William Rose’s artwork was recently chosen for the re-designed cover of the Strathmore 400 Serious drawing pads. The drawing pads are used by professional and serious artists worldwide and being chosen for the cover is an enormous recognition of an artist’s talent and reputation.
William Rose, a figurative/portrait artist from Kansas who works primarily in oil and charcoal, is garnering considerable national attention as one of a select group of very talented representational figurative artists painting today. Following creative bursts in music and writing, he nearly stumbled across a talent – which quickly became a passion – for drawing and painting. After one of his drawings was featured on the cover of American Artist Magazine he received a steady stream of requests for figurative and portrait work from many local and national high-profile collectors and galleries.
To focus on his growing success, William recently moved his studio to ARTichokes Gallery, a fine art gallery and painting studio in Leawood, Kansas. Rose said “There is always exciting activity at ARTichokes providing a unique and open environment that I love – multiple artists at work, classes at all hours and a steady stream of gallery visitors as I create paintings in the large studio space.”
The local art community has benefited by Rose’s studio in ARTichokes because it affords art buyers and students to view the paintings he is currently working on. Often an artist’s studio is hidden in a loft or warehouse that prohibits people from seeing their work. “The ARTichokes studio has brought a whole new audience to my work, I’ve sold paintings that were half-painted to people who happen to be walking by” said Rose.
For the past ten years the self-taught artist’s medium of choice has been charcoal, but three years ago Rose recently began painting with oil. “Because I’m self-taught, I had always been somewhat intimidated by oils, but once I jumped in, I found that it opened up an entirely new world of color, technique and texture to express myself in the figures and portraits I create. Painting on very large canvases, I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have Signature Canvas right here in town – incredible quality and blazing fast responsiveness to the custom canvas sizes I need. As an artist hitting full-stride in my career, I’d be lost without them.”
In addition to appearing in a wide range of national publications and juried shows – including covers for American Artist Magazine and Poets & Artists – William produced all of the artwork for a new film associated with Clint Eastwood in Carmel about a teenage art prodigy. His artwork has also been featured in national art competitions including Artist Magazine’s “The Year’s Best Art”, American Artist Magazine’s 70th Anniversary Competition, International Artist Magazine’s 2009 Annual competition and the art quarterly, Blue Canvas. His work will be featured this fall in the book “Strokes of Genius” and this November, William will have his first major solo Museum exhibit at the prestigious Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art.
William Rose Artwork
