Portraits to Comfort, Encourage and Inspire

realistic acrylic portrait children walking in woods

"Picking up the Mantle" 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, by artist Matt Philleo

"Rebuilding the Broken, 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, depicting Nehemiah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, an illustration by artist Matt Philleo for a book by Russell Stendal, published by Aneko Press, 2018

"Bethel Mural: The Gospel from Genesis to Revelation", by Dave Mattison and Matt Philleo, 2013, panel 2

"Bethel Mural: The Gospel from Genesis to Revelation", by artists Dave Mattison and Matt Philleo, 2013, panel 2, detail

"Victory in Surrender" 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, by Matt Philleo.

Portraits to Comfort, Encourage and Inspire

Hi, I’m Matt Philleo. Since 1991, I have been creating detailed, realistic pencil drawings and acrylic paintings on commission and exhibition.

My goal is, through beautiful and emotive art, to bring comfort, encouragement, and inspiration, especially to the discouraged and brokenhearted, so they can experience true and lasting peace.

Please contact me if you have any questions and visit my blog posts to see my most current work. If you’d like to be added to my personal and confidential email list, sign up right here.

To learn more about my custom portraits, visit TraditionStudio.com, my official commissioned artwork page

Thanks for visiting!

“Inscribed”

14″ x 17″

Pencil on Paper

UPCOMING SHOWS:

11th Annual Artisans Showcase–Merrill, WI. February 9, 2019 | 12-4:30PM (More info)
Realistic Acrylic Portraits: A Two-Day Worskshop. March 12-13, 10:30AM-3:30PM (More info)

Here’s the Latest From My Blog…

Meet Some of my Friends at Artisan Forge Studios

by Matt Philleo | Mar 10, 2016 | Art Shows

I‘ve been at Artisan Forge Studios now for over two months and, in that time, I’ve gotten to know several of my fellow artists and craftspeople here a little bit. I’d like to introduce you to a few of them. Artisan Forge is aptly named–it’s a melting pot of creativity within the Chippewa Valley area–a community of artists who work together, collaborate on common themes, and yet create in an incredibly diverse range of media: welded metal sculpture, blacksmithing, pottery, glass blowing, necklace making, and painting, to name a few. It’s a great place to be! Meet Chad Christensen, Glass Artist The first artisan I’d like you to meet is Chad Christensen. He does wonderfully amazing glass sculpture consisting of hand-blown creations. Most of his work is ornamental, decorative pieces that you would be proud to hang on your Christmas tree as well as above your fireplace mantle. Colorful striations twist around the whimsical forms of crystal clear glass, shapes that remind you of seashells or an amazingly decked out soft-serve ice cream cone. What got him started in this glass making adventure? It was winter layoffs in the roofing business and then the recent economic downturn that caused this former crane operator to seek an extra source of income. “I needed a garage hobby and a friend of mine had recently come back from Oregon, learned a lot about glass blowing out there, and I bought a torch in the winter and started working with him,” recalled Chad. He started glass blowing part-time as a hobby during the layoffs, and then when the bottom finally fell out of the... read more

Celebrating 25 Years of Doing Commissioned Art

by Matt Philleo | Mar 2, 2016 | Uncategorized

It all started back in 1991 at age 14, when my mom’s friend asked me to do a drawing of her friend who had passed away and paid me for it. Backing up just a bit, shortly before that I had just learned how to draw realistically from a photo. I had drawn OK up until that point, but suddenly, faithfully reproducing the details of a photograph “clicked” for me. Here is that commissioned portrait, a montage of several photos put together into one cohesive drawing. One of my first realistic drawings was of one of my favorite bands, Metallica. I did two of them, one of the whole band, and then one of the lead guitarist, James Hetfield. I don’t have that first drawing, but here is the second one–pencil on paper. While doing that first drawing of Metallica, I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I don’t think I took a break for hours. My eyes were glued to the paper, close in so I could capture all the detail. I came downstairs after several hours of working. My pulled me aside and asked me, “Matt I need to talk to you. Are you, umm…on drugs?” “Mom, you know me better than that!” “Well, your eyes are all dilated.” I then explained how I was drawing for hours (probably with poor lighting) and we both got a little laugh out of it. But those realistic drawings, if I remember correctly, is what she showed to her friend, and that spurred on the first commission. I had a couple more from teachers in high... read more

« Older Entries

Next Entries »