Laurent Botella, 1974 | Figurative painter

French artist Laurent Botella was born in Nantes.

His apprenticeship in painting began in 1989 in the atelier of Maïthé Rovino at Aussonne followed by one year at Beaux Arts in Toulouse.

The training was focused on oil painting and pastel.

Work in charcoal and pencil has always been the basis of his work before and after training.

Inpired by the impressionists and sketches of the great italian masters, his painting is spontaneous and structured.

The compositions and colours are studied in order to highlight the subject.

The incomplete processing of darks and the effects of light direct the eye toward the expressions, attitudes and emotions of the characters.

His purpose is to give an impression of life in his paintings.

For Botella, technique is paramount. Execution is rapid and without hesitation.

From the early stages the work is structured by light in the manner of an academic drawing.

It is for this reason that many of the construction lines still appear in some places in his completed works.

The finished painting is a face emerging from a drawing.

In 2009 Botella became a member of Art du Pastel en France and resumed painting in oil, set aside temporarily for the medium of pastel.

He has been exhibiting – and winning Awards – since 1991.

He was guest artist at the Midi-Pyrénées Artists Salon in Tournefeuille in 2011 and at Murat Painters in 2010.