Bio

Avi Barzel is the nome de plume of the Toronto-based artist and illustrator, Peter Kovachev. Avi studied classical art in Prague, Vienna and Toronto and has worked as a brick and stone sculptor, a graphic artist and a Web designer and writer.

Avi has been painting murals and commissioned portraits on canvas since his teen years.He began experimenting with computer-generated art in the mid-1980s and . in 2004, with more powerful computers and better storage technologies, he began combining traditional painting, photography and digital art in a new synthesis in which he can rightfully be called a pioneer of. Today, Avi's work graces many a home and his illustrations have appeared in print, books and online media.

Work

Avi's portraits and illustrations are executed with superb skill and attention to detail, qualities he learned when studying and applying the time consuming and meticulous methods of painting in slow-drying translucent layers of the late Mediaeval and early Renaissance masters. His works blur the lines between traditional portraiture, high art and illustration. They tell a story from a new angle, or capture a facet of the sitter's persona in surprising and yet effective ways.

In combining digital and tradional media in a single work, Avi gathers centuries of artistic traditions, photographic realism and cutting-edge technology onto a single "canvas." His finished pieces can stand on their own as giclée or photo prints, but often he enhances these with layers of emulsions, tints and glazes in styles first used by the Italian Renaissance masters. His portraits are works of fine art which will be treasured by his clients as heirlooms for generations to come.

Portraiture

Avi creates portraits from professional studio or on-location photographs, sketches, old photos and even poor quality snap shots. He works with the client or the sitter to create a truly unique portrait that captures his or her character and place in history. His work is priced individually, some of the criteria being difficulty, detail, changes, number of sitters, size and medium. Feel free to get in touch with Avi for a no-obligation and no-pressure discussion if interested in a portrait or an illustration.

Illustration

Avi's editorial and commercial illustrations have appeared in print and new media. He welcomes inquiries by publishers and agents.

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Title art: Avi Barzel, Idealized Self-Portrait as a Flemish Cavalier, 2007. Traditional and digital media, after a photo by Valerie James, 2005.

Lamborghini Diablo Roadster restored and maintained by Victor T of Lambo Dot Canada. Photo by Karen Harpell, 2008.