Michael Steirnagle pivoted to fine art after a long career in illustration. “Around the time that computers showed up and took over the illustration business, I decided I didn’t want to compete with that,” he remembers. He took a job teaching at Palomar College and immediately gravitated to figure painting.
However, he still views the human figure as primarily a design element. “You can move them in any way you want and create some really interesting designs and patterns with light, shadow and color,” he says.
The Match, oil on linen, 66 x 66"Steirnagle’s illustration background comes through in Beach Candy, which features people lounging on the beach under colorful umbrellas. After looking at aerial drone photos of a beach, he noticed natural patterns and shapes emerging on the ground below. He points out that the umbrellas in Beach Candy are set up on a diagonal grid, with sunbathers interspersed between them.
“The structure works to keep the whole painting together so that there is no particular focal point,” he says. “I like to paint figures, but I don’t try to paint specific people. The point is really for the viewer’s eye to move all around the canvas.”
The start of the pandemic gave Steirnagle an opportunity to challenge himself with larger paintings. “It really afforded me the opportunity to stretch my wings,” he says. He worked on paintings jam-packed with figures and full of dynamic imagery, including The Match, which depicts the drama of a polo match.
Dolphin Swim, oil on linen, 44 x 72"
“I had gone to a polo match and shot a couple of photographs. I initially had no intention of doing a painting, but the people were wearing such interesting hats and clothing,” Steirnagle says. The painting is rich in color and shadow, capturing the playful atmosphere of race day.
While watching the Summer Olympics, Steirnagle became fascinated with the way the divers moved in the water, and it became the basis for his painting Dolphin Swim. “I did one figure and the painting was cool, but I realized I could create patterns within the painting and I needed more figures to do it,” he says.
Beach Candy, oil on linen, 75 x 75"
The result is an image of many divers overlapping, so they look like a pod of dolphins swimming in the ocean. “I had to let go of reality, because that particular perspective could not be duplicated in real life,” Steirnagle says.
Steirnagle’s show at CODA Gallery opens in Palm Springs, California, on March 18 with a reception from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. It runs through March 30. —
CODA Gallery
73400 El Paseo #B1 • Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 346-4661 • www.codagallery.com
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