Riaan van der Merwe South African, b. 1976

He was as born in Germiston next to Johannesburg in 1976 and showed an aptitude for art at a young age and was mentored by his artist grandmother, Ellen Botha.

 

He studied the old master painters. Their paintings and the paints. He wanted to paint like them but in order to do that he had to use the materials they used.

He started making his own canvas, learned the benefits and inconveniences of working with rabbit skin glue and the value of different types of canvas. His work is very painterly and you can see every brush stroke, giving the painting an extra sculptural dimension.

 

He is currently a very successful artist living in Pretoria and making a living out of exporting his paintings. 

"I paint every day and anything that inspires. Mostly I love the human form, painting portraits full of emotion inspires me. I love the drama, the more drama in my paintings the better"