Friday Featured Artist: Thomas Marcotti

Thomas Marcotti, a PaintAmerica Signature Member, has had five paintings juried into PaintAmerica competitions. "Springtime in Wiscasset", top left, was the 2007 PaintAmerica MiniTop50 Grand Prize Winner! He also had a painting in the Top100 this year; "Church Row", middle right. "Cromwell Brook", top right, was apart of the 2006 PaintAmerica Top100. And in the First Annual Paint the Parks Competition, Marcotti had two paintings, "View From Ocean Drive", middle left, and "White Mountain National Forrest", bottom.

Tom is basically self-taught in the fine arts and has successfully made art a life-long endeavor. He has involved himself with many facets of art. In all of his work from graphic art and commercial printing, to being a portrait artists at Disneyland, to his many commissions, to the stunning acrylics and watercolors he produces today. Through his sharp eye for detail he lets the viewer immediately relate to the painting. This is exactly what he wants in his work… “When people view my work I would like them to be able to relate to some part of the painting. Perhaps it is the peacefulness, a feeling that they wished they were there, or a remembrance of time spent in a similar place. My paintings are the places and spots I wish I could see or be part of every day.”

Looking at his work you can tell he has achieved his goal. Using acrylics as the versatile medium it is, and working with canvas, board, or paper yields a variety of opaque textures and transparent washes. Working with watercolor, one of his favorite mediums, he works with the white of the paper to produce clean, translucent colors. He uses photography as a tool to obtain reference material, allowing the capture of a moment in time and space so he can later produce with accuracy the detail in like and shadow, the colors, and the positive and negative space.