Pencil drawing of Gabriella II

“Gabriella”  graphite drawing on Arches watercolor paper  60” x 40”  

I never re-post an image, doesn’t make sense but this is a special case. This drawing came in fourth in the world’s most lucrative art exhibition..first prize $200,000, nice thing to share sorry if you saw it before.  

ArtPrize 2014 included 1,536 entries representing 51 countries and 42 U.S. states.   Over the course of 17 days, 400,000 people visited Grand Rapids 41,109 individuals cast 398,714 votes placing Armin Mersmann’s drawing Gabriella in fourth place in the 2D category.

Gabriella intrigued me as a bit of a conundrum: a woman in the prime of her young age, poised, timeless and vulnerable. The complexity and rhythm of the hair fascinated me, but I think her story emanates from her eyes, which reach deep into a more mysterious place. My work has been about nature taking back and this drawing is no exception. It is the beginning of the process when all is right with the world, yet the slow effects of aging have begun. Whether I’m drawing trees or the human form, I celebrate the cycles of time in nature. I have been drawing the human face for 40 years; I have marveled at the aging skin and the breadth of textures that give a hint of a life lived. My goal as a realist is to understand complexities and details; my interest is how the human eye perceives, not how a camera sees. I transform – not just translate – what I am observing. When I complete the work I develop an understanding of the subject that’s both universal and deeply personal.

This gives you a sense of scale: nimra.deviantart.com/art/Me-An…

 Some links of the work:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s7gYg…

www.mlive.com/artprize/index.s…

www.ourmidland.com/news/mersma…