Atelier Imprimatura
Dedicated to Traditional and Contemporary Realist Art
Artist Statement
I paint in oils and my interests span all subjects: portraiture, landscapes and still life. My goal is a realist representation, tinged with illusion. As an amateur cellist, the inspirations for my paintings are often grounded in music.
Once I've settled on a concept, I plan my paintings by relying on the triumvirate of value, hue and chroma. I follow a traditional academic approach, beginning with a drawing (charcoal or graphite), followed by a monochrome underpainting (grisaille or sometimes verdaccio) over which body colour is applied. My colour choices and brushwork are dictated by the visual impact I seek to convey in the finished work.
Biography
Jacinta O'Brien is a Toronto-based artist working primarily in oils. Born in Cork, Ireland, she emigrated to Canada with her parents as a very young child. She received instruction in the classical 19th century realist traditions of drawing and painting from Graham Bibby at The Studio Academy in Toronto, and has continued her education by attending specialist workshops given by contemporary masters including Nick Alm, Costa Dvorezky, Teresa Oaxaca, Shane Wolf and Henry Yan. She exhibits her works jointly with James Joe under the banner of Atelier Imprimatura and a number of her paintings are in private collections. She belongs to the Federation of Canadian Artists, is a licensed professional engineer, an amateur cellist, a designer and maker of clothing and shoes, and in 2016 attended the Academia Cremonensis to begin work on a violin.