Marcello Barenghi
Marcello Barenghi
Marcello Barenghi (born in 1969) is a renowned Italian draftsman, illustrator, painter, architect, landscaper and youtuber.
Biography
He hails from Milan, Italy, where Barenghi showed interest in drawing from a very young age. At just one year old, he made a very detailed drawing of an airplane. He first began his studies at the Umberto Boccioni School of Art, and then worked in the studio of his Plastic Arts teacher, Luciano Formica, in which he restored a mosaic and part of the Roman circus in Milan. Later, he studied Illustration at the Castello Sforzesco School of Applied Arts. And finally, he graduated in Architecture from the Polytechnic University.
“My parents still have one of my first drawings, I was 18 months only and I was doodling on my chair, from the doodle came out, coincidentally, a three-dimensional plane; I couldn't touch them, but I could draw them!”.
Marcello Barenghi[7].
Although this artist had a promising future, things weren't working out for him and he even gave up art and drawing entirely and started working at a Blockbuster store. However, in 2013, with nothing to lose, Marcello decided to open his own YouTube channel, a decision that led him, once again, to dedicate himself to his passion. Currently, the Italian artist makes his living as a youtuber, and on his channel we can find numerous painting and illustration tutorials[8][9].
In Marcello Barenghi's drawings you can see branded products and objects that accompany us in our daily lives, that is, we can find all kinds of common objects, such as chocolate wrappers, soft drink or alcoholic beverage containers, bills and coins.
In addition, we can find portraits of superheroes from the comic, inspired by Gil Kane, or illustration of animals.
The time it takes to make each of these drawings is four to six hours and this is indicated in each of the videos that is uploaded on its website[10].
"With a quite recognizable style, Marcello Barenghi skillfully combines light and shadow, achieving brilliance in reflections.
To do this, he usually mixes different work materials in his paintings; from markers or colored pencils, through airbrushing, to acrylic paint, sometimes using the dry brush technique”[8].
Barenghi has been totally successful, going from 100,000 subscribers (in its first year) to 1.7 million subscribers today, and his videos have received a total of more than 200 million views.
In addition, he published a series of illustrations, cartoons, paintings and reproductions of oil paintings, such as Leonardo's Mona Lisa and Caravaggio's Child with a Basket of Fruit.
This artist has experimented with various styles such as expressionism, abstractionism and impressionism, but the one he really liked is Hyperrealism because his "purpose has always been to draw with the utmost precision, comparing my work with reality"[9].
“It 's true, my drawings are hyper-realistic, but it is also true that you can find my style in each of them, my own way of translating reality.
My drawings are not perfect, I'm never happy with the result, I often get angry because I can see a lot of flaws that I always hope to correct in the next work.
However, limitations and imperfections represent the style and anyone who has a keen eye will always identify my drawings, without the need to look at the signature”.
Marcello Barenghi[7].
Marcello Barenghi participated in two drawing competitions with a religious theme, receiving two honorable mentions by the then Archbishop Carlo Maria Martini.