Bentley Brooks Fine Oil Portraits

About the Artist

Unlike most artists, I grew up with little interest or experience in painting, drawing or playing with modeling clay. I’m not quite sure why that is, perhaps it was because no one in my family had much of an interest in art. Or perhaps it was because my brothers and I were raised in a very rural setting and grew up playing outdoors much of the time. In spite of having a non-artistic background, my life has been shaped by events that have led me to pursue portrait painting!

Being a large baby, my mother had difficulty delivering me during birth. The attending doctors used forceps to help me into my new world and during the process both of my eyes were injured. My left eye developed a cataract which prevented vision in that eye from developing properly, and my eyelids would later require a series of corrective surgeries. I remember my grandmother telling me the doctors were concerned I may never see. I would later go through several surgeries to remove the cataract and adjust my eyelids. I remember waking up in the hospital after what seemed like many surgeries to a young child --- my eyes were bandaged with both eyelids stitched closed so that I couldn’t open them. I remember how itchy they felt and how badly I wanted to scratch them! I learned something even as a child through that experience as I had to be patient and stay calm until the bandages and stitches were eventually removed.

As I grew up I was drawn to math and science, and after graduating high school decided to pursue a degree in physics. I would later go on to pursue a graduate degree in physics and have the opportunity to participate in physics

research at several national laboratories (Los Alamos, Fermi Lab, and the Superconducting Supercollider). But while in graduate school I began to feel something was missing. I longed for a creative outlet as I felt “trapped” by what was beginning to feel like the cold, hard rigors of physics.

So I bought a set of oil paints and, being an outdoor enthusiast and nature lover, decided to paint landscapes. I immediately fell in love with painting and began reading books and watching TV shows for art instruction as I continued to paint. I found that my years of physics training helped me progress quickly. Physics and painting may seem like somewhat of an odd combination, but I’ve been surprised at how similar the mental challenges are for each and feel that they compliment each other. After graduating I began teaching physics and painted in my spare time.

As my life got busier, I painted only occasionally. While pursuing a research project I came across a book by a well-known landscape artist Mark Weber that caught my attention. I admired Mark’s style of painting, and he specialized in my favorite landscape subject, the American Southwest. What really caught my interest was Mark's inspirational biography.

Mark was once an atheist, but as a result of his painting and study of nature he came to realize that the world and all its complexity could not have been the result of an evolutionary process. He later came to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. As a fellow Christian, reading Mark’s statement of faith meant a great deal to me at the time (click here to view my evolution website). I got in touch with Mark and sent him a few photos of paintings I had done. I asked him if he would be willing to critique my on-going work and offer suggestions as I got back into painting, Mark graciously agreed and we arranged for me to come to his studio for a weekend of painting instruction. Little did I know what a profound effect that weekend would have on me.

Meeting Mark and walking into his house was a fantastic experience. There seemed to be a beautiful painting on every square inch of wall space. At one point Mark offered to do a demo painting for several of us students on a subject of our choosing. Well, that next hour was a life changing experience as I saw Mark take

blobs of paint and create on canvas what seemed to be a living, breathing person. I was blown away that paint could be used in such a way and immediately knew that I would no longer be painting landscapes. I am so thankful to have discovered portrait painting and the joy it brings me!

I have also come to realize what a gift I have been given to have good vision in only one eye! You see, people that have two good eyes use binocular vision to judge distance and perceive depth. That ability is actually a hindrance when trying to take a three-dimensional image from our world and represent it on a two-dimensional canvas. It's interesting that it wasn't until the Rennaisance (13th century) that artists began to apply the mathematics of linear perspective to create depth in paintings --- up until that time paintings were " flat". But because I only have one good eye I naturally see the world somewhat flattened making the transference to canvas easier. In fact it’s common for artists to close one eye or squint to flatten and reduce a complex view to a simpler form. Even though I often use a digital image as a reference when painting, I still feel I have somewhat of an advantage when it comes to using two dimensional visual cues to give the illusion of depth and dimension in a painting. The vision in my left eye is extremely poor, so if I really want to drastically reduce an object to its basic form and color all I have to do is close my good eye!

As I look back over my life filled with flaws, mistakes and surprises, I’m reminded that there is a purpose for everything we experience even from our birth. It can be so easy to wish that things were different and to question challenges and circumstances we face. But God often uses the simple, broken things to accomplish the most. He reminds us of this remarkable principle with these words:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

		Member of the Portrait Society of America

		Member of Mensa