Ramon Casas i Carbo: 1866-1932

Ramon Casas i Carbo was an artist from Barcelona. He was an incredible draftsman drawing portraiture of the rich and famous. The last image of the bunch is a self-portrait. He stares at the viewer delicately, with a pipe in his lips. Every figure shares this sense of confidence without overpowering the viewer. His technique is soft and subtle within features of the figure, and every line is laid upon the drawing surface in confidence. He is a master of depiction, using just enough white to highlight the most important reflective elements of the body, allowing the portraits to exist beyond the two-dimensional surface. However, the most impressive quality of his drawings is the energy and quickness many of the lines depict. They dance around the drawing surface circling the busts of the figures. 

David Jon Kassan: A Modern Master

David Jon Kassan has the incredible ability to capture not only the physical likeness of an individual, but the energy and emotion emitting from within them. Through careful observation and knowledge of the physical body, Kassan is able to share a story with the figures he creates, allowing them to physically breath on his painting surface. His figures are often placed against more abstract backgrounds that mimic degrading street signs and walls of the bustling city. However, his paintings depict a slowness in time, of careful and meaningful observation, and questions of identity and thought. Kassan is a true master of our time and is someone I personally seek after in further understanding how to view the figure and interpret their subtleties. He currently released a portrait painting instructional DVD called, "Painting a Life", and although I have only had the chance of watching a fraction of the seven hours of content, it is wonderfully educational and informative. It is a chance to peer into the thought process of the layering of his portrait to develop a living and breathing character. 

http://paintdvd.davidkassan.com/

http://www.davidkassan.com/