ownartwork.Becauseofmyphotorealisticstyle,however,
andthefactthatI onlyhadfreetimeontheweekendsto
paint,andthatI chosetouseacrylicslikewatercolor,
it couldtakemea yeartocompletea singlepainting.”
WhileFreemanworkedlaboriouslytofinishjustone
painting,Juliewasworkingata muchfasterratein
pastel.“Shewasproducinga lotofworkinpursuitof
becominga full-timeartist,”hesays.Inspiredbyhersuc-
cesswithandmasteryofthemedium,hemadetheswitch
topastelin2015.“Iimmediatelyfellinlovewithit and
haven’tdoneanotheracrylicpaintingsince.”A NATURAL STEPFORWARD
Freeman’sworkisunapologeticallyphotorealistic—a
styleheadmiredwellbeforepickinguppastels—and
isinspiredbythelikesofChuckClose,DenisPeterson,
DiegoFazio,AlyssaMonksandDonJacot,amongothers.
“I’vealwayslovedrealism,”hesays.“Detailandtexture
aredefinitelykeyelementsthatI’mnaturallyattractedto
withinanypotentialsubject.”Freeman also notes that his design background likely
has provided a lens through which he sees the world,
having had to pay close attention to the details that the
rest of us may only consider in the periphery, the back-
ground noise of our lives. “Photorealism is a natural step
forward, and it’s a vehicle for me to express myself
as an artist,” he says. “It’s what inspires me in the work
of artists I most admire, drives me in terms of my ambi-
tions and aspirations, and satisfies, most importantly,
my inner voice.”
Because of the nature of highly realistic work, it would
be understandable for an artist to have many false starts
with any given project. That isn’t the case for Freeman,
who has never had to restart a painting. “That doesn’t
mean that I’m 100 percent happy with every aspect of
each completed painting—in fact, far from it,” he says.
“The way I work is to complete each painting as I go—
working from left to right and top to bottom. In every
painting, there are numerous areas that I’m not totally
happy with; I reconcile myself with this in order to
complete the painting.”48 Pastel Journal JUNE 2019