CHRIS GEORGALAS // MIXED MEDIA

These are actual pieces, photographed at each stage. Same process every time — gather the references, build the substrate, sketch the figures, paint the world, keep going until it feels right.

— Commission № 01 —

Two siblings, the bridge, a pink bow.

Buyer sent in a single photograph of their two kids at a fountain — pink bow, gray turtleneck, two small backs — and asked for them placed in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. Five stages, one finished piece.

Step 01 · Sources

Buyer's reference photo: two children at a fountain, girl in pink with bow, boy in gray.

Pencil sketch of two children at a brick wall, Brooklyn Bridge in background.

What I'm working from One photo of the kids. Plus a quick pencil sketch I do first to feel out the composition.

Step 02 · Substrate

Canvas covered in torn book pages, taped flat with masking tape, on the studio floor.

Build the ground Old book pages, torn and pasted across the canvas. The text disappears under paint but the texture stays.

Step 03 · Block-in

The painting in progress: black and white painted city behind the bridge, the children sketched and partly painted.

Paint the world Skyline and bridge in black and white first — that's the memory. Color comes later, only on the figures.

Step 04 · Color

Close detail of the painting in progress: the two figures embraced, with the Brooklyn Bridge and city behind.

Bring the kids in The bow becomes the only piece of color in the frame. The hand on the shoulder gets re-inked by hand.

Step 05 · Done

The finished bridge couple painting: pink dress, teal jacket, kids embracing, bridge and city in monochrome behind.

Finished piece Mixed media on canvas. The kids stand inside the city their parents grew up in. One of one.

What the buyer sent · one photograph of two siblings at a fountain. What they got · a painting where their kids are standing on a brick wall above the East River, looking at a bridge they've never seen in person yet.

— Commission № 02 —

Two kids, holding hands, at a lighthouse.

A family lighthouse in coastal Florida, photographed by the buyer. Two siblings to add — to stand on the rocks, holding hands, the way they actually do. Watch how the background grows up around them.

Step 01 · Source

Black and white photo from the buyer of a real lighthouse on a jetty of rocks, with two children in swimsuits standing in front, holding hands.

What I'm working from The buyer's own photo of the lighthouse. The two kids already in the shot — that's the memory I'm keeping.

Step 02 · Layering

Mid-stage with collage and graffiti texture papers added behind the lighthouse, plus a Brooklyn Bridge silhouette in the lower left.

Layer the world in Graffiti scraps and city windows pasted into the gray. Brooklyn Bridge tucked into the lower left — a nod to where the family lives now, not just where they vacation.

Step 03 · Done

Finished painting: white lighthouse glowing against a dense black collaged backdrop of city windows and graffiti, two children holding hands on the rocks.

Finished piece Final passes of black push the city back so the lighthouse glows. The kids hold hands. Mixed media on canvas. One of one.

Step 04 · Block-in

Early stage of the painting: lighthouse painted white on a stormy gray background, two small figures painted in color on the rocks.

Tower & sky first Lighthouse goes down clean and bright. Sky stays loose gray. The two kids painted in early — pink, blue, coral — so I can find them through the rest of the build.

What the buyer sent · one black-and-white photo of a lighthouse where their kids spent summers. What they got · a painting that puts their two kids exactly where the photo was taken — but with the rest of their lives layered in behind it.

Paper, Paint & Found Things.

Interlude

Quiet work
blooms quietly.

Catalogue

Who / Where / Why

What people have said.

"Call Waiting" hits billboards across Charlotte.

On Record CV · 2002–Present

The Commission

Send a note

Concept & quote

Studio & making

Delivery

Bring your own nostalgia.