Fort St. John artist Celina Forbes has used her love of pop culture to hone her skills with her paintbrush.
While some may paint landscapes or still life, she went a different direction, painting her favourite characters from various fandoms.
“I can’t even pick a favourite [fandom], I love it all,” Forbes said.
“As soon as a fantasy movie comes out, I’m like, yes, I gotta go see this.”
She’s done portraits of characters from the Marvel and DC universes, video games, and even some cartoons.
Forbes’ love for art blossomed from a young age.
She watched her grandfather create his own paintings, and her parents allowed her to paint her own mural on her bedroom wall.
That love of art led her to Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, and while she was there, she tried everything from printmaking to ceramics to sculpture.
Fan art isn’t really considered to be fine art, so Forbes didn’t do much of it while in school.
“I always liked Marvel, DC, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, anime,” she said. “I loved it all, and when I went to go do my degree, they didn’t really like that stuff there, they’re totally against it.”
After finishing her education and moving with her husband to Fort St. John and starting a family, she decided she could do any sort of art she wanted.
She started off with drawing and pencil work, but found it wasn’t overly satisfying; she wanted to cover a large surface and turn it into something permanent.
It was then she decided paint was the medium for her.
Her work is done in acrylics, which she says she enjoys due to the fact that it dries much faster and that it allows her to add more layers and textures to the canvas.
Forbes enjoys villain characters and has done many paintings of the Joker, specifically Heath Ledger’s version of the Batman villain.
“He’s just such a fun character to paint, and I just loved the movie,” she said.
“That’s why I do all the Pennywise as well, because he’s got the white face makeup, and I love doing the textures of the face makeup.”
She’s also done detailed, realistic portraits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Deadpool, and the Xenomorph from Alien.
At the same time, she’s done paintings of animated characters, such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Scooby-Doo.
“It made my skills better when I started doing the fan art,” she said.
“It really helped me with the skills for doing the faces. I’ve just always loved faces.”
The fan art paintings helped her hone her craft, and now she’s branching out into original paintings, featuring powerful female figures blended with mythology.
She strives to take something most people would consider dark and shine a light on it.
“I look at the bad parts of life, and I want to make them feel like they’re beautiful,” she said.
Her figures often have horns and antlers or a half-skull face, or multiple eyes that extend beyond the usual facial position. They exude an ethereal beauty while also threatening to devour your soul.
Forbes leans into this dichotomy of her original characters.
“I see the beauty and the strength,” she said. “I don’t know if people are going to think they’re villains or if they’re just these strong and powerful people?
“I guess it depends on your view of the world.”
See more of Forbes’ artwork at celinaforbesart.ca
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