Chuck Close Essay

An artist that has influenced my work greatly is Chuck Close. I learned about him when I was in fourth grade and he has maintained a lasting effect on me since. A couple of pieces I remember seeing at the time include Frank and Big Self Portrait. I was enthralled by both his personal life dealing with his prosopagnosia and dyslexia and his large-scale artwork. Seeing the sheer amount of intricacy and effort put into both his drawings and paintings molded my ideals into detailing and realism.

When I began taking art seriously and creating my own, I drew portraits. One of my very first portraits was a chalk pastel drawing of my grandmother. Similar to Close, I wanted this to appear realistic and detailed. After this, I would focus on stills
Seeing it in person gave me so much more than it could have from seeing it on a screen or in a book. What made the experience even better was being able to tell my peers a bit about Close, including why he painted, the type of work he did, and the few facts I knew about his current life. It was incredible to see my classmates who were hardly interested in art light up upon seeing the painting and compliment it. I noticed that they stuck around much longer with Frank than they did at other pieces, and I realized that was how I hoped people would view my art some day.

In a way, Chuck Close is one of the reasons I have striven to draw the kinds of things I do. I’ve kept his work closer to heart than any other artist I have encountered. He taught me from a young age that any disabilities one may have does not hinder the ability and desire to create. While I recognize different types of art as interesting and substantial, portrait art is very personal to me and continues to be my favorite type of art to indulge in. While I know I would still be creating art, I cannot say that I would be doing the same types of art had I not discovered Chuck