Michael Provenza

Artist Bio

Michael Provenza has created a unique artistic style founded on his art experiences. Michael has Illustrated book covers and greeting cards, painted museum sculptures and 150-ft murals, hand-illustrated and pixel painted backgrounds for Playstation and Xbox video games, showcased art in the Hawaii 5-0 TV series, was a contributing artist to create a Children’s Train Room for the Toldeo Extreme Makeover TV show, and has been a coveted Disney artist for the past decade. These experiences have driven Provenza to become a master at fantasy landscapes blended with the rarely used Pointillism technique, created by French artists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in the 1880’s. When viewing a Provenza painting you feel as though you can step right into the canvas, but given the surreal landscape you will be a caricature of yourself.

Painting with oil on canvas, Provenza’s art exudes a fantasy realism, with amazing depth and dimension. He said, “Painting a 150-ft mural for the King’s City theme park in Eilat Isreal forced me to truly study and understand depth, dimension and composition. It made me a better artist. My passion has always been to paint scenery that will bring viewers into my paintings and become engaged with the diverse qualities of nature.” Michael has painted many other murals, including one for the Toledo Zoo.

Inspired by his artist grandfather, Michael began drawing and painting when he was nine years old. “Growing up in Northern California, I loved the beauty of the outdoors. I also loved watching Saturday morning cartoons. This is when my landscapes began taking on a fantasy character – simplicity merged with brilliant colors.” With Grandpa’s
encouragement, Michael obtained a Fine Art degree where he studied some of the old masters like Michelangelo for his use of color, light and depth, and Georges Seurat for his Pointillism technique. Michael won representation with his first gallery after loading several paintings into his car, driving to Carmel and going door-to-door calling on galleries. Soon thereafter, Provenza’s art could be seen at art shows and in galleries across the United States.

As Provenza’s art career progressed, he worked directly with Disney and Sony, as well as actors such as Kirk Cameron, to create art for Xbox and PlayStation video games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Buck Rogers, Jurassic Park, The Horde, Walt Disney World Magical Racing Tour, and Mad Dash Racing. “The process of creating art for digital production requires pixel painting, which is very similar to Pointillism.

The animated and 3D experience was a tremendous exercise in developing my unique style. I was very excited to return to painting oil on canvas with an expanded vision for my art”, Provenza said. This new body of artwork is what Michael calls Life’s Journey.

Today, Michael lives in Toledo Ohio with his wife Shelley (who he met on a blind date) and their two sons. “It felt really special to support our community when my mural of the little boy’s Train Room was selected to be featured on the 2009 TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It was great to be able to help people in need,” explained Provenza.

Michael Provenza is a highly collectible artist, both nationally and internationally. His art has been showcased in American Art Collector Magazine, and he won Best in Show at the Fantasy Art Convention.