LIGHT ARISES IN THE DARKNESS:
A Journal of Comfort, Encouragement, and Inspiration
Experiencing the Joy of Camping
The passing of Memorial Day heralds the beginning of summer and with it, the camping season. I love this time of year. The weather is still fairly temperate and the days are long. I also love camping. It’s the combination of cooking fire over the open flame, and “roughing it”–leaving many of the conveniences and distractions of home behind that charms me. More than that, it’s wonderful to be out in nature where you can be calmed by the green, translucent canopy above, the sounds of leaves rustling in the wind and dragonflies buzzing, and to be able to take scenic hikes at leisure. My wife was hiking on a beautiful sunlit trail at Copper Falls State Park in Northern Wisconsin, carrying our daughter on her shoulders, and I snapped the photo that this painting was based on. Below is a commissioned portrait sketch I did that celebrates that love of camping. This drawing was made from an older photo, decades old if I remember correctly. Here we can see the husband and wife just enjoying being out together camping, and they look pretty happy. This freehand drawing took a few hours and, although not at my more photorealistic level of work, I think it captures the feel of the picture without too much fuss. For folks that camp at the same place every year, their spot can begin to mean a lot to them–a home away from home. Here is a drawing I did for an old friend from high school based off a photo of his parents’ cabin. After the drawing was done,... read more
New Drawing and the Beauty of Motherhood.
I just finished a new drawing last week, a pencil portrait sketch commissioned by a previous client. This drawing was to be given as a gift for his girlfriend, most likely a belated, but very special Mother’s Day gift. It’s an 11 x 14, pencil on paper. I took two different photos and combined them into one drawing. The girl on the bottom wasn’t shown in the original photo of the mother and her younger daughter, so I added that in from another photo. The nice thing about a portrait drawing is that you can combine different photos together into one cohesive image. This is a great image of a beautiful mom with her two smiling children, and it was wonderful to be able to create this unique sketch for my client. With this, I think of Mother’s Day that we just recently celebrated, and how amazing mothers are. All the pain they go through to bring a child into the world, the commitment to nurse and care for that child immediately after, and all the love they pour out into their children’s life day by day is nothing short of heroic. Speaking of heroic, I remember several years ago, when my son was just months old, my wife and I were walking from a restaurant, and she was carrying him and some other stuff, too. (What was I doing? Probably nothing!) She tripped on a divot in the sidewalk and our son went flying out of her arms. Almost like a wide receiver stretching to catch a low pass, my wife adroitly reached out her hand just in... read more
New Artwork and Building Bridges
Finally, after three months of intense work, I finished my largest canvas painting ever: a 48″ x 72.” Although I worked on some other projects during the creation of this one, this particular portrait consumed the brunt of my focus–and studio space since the middle of winter. The concept for this portrait painting was about as unique and intriguing as I’ve ever done, and it certainly was a privilege to be able to bring this idea to life for my client. I made contact with him originally through the freelance/ self-employment web service, Thumbtack. Jim, my client, saw the profile I had there, and contacted me asking if I could do a portrait of his family. The concept he wanted was a depiction of his wife when they were in their 20’s back in the 80’s, and and their children–who are now in their 20’s–hanging out in the same time and place. In the background is New York City, where they were originally from, merging into Minneapolis, which is close to where they and their kids now live. This was an idea I just couldn’t pass up. As a freelance artist, I often take commissions that are your typical portrait based off a “polaroid” style snapshot photo, nothing fancy. Although I enjoy all of these projects because I love to capture the beauty in every person, this idea transcended the mundane, and I was thrilled to be able to bring it to life. I have often wondered myself what it would have been like to hang out with my dad, for example, when he was my age. Would we... read more
More is Not Always Better
As many of my readers know, I just started teaching my very first drawing class at my studio this week. I created a 5-session course to help beginning artists learn skills that will help them create realistic, detailed portraits they can be proud of.
Since I normally am a “fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants” kind of guy, I figured I would do better and create an intricate, elaborate lesson plan with 50-some drawing exercises (a little exaggeration) and that the students could knock them out in about 10-15 minutes. No problem, right?
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A Few Simple Tips to Draw Better Portraits
People are one of the most challenging things for an artist to draw. To capture the unique appearance and personality of a person by using the right lines and shading takes patience and practice. Even as a professional portrait artist who loves his craft, sometimes after…
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About Me
Hi, I’m Matt Philleo. I create artwork to comfort, encourage, and inspire. For those who are discouraged, brokenhearted and experiencing loss, my artwork has special meaning, often by guiding them to the One who can bring true peace and lasting joy.
I’ve been doing art on commission and exhibition on a part-time basis since 1991, and exclusively full-time since 2013. Currently, I live in Eau Claire, WI with my wife and three children.
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