“Free” by Eric Zener

I know what you’re going to say… “WHOA!!”, right? Amazingly realistic, wouldn’t you say? This painting is so Norman Rockwell in my eyes… absolutely amazing. The dark suit against the fabulously cloudy sky, the tease of the lifeguard stand in the background with just  a little pop of color. FABULOUS! I’m sure this is something Eric Zener has heard time and time again. He’s got quite the long list of publications, awards, etc. A bio that I read on him said he was self taught. Now THAT is amazing. He has certainly taught himself well!

Here is another, entitled “Woman Treading Water” – can you believe how realistic this woman looks?

Here’s a blip about Eric from Joanne Artman Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA:

Eric Zener (b. 1966, Astoria, Oregon) is an American photorealist artist best known for figure paintings of lone subjects, often in or about swimming pools. Zener is a self-taught artist. His paintings, mostly in oil, are in a photorealist or “super-realist” style Zener describes as “Contemporary Renaissance”. In 2003, while living in the Costa Brava region of Spain, Zener became interested in watching bathers, and began a series of paintings of water, and of people interacting with water. Many paintings from this period depict women swimming underwater amidst air bubbles, or diving into the water, and have been described as reminiscent of Hudson River School and Barbizon School painters.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Images: Gallery Henoch