Chris Buzelli

Born and raised in Chicago Heights, his mother was a nurse and his father a machinist working in the steel and glass factories.[3] Buzellis's parents divorced when he was five years old. After the divorce, his mother moved the artist and his sister, Tina into Section 8 housing.[1]

Buzelli's grandfather ran a television-repair shop, where the artist and his sister Tina stayed on weekends.[3]

His grandfather encouraged him to learn to paint. Every weekend, starting when Buzelli was six years old, the grandfather and grandson would watch the PBS painting show, The Magic of Oil Painting hosted by German artist Bill Alexander. One Sunday, Buzelli came in to watch the show and saw that his grandfather had set up two easels in his shop. From that time on, he and his grandfather regularly watched Bill Alexander and tried to recreate the paintings from his lessons. This was Buzelli's introduction to oil paint, the medium he still uses for all his work.[1]

In addition to starting his grandson on the path to be an artist, his grandfather kept all of Buzelli's paintings. He continued to collect them through the artist's high school years and when Buzelli went to Rhode Island School of Design, he asked his grandson to send him his work. Having retired, he transformed his repair shop into a gallery, where he hung all of his grandson's paintings.

Buzelli attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where he encountered ridicule from classmates, but found support in his art teacher, Kael Kirkpatrick who invited him to eat lunch in his room and went so far as to create a little room for the student in the back of the art department. Kirkpatrick also created additional classes, enabling Buzelli to take three art classes in his senior year.[1]

Buzelli received a scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design, based on an interior study drawing of his feet on the bathroom floor.[4] He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1995.[5]

After graduating from RISD, Buzelli moved to New York City and moved in with his classmate and illustrator, Aaron Meshon.[7] He worked part-time jobs and it would take the artist seven years before he was financially able to work full-time as an illustrator. For three months, the artist varnished all of the wooden wallboards in the bar area of the Society of Illustrators.[8] Buzelli didn't develop his award-winning working style until 2004. Prior to that he was working primarily as a collage artist. In 2004, the artist was sidelined with torn ligaments in his knee and during his recovery, the style that he has become known for emerged.[1]

Shortly after deciding to change his working style and focus on more personally derived works, the artist was commissioned by Amid Capeci for a review illustration for the magazine Rolling Stone for the album One Way Ticket to Hell ... and Back by The Darkness and the artist considered the work he created as career changing.[9]

Buzelli would go on to create many more review illustrations for Rolling Stone, as well as works for a wide variety of publishing and corporate clients.[10]

Buzelli creates a graphite under-drawing on gessoed masonite board before the final oil painting.[3] From color studies to final art takes between 30 and 70 hours for each work.[46] Because the work is often needed quickly, the artist avoids using colors that take a long time to dry, such as white. The white in Buzelli's work is often the white of the board.[47]

Buzelli teaches illustration weekly at RISD and also at SVA. Many of his students have gone on to achieve award-winning careers, including the Hamilton King Award winner, Victo Ngai.[8]

Buzelli is married to art director Soo Jin Buzelli. The two met while attending RISD.[1] He and Soo Jin and their mini-pinscher, Sota live in New York City.[8]

• Artist's personal website
• Additional collection of Buzelli's work at illoz