Ian Reynold is a Chicago-based painter. Working with oil on linen, Reynold creates emotive paintings that are influenced by photorealism yet simultaneously retain a painterly touch.  Regardless of whether you like his subject matter or not, I think you’ll agree that Reynold possesses technical chops. At just 23 years old (fucking crazy, right?), he spends between 100 and 400 hours on each painting he creates, and it shows. While it may be a tad hard to tell from the small image above, the 32” x 20” painting is exquisite in how detail laden it is. Reynold’s ability to paint textiles and his mastery of capturing light source is impressive. Do take note of how he has painted the creases in the undershirt in the foreground, and the feathering technique he has used to achieve depth of field in the comforter in the background. Additionally- if you’ve ever painted skin before- you know how hard it is to paint it accurately. Given that skin has a degree of translucence where veins and arteries influence coloration from within the multiple layers of ectodermal tissue, it is beyond hard to replicate skin’s inherent iridescence with paint. However, Reynold is able to masterfully paint skin which is a feat in and of itself- really take note how he has painted the legs in the image above. Lastly, check out how he has painted tattoos, specifically how he has captured how black tattoo ink ‘greens’ over time, and how tissue cells age over time resulting in tattoos that feature faded pigments and line work that tends to ‘blow out’ (visible in the ‘suited man’ tattoo). Reynold reached out to us, and we were blown away- it is one of the most jaw-dropping email submissions we have ever received. If Reynold keeps it up and matures his subject matter then we may have the next John Currin on our hands. We’re not blowing smoke up this kid’s ass- he could very well reach the upper echelon of modern American painting. Follow Reynold on Tumblr here.