Gary Justin from Bathurst NSW is the latest artist to exhibit at May Raechelle Art Gallery’s Rural Art Exhibition and he is a man of artistic contrasts.

 Gary will be bringing vibrant acrylic works on canvas, landscapes of beauty and colour from around the world. However, he specialises in detailed yet subtle, soft graphite pencil drawings.

 “I am a self-taught artist from Bathurst. I grew up in a small town in Western Victoria. I never drew as a child and art was not offered in high school.”

 Inspiration came to Gary from some of the great caricature and sketch artists in the fantasy field and this can easily be seen in his pencil works.

 “My first introduction to art that interested me was when I discovered fantasy art. Artists such as Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo, Larry Elmore and Joe Jusko. I loved the muscles of the guys and the curves of the women and all the monsters and amazing scenery that went along with it. So, I just started copying their artwork and enjoying my drawing.”

 This will be Gary’s first solo exhibition at a gallery but he has been actively drawing commissions for a number of years as well as winning awards at the Bathurst Show and Evans Art Council Exhibition.

 “I started drawing famous people, actors and actresses that I liked. Family and friends asked me to draw pictures of them and encouraged me to do something with my art. So about 5 years ago I started up a little business where I drew people’s portraits from photos. I called it Lets Face It Portraits and I made myself a Facebook page.”

 Gary will be exhibiting at May Raechelle Art Gallery in Millthorpe from 4 July to 1 Sept 2019. He will also be appearing at the gallery for two Meet The Artist events on Saturday 20 July and Sunday 18 August.