C.J. Conrad fine art-Landscape Oil Paintings' photostream

I was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh and went to school in business & later on opened a business in my country of birth. However, art was something I’ve always loved, even as a child, but I was not in a position to devote myself to it full time. During the 1980’s I went to work with my brother in N.Y. to help him in his business venture. A decade later I decided to emigrate to Canada. I have been living in Montreal since 1996.

I taught myself to paint with oil, by studying the paintings of some of my favourite artists and also with the help of a few self-help books. Right now, my paintings are heavily influenced by some of the artists that I’ve been studying. But, it was necessary for me to follow them in order to teach myself the techniques of the old and modern masters. A high degree of proficiency of those techniques will allow me to use them in a wide variety of applications. I really got frustrated when a painting didn’t turn out the way I had envisioned. I think that was the hardest part of my learning process; to learn to be patient with myself. So I practiced harder and things started to come together. I could see the progress I was making and that helped a lot. I also received a lot of encouragement from people who saw my works. That is also important to me, it helped me to keep going. It’s one thing to have confidence in oneself, but it is also important to received good feedbacks from people, [as potential buyers] and other artists, [for a more professional level of comments].

I started to paint more in 2003 in response to specific requests and/or on commission basis. In 2007 I started to paint full time to prepare for an full scale exposition planned for 2010.

I have done some abstract painting but my heart is definitely in realism - romanticism. This style is more demanding technically but I find the results much more satisfying. Each painting can count from 10 to 20 layers, which are necessary in order to integrate the appropriate degree of depth and luminescence for each scenery.

I am particularly challenged by what the contrast of colors should be under different light intensity and that is what I strive to express. But, I’m not even close to achieving my goals yet. I’m in experimental and self-discovering stage right now, it will take me few more years to discover and develop my own unique style.

I do some digital art too, mostly in abstract form. Digital art gives me more freedom to play around with the colors. Digital art also is the most forgiving media you can use.

I also taught myself to take good pictures. Being a good photographer helps a lot in the marketing aspect of my paintings, but I have to admit, I also do it for the sheer fun of it.

Comments or suggestion about my paintings are always welcome and very much appreciated. Thank you all for your time.
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