Painting Marble Into Flesh "Ballerina in Black" Print

Shawn Humes grew up in Baltimore City, Maryland, and is an art educator in Baltimore City Public Schools. He attended Maryland Institute College of Art as a realism charcoal artist. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Art in drawing, he studied techniques of oil painting and developed a passion to oil paint. Shawn is continuing his passion for oil painting, along with pursuing his Master of Arts in teaching because he loves to educate young students how art can be a therapeutic tool for inner-self healing. Shawn's charcoal drawings and oil paintings are inspired by film noir and German Expression cinema. Shawn grew up having a passion for enjoying black and white cinema and incorporates theatrical expressions of his subjects into his works. Some of Shawn's paintings are inspired by historical artists, such as Jean-Leon Gerome. He enjoys visiting museums and studying the artist's techniques on their paintings, such as brushwork and colors the artist at the time used. By standing very closely at his favorite paintings, staring at the brushstrokes, Shawn became inspired to use good quality material, along with using some historical pigments in his paintings, such as lead white for fleshtones.