Marilyn Monroe
\u00a9 Craig Alan<\/p><\/div>\n

Portraits of People . . . A Thousand Points of Life<\/h2>\n

Perceptions change as we look at the world from different perspectives. Such variations in viewpoints are what make life interesting.<\/p>\n

What we see at a distance affects us one way. When we move in closer, we may experience something else. This evolution is the spice of creative expression.<\/p>\n

What do you see in the image above at first glance?<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s Marilyn Monroe, portrayed in a unique minimalist, semi-pointillist style. But look closer. You see much more. Her face, her hair, the textures, the colors are all built from humanity. Atlanta-based artist Craig Alan uses people as his artistic building blocks.<\/p>\n

Oh, I See<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The first perception provides one view. But with a closer look, something else emerges.<\/p>\n

Put into the simpler words of one surprised fan, \u201cOMG, it\u2019s made of little people.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Closer Look<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We have to look even more closely to see that this image isn\u2019t an elaborate aerial photography shoot.<\/p>\n

There is no skyborn director shouting orders to a group of extras, moving them this way or that to form an eyebrow or a graceful curve in the neck.<\/p>\n

Craig Alan is completely in control of his tiny people. He creates each and every one\u2014with microscopic clothes, individual characteristics and gestures, and realistic shadows.<\/p>\n

The individuals then blend together to become the strokes of an imaginary brush.<\/p>\n

The work is creative expression with a unique perspective\u2014an artful integration of the precision of a Chinese Olympic opening and the color-coded fun of card stunts at football games, where a whole stadium becomes a mass graphic.<\/p>\n

Audrey Hepburn
\u00a9 Craig Alan<\/p><\/div>\n

Marilyn, Audrey, and Elvis<\/h4>\n

Craig\u2019s main subjects for the \u201cPopulus\u201d series are celebrities. He chooses these pop culture icons because society (represented by his masses of small figures) has been key in creating their fame. The relationship is important to his message.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout us,\u201d Craig says, \u201cthese celebrities would not have been who they were or are today.\u201d The little people are important in making (or breaking) the stars.<\/p>\n

Secrets of the Tiny Figures<\/h4>\n

There is sometimes a secret about Craig that is revealed in one of the tiny figures (you have to look hard!), but mostly you see his astute people-watching skills coming into play and his belief that \u201cobservation is a key tool in his profession.\u201d His figures are very realistic.<\/p>\n

Craig hopes that viewers are drawn in by the person portrayed, but then are able to find some part of themselves in the figures.<\/p>\n

Elvis Presley
\u00a9 Craig Alan<\/p><\/div>\n

Points of Life<\/h4>\n

Some people who have featured Craig\u2019s work (without a careful eye) think it\u2019s aerial photography and wonder how he maintained crowd control and artistic vision for such grand scale choreography.<\/p>\n

Vigilent viewing is required. His work is only the perception of aerial photography. However, he did get the idea from an aerial-like experience.<\/p>\n

He was in Alabama photographing people on the beach from his mother\u2019s 6^{th<\/sup> floor balcony and saw that the crowd began to create patterns. When he saw an eye forming on the beach, \u201cthe creative wheels started turning.\u201d<\/p>\n}

Do you know who this is?
\u00a9 Craig Alan<\/p><\/div>\n

He maintained the aerial perspective as he began using small figures as artistic elements. And throughout his creative work with portraits of people, he continued his pursuit of the relationship between things great and small.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me,\u201d Craig says, \u201cthe people, how they interact with one another, and what they come together to make is the most important aspect of each painting. We are all symbiotic beings, all part of something greater and lesser than ourselves.”<\/p>\n

Such variations make life interesting.<\/p>\n

Artist Craig Alan
\u00a9 Henrik Abedian<\/p><\/div>\n

Craig Alan\u2019s<\/a> work can be seen at the Deljou Art Group<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Thank you to Colossal<\/a> and Bored Panda<\/a> for introducing Craig Alan to OIC.<\/i><\/p>\n

Inquiries about Craig Alan’s work should be sent to sonja@deljouartgroup.com<\/em><\/p>\n

Comment<\/a>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-creative"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40615,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12601\/revisions\/40615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}