Wisconsin Life

[soft music] - When you're looking at someone's face, you can-- you can almost tell, like, you know, almost, like, what they did for a living or, like, what type of life they lived.

Why is that?

I don't know.

But I feel like it's my job to capture that.

[light percussive music] I'm Philip Salamone, and I'm an artist and instructor at Atwood Atelier and also at Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin.

It's hard to say when I realized that I was gonna do art for the rest of my life.

I sort of feel like it chose me, you know?

I tried choosin' other paths, but I couldn't tear myself away from it.

The style of drawing and painting that I do, I'd probably call it traditional or classical, realistic or representational.

I would say that painting from life is kind of a staple of it in the sense of I feel like 'I really thrive on that energy of being there with the model.'

[mellow guitar music] My studio is also a school.

It's called the Atwood Atelier.

And it's basically a space for people who were like me when I was younger.

And for so much of my life, I had wanted to learn how to draw or paint realistically.

It's just for people who have that same-- that same bug.

When you're circling that model stand, every artist is emphasizing a different truth.

And they all kinda look like the model, but they all have their own bias on it.

There's a connection with people who have this kind of same really unique interest, and I think just being able to kind of have that connection with people and to not only share knowledge, but to share, like, you know, this is possible.

You know, it's possible to, like, surprise what you thought you were capable of or to make money off of it or just to kind of lead by example in a way, I guess.

[brush strokes] I think just making something that's beautiful and meaningful and skillful is just such an amazing thing to-- I just feel so grateful that I'm able to do that.

[heartfelt music] Yeah, it can be so many things.

It can be like-- it's like a meditation, it's like a self-discovery, it's a sense of purpose.

It's just a way to, like-- to process the world and yourself, and it's something to strive for and focus on and to lose yourself in.

If it's-- something about that model really, you know, can bring something magical outta that artist, I think.