Salgado, 48x72x1.5 inches, oil on gallery wrapped linen, by Kenney Mencher (A collaboration with Lee Faircloth) painted 2016
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is titled Salgado. I made it in collaboration with photographer Lee Faircloth, who generously gave me permission to work from a series of his photographs. The photo I used for this piece was originally in black and white, which is how I prefer to work—I like to start with black and white references so I can focus on the value structure without being distracted by color. That allows me to build the shading and forms with more clarity before diving into color choices.
This is a massive painting—48 x 72 inches—done in oil on gallery-wrapped linen. It’s named Salgado because it reminds me of early work by Andrew Salgado, a painter who had a huge influence on me. Back around 10 or 15 years ago, Salgado was making large-scale portraits that felt raw, emotional, and monumentally present. His early work had a kind of Sargent-esque brushwork that I was really drawn to. Even though his paintings aren’t necessarily about gay themes, I always admired how unapologetically direct and intimate they were. That helped push me toward making work that centered men in a more explicit and personal way—both in subject and scale.
I began this painting with a drawing in vine charcoal, as I often do, so I could rough in the proportions and structure. After that I blocked in the forms using an alla prima method—working wet into wet—with some areas revisited and reworked over several sessions. You can still see some of the earlier layers and even bits of the drawing peeking through in places, which I think adds to the energy and directness of the painting.
The composition intentionally breaks a lot of classical rules. I tucked the head into the upper left corner so it almost kisses the top and side edges of the canvas. That lack of negative space is meant to heighten the intimacy and tension. I was trying to activate the full surface of the painting—nothing is left idle. The brushwork is broad and gestural, especially around the background and lower jaw, but becomes more refined in the facial features.
Because of its size, this painting is a bit of a white elephant. Shipping alone can run upwards of $500 just to get it out the door, so that cost is baked into the price. But if you’re anywhere near Round Lake Beach, Illinois, and want to pick it up from my studio, I’m open to discussing a discount.
This piece is part of my Fresh Finds release—works pulled from my own archive that reflect some of the most important experiments and transitions in my art career. Salgado is a bold, unapologetic piece and one of the best examples of where my work was heading when I began scaling up both in size and intent.
Details
Title: Salgado
Artist: Kenney Mencher
Year: 2016
Medium: Oil on gallery-wrapped linen
Size: 48 x 72 inches
Style: Contemporary figurative portraiture
Condition: Excellent
Frame: Unframed, gallery-wrapped edges (ready to hang)
Technique: Vine charcoal drawing, alla prima oil layers with expressive underpainting visible
Subject: Male portrait based on photography by Lee Faircloth, inspired by early work of Andrew Salgado
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is titled Salgado. I made it in collaboration with photographer Lee Faircloth, who generously gave me permission to work from a series of his photographs. The photo I used for this piece was originally in black and white, which is how I prefer to work—I like to start with black and white references so I can focus on the value structure without being distracted by color. That allows me to build the shading and forms with more clarity before diving into color choices.
This is a massive painting—48 x 72 inches—done in oil on gallery-wrapped linen. It’s named Salgado because it reminds me of early work by Andrew Salgado, a painter who had a huge influence on me. Back around 10 or 15 years ago, Salgado was making large-scale portraits that felt raw, emotional, and monumentally present. His early work had a kind of Sargent-esque brushwork that I was really drawn to. Even though his paintings aren’t necessarily about gay themes, I always admired how unapologetically direct and intimate they were. That helped push me toward making work that centered men in a more explicit and personal way—both in subject and scale.
I began this painting with a drawing in vine charcoal, as I often do, so I could rough in the proportions and structure. After that I blocked in the forms using an alla prima method—working wet into wet—with some areas revisited and reworked over several sessions. You can still see some of the earlier layers and even bits of the drawing peeking through in places, which I think adds to the energy and directness of the painting.
The composition intentionally breaks a lot of classical rules. I tucked the head into the upper left corner so it almost kisses the top and side edges of the canvas. That lack of negative space is meant to heighten the intimacy and tension. I was trying to activate the full surface of the painting—nothing is left idle. The brushwork is broad and gestural, especially around the background and lower jaw, but becomes more refined in the facial features.
Because of its size, this painting is a bit of a white elephant. Shipping alone can run upwards of $500 just to get it out the door, so that cost is baked into the price. But if you’re anywhere near Round Lake Beach, Illinois, and want to pick it up from my studio, I’m open to discussing a discount.
This piece is part of my Fresh Finds release—works pulled from my own archive that reflect some of the most important experiments and transitions in my art career. Salgado is a bold, unapologetic piece and one of the best examples of where my work was heading when I began scaling up both in size and intent.
Details
Title: Salgado
Artist: Kenney Mencher
Year: 2016
Medium: Oil on gallery-wrapped linen
Size: 48 x 72 inches
Style: Contemporary figurative portraiture
Condition: Excellent
Frame: Unframed, gallery-wrapped edges (ready to hang)
Technique: Vine charcoal drawing, alla prima oil layers with expressive underpainting visible
Subject: Male portrait based on photography by Lee Faircloth, inspired by early work of Andrew Salgado
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This painting is titled Salgado. I made it in collaboration with photographer Lee Faircloth, who generously gave me permission to work from a series of his photographs. The photo I used for this piece was originally in black and white, which is how I prefer to work—I like to start with black and white references so I can focus on the value structure without being distracted by color. That allows me to build the shading and forms with more clarity before diving into color choices.
This is a massive painting—48 x 72 inches—done in oil on gallery-wrapped linen. It’s named Salgado because it reminds me of early work by Andrew Salgado, a painter who had a huge influence on me. Back around 10 or 15 years ago, Salgado was making large-scale portraits that felt raw, emotional, and monumentally present. His early work had a kind of Sargent-esque brushwork that I was really drawn to. Even though his paintings aren’t necessarily about gay themes, I always admired how unapologetically direct and intimate they were. That helped push me toward making work that centered men in a more explicit and personal way—both in subject and scale.
I began this painting with a drawing in vine charcoal, as I often do, so I could rough in the proportions and structure. After that I blocked in the forms using an alla prima method—working wet into wet—with some areas revisited and reworked over several sessions. You can still see some of the earlier layers and even bits of the drawing peeking through in places, which I think adds to the energy and directness of the painting.
The composition intentionally breaks a lot of classical rules. I tucked the head into the upper left corner so it almost kisses the top and side edges of the canvas. That lack of negative space is meant to heighten the intimacy and tension. I was trying to activate the full surface of the painting—nothing is left idle. The brushwork is broad and gestural, especially around the background and lower jaw, but becomes more refined in the facial features.
Because of its size, this painting is a bit of a white elephant. Shipping alone can run upwards of $500 just to get it out the door, so that cost is baked into the price. But if you’re anywhere near Round Lake Beach, Illinois, and want to pick it up from my studio, I’m open to discussing a discount.
This piece is part of my Fresh Finds release—works pulled from my own archive that reflect some of the most important experiments and transitions in my art career. Salgado is a bold, unapologetic piece and one of the best examples of where my work was heading when I began scaling up both in size and intent.
Details
Title: Salgado
Artist: Kenney Mencher
Year: 2016
Medium: Oil on gallery-wrapped linen
Size: 48 x 72 inches
Style: Contemporary figurative portraiture
Condition: Excellent
Frame: Unframed, gallery-wrapped edges (ready to hang)
Technique: Vine charcoal drawing, alla prima oil layers with expressive underpainting visible
Subject: Male portrait based on photography by Lee Faircloth, inspired by early work of Andrew Salgado
