ABOUT
Kristopher Meadows is an award-winning portrait artist and instructor with over forty years of experience creating commissioned portraits in oil and charcoal. A graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), he has painted portraits for private collectors, public figures, and families throughout the United States. His work is distinguished by strong draftsmanship, confident brushwork, and a commitment to capturing not only a subject's likeness, but also their character, presence, and individuality.
Influenced by masters such as John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, and Joaquin Sorolla, Meadows approaches portraiture with a direct alla prima method that emphasizes freshness, energy, and emotional connection. Alla prima, Italian for 'at first attempt', is a direct painting method in which wet paint is applied into wet paint, allowing for greater spontaneity, vitality, and unity throughout the work. Through this approach, Meadows seeks to create the same qualities admired in the great traditions of portrait painting: the convincing illusion of life and a lasting emotional connection between the subject and the viewer.
Meadows has painted portraits of numerous distinguished individuals including Michele Wiles, Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre; actor Christopher Reeve; First Lieutenant Roger Mullin for the U.S. Army; and syndicated columnist Richard Yarbrough, Managing Director of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He has studied under acclaimed painters Albert Handell and Casey Baugh, as well as internationally recognized sculptor Richard MacDonald. Meadows is a member of the Portrait Society of Atlanta, the Portrait Society of America and Oil Painters of America. His work has been featured in national publications including American Art Collector and exhibited in juried competitions where he has received numerous awards and honors.
In 2011, Cobb Life Magazine named Meadows "Best Local Artist" in Cobb County, Georgia. In 2012, he released his first instructional painting program, The SVEC Method™: Painting the Female Portrait in Oil, designed to simplify and demystify the portrait painting process for artists of all skill levels. Today, Meadows continues to create commissioned portraits and figurative works while offering private oil painting instruction from his studio in Acworth, Georgia.