Paintings - Acrylic on Canvas - Acrylic on Paper
Acrylic on Board - Oil Painting on Canvas
A new interpretation of contemporary painting
 |
 |
 |
| Cafe Tables in Paris Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 18" x 24" $600 |
Bar Stools Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 18" x 24" $600 |
Lunch for Two Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 18" x 24" $600 |
Christopher Peterson's work is marked by great attention to detail, while maintaining an informal colorful and painterly feel. His creative approach is thorough and focused, sometimes reading an entire biography when starting a rock poster. Whenever possible, photographic reference must be his own. Drawing is always central to the work. Good figures and correct perspective are important while maintaining a spontaneous flair. These are the strengths that make Christopher one of the best freelance illustrators on the west coast.
 |
 |
 |
| Wobbly Vinyl Chairs Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 20" x 24" $650 |
Lunch Counter Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 18" x 18" $450 |
Bodega Bay From an Airplane |
My motivation to paint began with early childhood in the New England suburbs in the early 1960's. Like many Americans of our time, we traveled, and valued the many parts of the world we had seen. I was fascinated with the infrastructure of this great mobility that we shared. I loved cars, roads, airplanes, buildings and cities and often wondered how they worked and how they were made. I was much less concerned with their meanings and consequences than I was with their design.
Many of these early experiences included trips to New York City to see the world's great art museums and galleries. There I saw the work of the great artists whose paintings marked the development of our culture through time. By the time I was a teenager, I knew I had a facility for drawing and I began to put together the idea that I could somehow fit into this scenario. It was a time when painting had moved from impressionism to cubism to abstraction and back again. Music was at an all-time high point. Andy Warhol made mass-produced commercialism cool, and I could see how he influenced other painters, designers and commercial artists. I loved the honesty of this work, and I could see the connection with earlier artists like N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, Charles Sheeler, Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargeant and Winslow Homer. In fact, I can see that if it were not for the great success of these artists, it could not possibly even occur to me to make paintings at all.
So it is with this perspective that I paint today. I use Acrylic paint because it is cleaner and easier to use than oil, and every bit as permanent. My technique is fresh, realistic, colorful and painterly. I have developed a wide array of tools, using photography, the computer, drawings and sketches, and I'm always learning new methods and approaches to develop imagery. Much of it comes from stream-of-consciousness snapshots, photographs and drawings. I find that the most compelling and successful pieces are the ones which are less influenced by other art, but arise from the most personal experiences, which are of course the most universal. Christopher Peterson, 4/15/2012
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Airplane Window #3 Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 9" x 12" $150 |
Airplane Window #2 Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 9" x 12" $150 |
Airplane Window #1 Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 12" x 9" $150 |
Airplane Window #5 Christopher Peterson acrylic on canvas 9" x 12" $150 |
When I am finishing a picture, I hold some God-made object up to it - a rock, a flower, the branch of a tree or my hand - as a final test. If the painting stands up beside a thing man cannot make, the painting is authentic.
- Marc Chagall