AUSTIN, Texas — From a small studio in the suburbs of Austin, artist Robert Chapman creates magic.
Chapman's portraits are intensely realistic and each one has been created in the most basic way possible: with lead pencils that capture the essence of a person’s face in shades of black and gray on stark white backgrounds.
It is a style of art that takes an infinite amount of patience and an even greater amount of talent.
Chapman’s photorealistic drawings have included the likenesses of Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Colt McCoy and dozens more famous and not so famous faces.
Art has been a part of Chapman’s life from an early age. He grew up in the Texas coastal town of Port Arthur where, as a kid, he would copy the Sunday comic strips and magazine covers.
Chapman earned an art degree on scholarship from Lamar University, then moved to Austin to design for a state agency, as well as to enjoy his second favorite pastime, fishing.
When KVUE met Chapman recently, he was working on a portrait of a favorite brother-in-law who had recently passed away. His portraits usually take months to complete, as the process of capturing shape, form shadow and light with a pencil is extremely slow.
Chapman said he’s always been fascinated by trying to capture the human face, a process that begins by first drawing the eyes.
“The human face is the first thing we see when we are born, and a lot of times it’s the last thing we see when we leave,” Chapman said. “For me, it’s always been intriguing to see if I can capture someone’s expression and make it look like them.”
Chapman said he gives most of his art away, usually as gifts for friends or relatives. It’s his legacy, he says: A way to be remembered and to touch someone else’s life, one pencil stroke at a time.
A gallery of Chapman’s work can be seen at rchapmanportraits.com