“The figure is a landscape…a series of hills, valleys and folds where light reveals texture, edges are lost in shadow where true beauty and drama are created when the two meet.” Paul Benincasa

The artist grew up in Queens, New York where his first exposure to art came from copying drawings from comic books. “ I believe my love of the figure came from the highly stylized drawings of my favorite comic artists.” I got older and became more aware of Illustrators working in comics which opened more avenues to fine art.”

In 1989 Paul was accepted to The School Of Visual Arts, where he majored in Illustration. “I feel that at SVA I had the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest men and women in the field today.” “ The Instructors were very passionate about teaching and about art.”

The drawing technique that I use is a direct result from my studies with Jack Endwelt former chairman of the Illustration and cartooning department. “ Jack was an amazing teacher he definitely pushed me and I have to say that I still hear his voice in my head. “ All my instructors have a lot to do with my development as an artist especially Glen Hansen, James Mcmullen, Garin Baker and Stan Martucci

In 1996 the artist began studying drawing at the Art Students League with Peter Cox. “ Peter’s class offered me a chance to just draw the figure and not worry about how perfect it had to be.” With this in mind I came back to just studying the figure as almost an abstraction taking pieces of a larger image and concentrating on how light moves on the human body. I really believe that the beauty lies in the contrast between light and dark and I will play up that contrast wherever possible.

The watercolor on the title page is the first in a series of watercolors depicting statues and landmarks in New York City. I was inspired by my friend and former teacher Glen Hansen’s paintings of Venice and Paris. I realized that when I stop to sketch these statues people take notice not of me and what I’m doing but they stop and look at the statue and I can’t help but wonder if they would have had I not been there. That’s the role of the artist to me show the world…but do it in a way that makes people want to go see the real thing themselves

The artist is available for commissions. All work on this site is for sale to private collectors but the artist would prefer creating new work to the taste of the patron. Please click the contact link below.