REED CARPENTER

Reed Carpenter‘s work comprises imagery that spans the humorous, absurd, surreal, and serious—oil paintings of pigs with human hands, uncanny self-portraits featuring disembodied eyeballs, and figurative portraits dappled with light reminiscent of Rembrandt. His sketchbook studies offer a somewhat more raw touch while retaining a seemingly effortless mastery of medium. See more at @r33dcarpenter.

“I consistently run into the problem of overthinking whether an idea is ‘good enough’ to develop into a fully-fledged painting,” says Carpenter, “so I tend to reach for a sketchbook when I want to just let go and have fun with whatever is at hand, without necessarily concerning myself about whether it will work. In fact, recently I’ve started doing paintings in my sketchbook instead of just loose doodles; I’m finding myself much less likely to second-guess myself, especially in a medium I’m not very familiar with (in this case, watercolors/gouache and acrylics). Some of my favorite pieces have come out of sessions where I’m just splashing watercolors around and getting messy, and being able to be ultra portable is always a bonus!”