Adam Scott Rote

"My paintings are rendered with not just one medium, but several. I work in gradual buildups with
transparent overlays. I start with my sketch on paper perfecting the layout then transferring the drawing
like the old masters"

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An award winning artist, his style of painting has been honed and mastered for over forty years from apprenticeships with artists in  diverse fields such as portraiture, airbrush, sculpture and sign painting well before the digital age. Learning several different hands-on techniques, Adam was later able to combine this knowledge to bring a fresh approach to the canvas by working with acrylic, gouache, watercolor pencil, airbrush, and eraser in unison. Painting gradual buildups, like the old and modern masters, with transparent overlays brings forth the breathtaking originals you see today. Which is an extremely labor intensive process that can take months for the original.

 

  His subject matter is constantly evolving from the American Ruins, which launched his gallery career in 2004, to his continued re-imagining of his early inspirations featuring Hollywood, musical icons and the noir inspired portraits. In 2008 Adam caught the eye of Hollywood’s legendary stars and their love and admiration has made him the most celebrated and collaborated fine artist in history. Debbie Reynolds says Adam is truly gifted with an eye for composition and imagination. Angie Dickinson called him her “Warhol.” Al Pacino stated, upon signing his Scarface painting, that it was the best he had ever seen.

   

  Adam has collaborated, painted and co-signed with Academy award winners : Martin Landau, Ernest Borgnine, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Joan Fontaine, Patricia Neal, Eva Marie Saint, Goldie Hawn, Angelica Huston and Matthew Mungle. Along with screen legends Doris Day, Jerry Lewis, Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickinson, Tippi Hedren, Stella Stevens, Esther Williams, Kurt Russell, Kim Novak, Debbie Reynolds, Carol Burnett, Ewan McGregor, Elijah Wood, Jason Momoa,  Sean Astin, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Tim Curry, William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Ali Macgraw, Jason Isaacs, Hayden Christensen, Steven Bauer, Famke Janssen, Jeri Ryan, Loni Anderson and Barbara Eden. Legendary Film Composer Danny Elfman Playboy founder Hugh Hefner,  Marvel Titan Stan Lee and the greatest quarterback of all time Tom Brady. He has a loyal following of collectors including his Royal Highness Abdullah Al-Saud, Country Music Star Zac Brown, Rock Stars Suly Erna, Grace Jones and New York Times Best Selling Writer Brad Thor.Turner Classic Movies host and film historian Richard Osborne, veteran television producer Karen Grace Cadle, and cinematic Sci-Fi  Director: George Lucas.

 

  He starts with a sketch on paper perfecting the layout then transferring the drawing like the old masters by charcoaling the back of the paper and taping it in place on the canvas. Fixed in place, he carefully retraces his drawing. Once done, this allows minimal pencil and sketch lines to interfere with the canvas Removing the paper outline, he begins with black acrylic paint specifically formulated for the airbrush, and slowly fleshes out the image. He alternates with watercolor pencils for sharpness until he achieves the first preliminary stage. Then, he begins with erasing to create distinct depth in the work, going back and forth with airbrush, watercolor pencil, and eraser.

 

  This process is lengthy, and depending on the image, can take several days. He masks off the entire figure and proceeds to the background, unless the figure involves transparency, then the background would have been completed first. He then undoes the masking and completes the figure to build color while still erasing to define highlights (or fur in case of the animals.) Finally, he uses white paint to help blend the masked edges to give the painting a balanced look traditional brushwork is also applied during the process.