GEORGE MENNING

To George, the human face is the most fascinating subject of all. He loves the way a certain look in the eyes and tilt of the head can convey such a compelling sense of emotion. Human portraits stay “alive” over time and captivate George in a way that still lives never have. You can hang a good portrait on the wall and never get tired of it. It is his goal to create paintings that people can hang on the wall and continue to enjoy for 20 year or more.

George’s fascination with the human figure began in the 1950’s at the Art Institute of Chicago when he worked in charcoal on newsprint, sketching large number of poses in a single session. From there he enrolled as an art major at Wright College in Chicago, where the study of the human skeleton honed his technical skill.

In 2007, George took up oil painting in Fort Collins and developed the knowledge of color mixing and value assignment to the human figure. The bold use of color continues to be an important element of my style today.

I work from photos and live models. Some of George’s inspiration comes from “Frankensteining” multiple photos to create a portrait that is a composite of images: the nose of one model, the neck of another and the cheekbone of a third, for example.