My path through Hyperrealism started with a fascination with photorealism since I can remember. When I was 4, I spent hours with a pencil and sketch pad, sketching anything in my world that caught my eye. Even at that young age I was fascinated with producing with the pencil, exactly what my eye was seeing. Through the years, I progressed through photo realism into the world of hyperrealism, where I have found my true artistic passion. That said, I believe that if you can draw and paint well, then you should be able to paint anything you choose to paint with good results.
I am also a musician, playing both the piano and guitar, and have been teaching for 35 years. With music, one can evoke emotion in their audience by way of sound…so translating that to painting seemed like a logical step allowing me to evoke emotion in my viewers, by sight, with a line, a swirl, a colour…. I started out in oils, but the smell, long drying time, and a habit of licking the brush to achieve a point led me to try out the water- based paints. After much experimenting I came to find success in mixing watercolour with a touch of acrylic, and using gouache, watercolour, and a touch of acrylic to achieve successful skin tones. Liquid acrylics, particularly Dr. Martins, combined with my regular acrylics have helped me find a way to achieve a degree of luminosity I so crave.
Being self-taught has seen me doing a lot of experimenting and trial and error. I feel that this has helped me immensely on my artistic journey. I also have spent endless hours reading and studying the works of numerous wonderful artists which has been truly motivating. I am very drawn to shiny surfaces as well as transparent objects, especially when the lighting brings them to life. I look for beauty in everyday objects that most people take for granted or just don’t truly see them as they are. The seemingly boring and mundane subjects can truly be like magnets if portrayed in the right way. Glass is one of those materials that can host endless visions. The light as it shines through, the reflections captured on the surface, the smooth finish……an artist’s dream! I am excited to see what the future holds and have a number of new methods, ideas and subject matter calling my name
Cher Pruys
Instagram: @cherpruys
www.artbycher.ca