As a software craftsman with an art background, I am involved in a number of projects in the art industry. One of the more interesting projects has been serving as web master for RayMar's Online Fine Art Competition, which has afforded me the opportunity to view nearly 2,000 works of art over the past year.
Robert Coomb's artwork grabbed me
instantly. In fact, when we re-lauched RayMar's e-commerce web site in January, they wanted me to post images of the art contest entries on the home page. I was instructed to go ahead and make the selections myself. I "randomly" chose "First Leaves of Autumn." Little did I know it would go on to win their entire competition!
For this issue of the Fine Art Fanatic, I'm going to simply quote the words written by RayMar's January judge to describe the three paintings pictured in this blog entry.
First Leaves of Autumn - "Overall, this painting is done beautifully. Good technique and skill. Nice composition with the figure against back light. Fewer warm color accents on the leaves brings up the excitement level." - Hui Han Liu
Fatherhood - "This is a good piece to set the emotional mood in an autum scene! Beautiful arrangement and technique as well. The unity of the white shirts between father and son was skillful, and artfully broken up by the shape of the vest." - Hui Han Liu
Reverie in Firelight - "Beautiful setting and paint application! Good color and tonal arrangement. It would be better if angle of the arm stretched out on the floor looked more comfortable." - Hui Han Liu
As I search for more info about Mr. Coombs on the net, it becomes clear that every time he shows his work somewhere, people take notice. From OPA Awards to one-person shows, this artist is on his way.
About his work, Robert says, “There are certain visual things, usually very simple, that trigger an emotional response within me and within others. It may be a gesture, a shape, a color or any number of things. What is important is that it invokes a response within me. My desire then, is to try to recognize and capture that element which has stirred my soul, as feeble as my attempts may be, in the hope that it may be experienced by another and ultimately lift them in a positive way."
If you're as intrigued by this artist as I am, visit the link below to see his portfolio on FineArtViews.com. You can also read his bio and follow the link to Robert's personal web site.
View More Robert Coombs Artwork:
http://www.fineartviews.com/4/lp_371/skin_/pg_agregator-artistportfolio.html/qr1_artist-id=7I haven't even looked up this artist's price range. I hope his notoriety hasn't yet exceeded my limited pocketbook. If you love loose, figurative works that make a huge emotional impact, don't leave Robert Coombs off your consideration list.
Sincerely,
Clint Watson
Software Craftsman and Art Fanatic
PS: The RayMar Art contest I mentioned above was a unique Internet juried competition. The winners were posted on RayMar's web site this morning. Should you wish to peruse the other winners, go to
http://www.raymarart.com/ac/ac_viewfinalwinners.asp.
