Gregory Manchess came to speak at SDSU on November 13, 2014. A big “thank you” goes out to Neil Shigley for inviting us. I have been a fan of Gregory’s since I saw his presentation for SISD years ago at Tracy Sabin’s house. I was impressed with his handling of paint, but also with his obvious love for what he was doing. He was an inspiration back then, and I’m happy to say he still has that spark and love for what he does.
Following his presentation at SDSU, he did a painting demo the next day. I was very impressed with his ability to paint and teach at the same time. Gregory was doing this beautiful portrait, but continued to answer questions and give out wonderful advice. The students huddled around, some standing on desks, just to see each deliberate stroke of the brush. He talked about his process and about working with clients. He recently had a piece on the cover of Communication Arts magazine. The illustration was about mental illness and the client wanted him to be very loose. Gregory had been wanting to get looser, so thought this would be the perfect opportunity. He brought in a piece, depicting a person’s face, and they sent him home to get even looser. He ended up going back several times until he finally went all out and got as loose as possible, while still understanding it was a face. He kept the eyes more detailed and, for me, this was a very powerful image.
For more examples of his work and more information about Gregory go to: http://www.manchess.com
Gregory has a 3-day painting workshop coming up in February. For more details visit: http://www.tlcworkshops.com/p/upcoming-workshops.html
