Featured Artist Martein Peeters

Inspired by seventeenth century masters, artist Martein Peeters portrays the female nude using dramatic lighting and poses to create intriguing and dreamlike visuals.

17.03 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

Passion and an urge to paint; that is what drives my personal quest to capture my world.

17.14 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

As a thirteen-year old I discovered oil paint. Inspired by the works of Van der Weyden, Eyck and Willink, I started making very detailed large paintings. I continued my journey as a painter at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, known for its traditional and artisanal way of working.

17.16 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

I still feel drawn to the work of the magnificent master painters from the 17th and 19th century, which is reflected in my work.

18.01 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

Because I believe that a carefully applied craft makes for a strong basis of a good painting, I pay a lot of attention to technique.

18.02 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

My works are oil paintings on canvas, applied in several layers. I start from a basic tone of ochres and ombers, highlight with white, and ultimately build up the colour in layers. The composition feels like a lock with only one working key; it needs refining it until it fits. I work in a fixed format of 100 x 100 cm.

18.03 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

Of course, there is a long-standing tradition of female nudity in artists’ work. They used mythology to paint what they pleased without scruples.

18.04 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

For many painters, the naked body was and still is the ultimate object of study. Nothing is as complex as the organic shapes and colour nuances of the human skin of a posing body.

18.07 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

I am often struck myself by the intimacy of the chiaroscuro, grazing light on creamy skin in a dark environment. Even these days dreamy paintings with naked bodies have the right to exist.

17.18 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

In my work I return to the past from a conscious escapism. Not just to make a beautiful painting, but to tempt the viewer to wander through an allegory of lush nature.

18.10 – Oil on Canvas, 100cm x 100cm

With strange, nymph-like female bodies in a slightly uncomfortable world. Painted in a bold, classic style.

Artist Martein Peeters invites you to follow him on Instagram. Visit his website for more.

Link to Carolyn’s original article here.