Background

Graig Alan was born in 1971, in San Bernardino, California, United States.

Education

Graig Alan made his first attempts as an artist daubing the wallpapers of his parents with crayons while living in Atlanta, Georgia. He was successful in an introductory drawing class in school and assiduously developed his skills on his own outside the classroom.

In 1991, Alan entered the University of Mobile where he studied two dimensional, 3D, and Theater Arts. He supported himself by making charcoal and watercolor portraits of people on the streets of New Orleans on weekends. That helped him to study in detail the anatomy of human figures.

One of Graig Alan’s paintings was chosen from more than 1,600 submissions to be shown among 42 other works at the important university’s exhibition, ‘Art with a Southern Draw’.

Career

Graig Alan started his career while a student. He worked part-time in a small frame shop for a few months and soon was sent by his coworker to Deljou Art Group in Atlanta. He remained in framing for four more years, then concentrated on his own artistic career.

Since then, he has produced a variety of painting and other visual works ranging from abstract expressionism to graphic realism. One of Alan’s most well-known series is Populus which features a great number of notable personalities such as Marilyn Monroe, Freddie Mercury, Van Gough, Queen Elizabeth, and others.

Nowadays, Graig Alan is working on the canvases focused on children's novels and fairytales.

Achievements

• Graig Alan is praised for his innovative approach to the industry of visual art. His canvases where a whole image is formed from the tiny figures spark the keen interest of both the professional art community and art amateurs.
  
  Alan’s works are in the permanent collections of more than fifteen galleries and art spaces around the United States and of more than forty in the United Kingdom. His art is widely presented in Germany and Canada as well.
  
  A portrait of Senator Harry Reid from Alan’s Populus series decorates the walls of the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Pulp Nation

  • Flor De La Gente

  • Shhh!

  • Vive la Liberté

  • Red Carpet Capture

  • From Mini One

  • Established Order

  • Liberty Enlighten The World

  • Mass Culture Prospector

  • Kindred Amour

  • Prince

  • Leader of The House

  • Populous Soup

  • Populus: The Underdog

  • Populapeoporif (Dr. Suess)

  • Populus: Lichtenstein “Hair”

  • Be Nice People

  • Populus: Dame Elizabeth Taylor, “Liz”

  • Plethora of Picasso

  • Of The Age

  • Creature Condition

  • Narrative: Bridled (Hay Horse)

  • Life Happens

  • Topsy Turvey

  • Populus Series: Audrey “Sunday Afternoon”

  • Stash

  • Populus: Audrey

  • Populus: Homage to Van Go Go

  • Flores de Los Suenos

  • Populus: Capitol "Nos Autem Populus" (We are the People)

Views

Quotations: "Inspiration begins with a 'What if...' as I consider alternate imagery, surfaces, effects, results, etc. It comes from the past in conjunction with now. Like a bolt of lightning."

"Art needs to be responsible to its purpose; to inspire and enhance."

"I am a painter, this is what I was meant to be and I will never stop painting."

"Observation is the best way I can convey how I visualize a painting. [...] For me, the people and how they interact with each other and what they come together to make is the most important aspect of each painting. We are all symbiotic beings, all part of something greater and lesser than ourselves."

Personality

Graig Alan is a quite discreet person when the case is about the fact that his works are the source of inspiration for other artists or commercial firms.

References

• Craig Alan's Official Website