Born and raised in Orange County, California, the artist known as Noah has emerged as one of the hottest talents to hit the fine art market and custom art scene. Noah first earned local recognition in the early 1990s for setting up his easel in neighborhood coffee shops around Costa Mesa and painting portraits of famous celebrities for throngs of fascinated patrons. His portraiture caught the eye of collectors like Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Craig T. Nelson, ZZ Top and the Black Crowes.Soon after, corporate clients came knocking. Lexus Motor Cars, Levi's and Toyota, among many others, commissioned Noah to enhance their corporate collections, and in 2004 he painted the famous pink "Suki" car in Universal Pictures' 2 Fast 2 Furious. Noah's "body art," created for clients like Red Bull Energy Drink and recording artist Pink (he adorned her body with tattoos for a recent music video), has similarly exposed his talent to a broader audience.
Among Noah's most recognized achievements are the "rolling canvases" created for Alpine Electronics. These radically altered vehicles have won numerous automobile awards, such as "Best Paint" at SEMA in Las Vegas for four years running. His art is featured in every episode of A&E's Inked and he's the official painter for Arturo Fuente Cigars. In addition, Noah has partnered with 10 world-renowned French wineries to showcase each producer in an elegant, limited edition of prints. Perhaps most impressively, Noah recently became the fastest selling artist for the Walt Disney Company. His limited edition Disney character prints can be purchased at the Disneyland Resort and Disney World.Noah spends much of his time producing original paintings in hisprivate home studio and running Great Flood Publishing Inc., the exclusive publisher of Noah Fine Art. He lives in Southern California and his time away from work is shared with his wife and two young children. All aspects of Noah's products and projects may be viewed by visiting www.noahfineart.com.
We took a minute to ask Noah a few more personal questions about his life, creations and future.LRA: What kind of medium do you like to work with?
Noah: My work consists mostly of brush, airbrush, rags and solvents. I try to mix it up as much as possible. I really love photorealism and making things look real, but love to contradict the look with a lot of texture, weathering and aging. Imagine an old wall of a church or ruin, and then a painting over it. For some reason, I've always been attracted to that look. It seems to show a lot of emotion and feeling.
LRA: What type of art work did you first start doing?
Noah: I started my company when I was in high school. I was doing lettering, signs and promotional banners for businesses and restaurants. I also did a ton of illustrations in pen and ink. It kept me really busy. I remember my business card was in the high school yearbook. I remember riding my bike from business to business handing out cards to promote. Once I saw the reaction, I was motivated to hit it even harder. Around 21, I started setting up at coffee houses and night clubs to get in front of people. I would paint famous celebrities on sweatshirts and canvas. Once people saw the quality they would then ask to be painted. Canvas was the ticket for me. It allowed me to spend a great deal of time on a piece and generate income. God opened doors to amazing companies like Levi's, Toyota and Lexus early in my career that allowed me to paint some amazing products and projects. What became the real challenge was that every job, sale and outcome was in God's hands. It was and still is the way that He operates in my life. I'm not the operator of this corporation. Christ sits at the head of it all and I paint. That's my job. I have found that artists and businessmen get into trouble when they think that "they" have influence over the outcome.
LRA: You have your own creative way of writing. How did this come about?
Noah: For years, I've been attracted to the Middle East and Asia. I especially love the writing. Science fiction movies really do a great job of showing different dialects written in really cool ways. For me, I write in English, but make the letters using my own font, usually reading from top to bottom. It allows me a way and vehicle to spread messages without it being so easy to read. It makes it more thought provoking and interesting. Letters are interesting. The moment you add words to an image it changes everything. A lot of artists don't take the risk because it really changes everything. It's a huge commitment.