Emily Holman Morris

I'm interested in how strong light sources affect the appearance of human subjects and water, and work mainly with a chiaroscuro technique. I paint in the traditional style of the great masters of the Renaissance, drawing upon my classical academic art training. Oil paint lets me apply thin layers that let light and color show through. I begin with the same method that Cennino Cennini writes about in his fourteenth-century handbook Il Libro dell’Arte: I tone the canvas with a thin layer of paint, and allow colors to slowly build up on top, creating the illusion of light and depth. This method is used both in my seascapes and figures.

A classically trained pianist, Emily Holman Morris developed a love for intricate beauty at an early age and would design complex patterns which she later applied to her ceramic work. She started painting with oil in 2009, and decided to pursue a traditional academic art education at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California, where she received her Master's of Fine Art in 2013.