For those of you who enjoyed the piece on Louis K. Meisel's gallery in SoHo: A man of few words, Paul Cadden answered a few short questions in this follow-up to our original story on Photo-realism. His graphite and pastel works are part of the Hyper-realism movement that followed Photo-realism in the early 2000s. Enjoy!

FF: Let's start with how you became interested in Hyper-realism.
Paul: By looking at the works of Denis Peterson.

FF: Is there an artist or group of artists that became your inspiration and lead you on this path?
Paul: The artists from the Plus One Gallery were my inspiration

After
Drawing pencil on paper ( 84 x 58.5 cm)

FF: Aside from graphite what other tools do you use?
Paul: Pastels

FF: What is your favorite subject matter and why?
Paul: Interesting faces and inner city landscapes because there’s stories being told and lives being lived.

FF: How important is the subject/subject matter when you begin a project?
Paul: The subject matter is more important than the drawing itself.

FF: Where do you do your work?
Paul: In a studio from home.

Drawing From Detroit
Drawing pencil on paper (84 x 58.5 cm)

FF: Can you tell us about a recent piece you worked on, how it began, challenges, medium, time, etc?
Paul: The most recent one would be for the Plus One Gallery’s London Calling Group Show.  I must have taken at least 2000 photographs walking around London, narrowed down to 3 photographs for the one drawing which I used for reference.  It was originally planned as a painting but decided it would work better as a drawing. Time is always a challenge to meet deadlines and in this case it was because time wise it was to coincide with the Olympics. Medium – graphite on recycled cartridge paper.

FF: What advice would you give an artist who wants to explore Hyper-realistic art?
Paul: The advice I would give an artist who wants to explore Hyper-realistic Art is to not obsess solely on technique but to think about what they’re trying to say and that would be my advice for any artist.

New York 12
Drawing pencil on paper (84 x 58.5 cm)

FF: Where can someone see your work in-person?
Paul: People can see my work at Plus One Gallery, London and Mason Murer Fine Art, Atlanta.

Enjoy more of Paul's work at his PAD:
Visit Paul's official site: http://paulcadden.com