Christiane Vleugels’ Divas

Christiane Vleugels, uber talented artist in Belgium, paints giant photo-realist portraits with oil. Her surreal use of light mixed with photo-realist details and proportions create her strong stylistic technique. Christiane’s interest in art began at the very young age of twelve, when her parents enrolled her into the Academy of Fine Arts; she was taught under the talented Herman Cornelis. Afterward, Christaine continued her art education at SISA and the Royal Academy of Antwerp.

Her work eventually began to exhibit in Egypt, Liverpool and the Galerie Des Beaux Art in Germany. As many artists have designers have experienced, the success came with much pressure and stress.

“For years I was forced to take on numberless commissions, many of them reproductions. When I look back at those tiresome years, during which I often felt myself under incredible pressure and even, at times, uninspired, I realize they were a necessary part of my artistic journey. After all, it is by taking on all those commissions that I learned to perfect my technique. I really do think I owe my various skills to that endless list of reproductions, strange as it may sound,” – Christiane Vleugels

Christiane no longer represses her urge to paint the ideas that spontaneously sprouted in her heart. As she describes on her website, her art is meant to tempt people to dream. To see more of Christiane’s portraits, visit her gallery on deviantart, here.

Noel Cruz: Ain’t Makin’ Your Gramma’s Dolls

Continuing with the doll theme, it is my unbelievable pleasure to feature Noel Cruz. Noel uses doll faces as a three-dimensional canvas. Armed with acrylics and ultra fine brushes, he paints intricate photo-realist portraits. It’s incredible. What is even more incredible is Noel’s inspirational story of how he became a pop art icon.  Born in Manila, with a disadvantaged family the financial pressures forced him to live with his aunt in a small, sparsely furnished apartment. By the age of ten, Noel started drawing and by age 16 he was helping support his family by taking commissions for portraits. He has now been repainting dolls for 11 years, when his wife first brought up the idea. Noel lists every doll he paints on eBay. From conception to finished product, Noel’s masterpieces take him 3-6 day. Doing the hairstyle alone can take him anywhere from several hours to a day, depending on how simple or complicated the hairstyle is. To see more of Noel’s art, check out his website and deviantArt page. And to see his listings on eBay, click here!

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