Hey guys!

Last Saturday, I went to Greg 'CRAOLA' Simkins' new solo show at KP Projects Gallery. I've been to three of his past solo shows there, but this one was by far my favorite! I felt like he brought his refinement to the next level, and every single piece exhibited was solid.

Greg Simkins, aka CRAOLA, is a fine artist born and based in LA. He attributes his bold style, whimsical ideas, and confidence to his experience as a graffiti artist in the 90s, which is where he got the name CRAOLA. He's heavily inspired by rich fantastical worlds like Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz, which is apparent in his enchanting style and subject matter. He's a full-time fine artist now, but he has worked commercially as an illustrator for bands, apparel, and video games in the past.

My Introduction to CRAOLA

I was first introduced to Craola's work by my mentor, Nathan Ota, during college. Nathan was active in the gallery scene around the same time, and they were both well known for their technical skill in rendering and dark pop surrealist taste. They also both prefer to use acrylic paint as their medium of choice, which is kind of rare when it comes to gallery work. I remember being blown away by Craola's technical precision when I first went to his show as a student. I was just learning how to paint with acrylics, so it was mind-boggling to see his work in person and try to break down how he could achieve such clean rendering.

What Makes His Work Mesmerizing

Beyond his technical skill, CRAOLA's imagination is what truly captivates me. My favorite part of his work is how he designs these strange little creatures who look familiar but have something otherworldly about them. He paints them with such precision that I can practically hear what kind of noises they would make if they popped out of the canvas. I always love it when artists with insane amounts of skill choose to paint silly little things.

CRAOLA's Process

Something fun I discovered while writing this article is that CRAOLA has a YouTube channel where he actively posts videos of painting timelapses, little interviews, and even live painting streams. I watched his process for his painting "Giddy Up" in the current show and was mesmerized by how efficient and streamlined his process is.

After his initial drawing, he immediately blocks in every local color. I find this extremely hard to do in my own paintings, especially if I'm going to be rendering over things, but CRAOLA barely adjusts the local colors throughout his whole process.

After he's done blocking in the colors, he goes in with black to line everything. I was shocked he did this so early on because his linework is always so clean and dark. Plus, he distresses his painting with washes and splatters after the linework, which usually makes darker colors dull or muddy. But somehow his technique keeps the linework clean and crisp until the end. He also does minimal touch-up work on the lines or edges, which goes to show how precise his mark making is.

Another thing that struck me was how he renders with washes instead of opaque layers. It's incredible how he uses loose, suggestive brush strokes with watered-down paints to create the illusion of a highly rendered material.

His painting really pops once he blocks in the black background. It's often difficult to judge colors and values when you don't have the surrounding areas blocked in, so it’s apparent he has complete command over his values.

For more tightly rendered areas like his iconic birds, he went through a more linear painting process of going from dark to light and adding textures and accents at the end. How he can achieve form and beautiful feathery texture with his mark making is masterful.

I highly recommend going and checking out his process video in full!

Beyond the Technique

Of all the incredible things about CRAOLA's work, I'm especially inspired by his commitment to his world building. His well of ideas seems truly endless and shows no signs of drying up anytime soon. You can feel his love for his world and his craft seeping out of his work, and it reminds me how important it is to paint what you're passionate about.

His show "The Middle" is on view at KP Projects Gallery in LA until June 21st, so be sure to go check it out!