F. Scott Hess has been described as a “New Old Master”. His narrative portraiture blends realistic scenes of everyday life with symbolic and allegorical events, humor, eroticism, and voyeurism. He begins with drawings and careful diagramming on his canvases before adding traditional oil paint or egg tempera. Hess’s works are defined by his strong brushwork, careful attention to the luminosity of flesh, and ability to capture ethereal light. Some of his paintings are reimaginings of the works of canonical masters, such as Diego Velázquez and Jean-Antoine Watteau. Recently he has begun to examine the new possibilities that technology has opened up for his art-making practice. “Over the summer of 2013 I focused on three paintings where my subject matter derived from screwed-up iPhone panorama photographs,” he explains. “The way the panorama mode stitches together a scene is akin to the way human vision actually works. Movement engages the viewer at a preconscious level, eliciting an empathetic response before language can intercede.”