograph that was taken during our visual performance on Lake Street. My classmates and I were tied

This is a current painting that I am working on  called "Center Stage". It is inspired by Salvador Dali.  Someone told me that my work has surrealistic tendencies, so i decided to work with it.  This is the first progress pic of Center Stage. I painted over another painting called Lady in the Water that I was not found of. Either way I enjoy starting fresh because it gives me the opportunity to make an even better painting. It is also a great learning experience, so time is never wasted. I said my goodbyes to the painting and so I started with the dark blue sky and then slowly worked my way down. I then proceeded to paint the blue mountains. I am fascinated with cobalt blue for some reason. I use it in most of my paintings. This is when I painted the curtains and noticed the right curtain looked like a face. I worked with it and made it more prominent. I was originally going to have a women morphed into the curtains and reaching out to the mountains. But I decid

Final painting of my self portrait:D This is who I am. I like being silly and fun. I especially like balancing things on my head. I balance swords, stuffed animals, and basically anything that is accessible at the time:P I also painted a bird coming out of the flower pot to show my free spirit. This is a watercolor painting. I also used graphite and ink on the face and hair. I hope you like it:D This is before I added the flower pot:D

Pounding Heart  Can you see my pounding heart? Do you notice my struggle? Everyone else seems perfectly fine. Most of my paintings are inspired by my personal experiences. This is one of them.

The Red Tree contest was a great success. Thank you to all the participants in the contest for submitting your amazing work. Congratulations to all the winner's! Click here for the contest Walk With First Place Winner ~ Brenda Owen   Gorgeous Painting Brenda. I can get lost in this!            Artist Website: http://brenda-owen.artistwebsites.com/ As Lovely... Second Place Winner ~Michael Durst     Your work is fantastic Michael!    I really like the texture in your paintings.  Artist Website: http://www.heartscapepaintings.com/  Safely Abiding Third Place Winner ~ Meaghan Troup      Your usuage of color and composition are amazing Meaghan! Artist Website: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/meaghan-troup.html                                                               Works by other artists in the contest. Autumn Sings   By Rachel Bingaman  I really enjoed viewing your work as well. I love your tree

 I am administering a contest on fineartamerica.com called Red Tree. Fineartamerica members will submit artworks of a red tree in any wet media including oils, acrylic, watercolor, and more. I was inspired by my painting of a red tree called Fly Away With me. I was also inspired because of the symbolism that a Japanese maple tree holds. Interested in participating or voting for an image? Go to this link  http://fineartamerica.com/contests/red-tree-.html?tab=overview First, second, and third place winners will be featured on this website on Sunday, October 7th, 2012 - 2:40 PM :o) Read about the symbolism of the Japanese Maple Tree below: Japanese maple trees have been considered a symbol of GRACE personified by many Asian cultures for hundreds of years. Associated with PEACE and SERENITY of the world's elements, Japanese maple trees represent BALANCE and practicality and are called 'kito' in the Japanese language, which means 'calm,' 'rest'

  Being able to create is the best thing that has ever happened to me. The progress to my new painting "A Moment in Time" coming soon.

Sketch for my new painting "Broken" I started  by underpainting the 18 x 36 inch gallery stretched canvas with burnt sienna. This eliminates the harsh, intimidating white canvas and allows you to paint freely without worrying about ‘filling in’ the white. Then I blocked in the shapes of the figure with the same color. I then painted the  background first and then I focused on adding the figure.   This is when I started to add the highlights and the details. I later changed the position of the hand. I felt that It blended in better with the painting and the message that I wanted to convey. I also added a red string bracelet with a small wing charm. In this painting I want to show that the figure is very distressed and feels broken. I convey this with the broken wing charm, the red slash against the abstract wall, the figures pale skin, and the position of the figure. Although her gaze is focused on the light she is surrounded by d

The entrance of Michigan Ave. Hilligoss Galleries         I recently visited Hilligoss Galleries located in Chicago IL. They have two different locations, one in Long Grove and the other one is over on Michigan Ave. I went to the gallery on Michigan Ave. I honestly have to say that this is by far the best gallery that I have been to. They have a large collection of paintings, sculptures, and jewelry. They mainly focus on paintings. The gallery currently has paintings by local artists and international artists; this includes Michael Gerry, Rasa Kluonius , Martin Eichinger , Nikolai Blokhin , and many more.  Title: Petunia Cascade #882 Artist: Michael Gerry Dimensions: 60 x 36 in    As soon as the elevator opened to the gallery I was captured by this large image of what looked like a photograph of petunias. When I looked closer I notices the brush strokes and the image turned out be a  realistic painting. I was amazed by how Michael Gerry captured the exact essence of t

These are the two paintings that I am currently working on.   This one is a reproduction of Orphan at the Cemetery by French artist Eugene Delacroix. I chose to reproduce this painting because it is an amazing painting full of expression with a high level of technical skill. I also want to develop similar technical skills so that I can apply these skills to my own paintings.  In this painting I used the same technique that the old masters used by first using opaque grays on the skin. This is work in progress. I still have to add the second layer on the skin and other details.  This is the other painting that I am currently working on. The painting is about someone that is a dreamer. The dreamer is in another state of being, lost in another world where anything can happen. The dreamer in the painting is in a comfortable position pushing her self up. This points out contentedness and control of the state of mind that she is in. Her dress is morphing into the ocean th