Brian Atchley fell into painting when he discovered an abandoned canvas in a Chicago

dumpster. He prefers the process of learning through doing, rather than through

prescriptive art classes. Unlike classically trained painters who move from analog to

digital, Brian moves in the opposite direction. As he paints, he starts with a base layer of

shapes, letting it dry, then moving to the next consecutive layer with subtly more detail

than the last. It is through working in Photoshop and thinking of an image as a stacking

of multiple “layers” that directly informs how he conceives of the painting process.

His most formative experiences come from the dark room, learning the power of

composition, contrast filtering, and using shadow and light judiciously. The “Tobias &

Stanley” series features larger-than-life hyper-realistic portraits painted with only black

and white paint. His use of monochrome is meant to punctuate the incongruous textures

of the human body, and the profound effect light and shadow have in sculpting it. These sensibilities are directly channeled through his years of experience and exploration in adark room.