{"id":21385,"date":"2024-07-25T20:43:03","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T20:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=21385"},"modified":"2024-07-25T20:43:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T20:43:04","slug":"meet-the-artist-behind-those-viral-paintings-of-your-favorite-foods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=21385","title":{"rendered":"Meet the artist behind those viral paintings of your favorite foods"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Vincent Van Gogh had his stars, Claude Monet had his lilies, and Noah Verrier has his snacks.<\/p>\n

Verrier\u2019s still-life oil paintings often center around everyday food and beverage items, like burgers and light beers, and posts of his paintings frequently go viral on platforms like X, Instagram, and Reddit. In recent weeks, paintings featuring pairings like \u201cWine and Dino Nuggs\u201d or \u201cEspresso Martini and Uncrustable\u201d have performed particularly well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a little bit of comedy in it, and it\u2019s kind of funny,\u201d Verrier said of his painting style, which he described as \u201chighbrow-lowbrow.\u201d \u201cI tend to like the more funny, serious-but-not-serious subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those serious-but-not-serious subjects often feature packaging and logos front and center. Smucker\u2019s, the maker of Uncrustables, was not involved in his Uncrustable painting, Verrier told us, but he has worked with brands over the years. His first official collaboration was with Popeye\u2019s in 2022, and since then, he\u2019s worked with other brands like Cinnabon,Dunkin\u2019, Little Caesars, Olipop, Reddi-wip, and Slim Jim.<\/p>\n

While he relies on collaborations for part of his income as a full-time painter, Verrier told us that he doesn\u2019t think about potential deals when coming up with subject-matter ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to go down a road where you put yourself in a trap and now you\u2019re creating things you don’t like,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always tried to be authentic with the things I\u2019ve done and pick the things that are the most fun to see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oil (and grease) on canvas<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s been seven years since Verrier quit his job as an adjunct professor at Florida State University to pursue painting full-time. Now, he said he spends Monday through Saturday each week in his studio, often completing one painting per day.<\/p>\n

While he was selling paintings and taking commissions prior to 2022, a viral post<\/a> on X that included a photo of one of his grilled-cheese paintings that year marked a \u201chuge turning point\u201d in terms of visibility, leading to inquiries from brands like Popeyes, he told us.<\/p>\n

Verrier said he doesn\u2019t proactively reach out to brands, and he rarely tags the ones he chooses to feature in his paintings. Still, he\u2019s received gifts from McDonald\u2019s and Duke\u2019s Mayo in response to art that was not created as part of brand deals, and he has watched brand accounts repost or comment on his paintings. It can be mutually beneficial: those reposts and replies sometimes boost engagement and can help him drive sales, he told us.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, the subjects of his paintings turn into bigger brand partnerships. Following a recent painting of a Wendy\u2019s meal, Verrier said he\u2019s been in talks with the brand around a potential partnership. He said he\u2019s also been in discussions with World Market to distribute prints. One day, he said, he hopes to work with Chick-fil-A.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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After the drive-through coffee chain 7 Brew commissioned a painting from Verrier for its social accounts, the brand is working with him on behind-the-scenes content, Cory Hinton, head of digital and social marketing at 7 Brew, told Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re constantly on the lookout for new ways to bring our brand and products to life, which creators like Noah can unlock,\u201d Hinton said via email. \u201cWe believe this collaboration will be a fun surprise for our fans, and Noah\u2019s work perfectly emphasizes our obsession with art while bringing a new style to our content grid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verrier said he makes the bulk of his income from sales of prints and originals over brand deals, and has only experienced one instance of a brand asking for royalties from print revenue, which he opted not to sell. When working with brands, he said he prefers to give them the original artwork to keep or share as part of a giveaway\u2014an added bonus, he said, of working with an artist versus a more typical creator.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a social media team teams up with a
\n Katie Hicks
\n , usually, it\u2019s just, \u2018Hey, here\u2019s my review,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cMy value is you get to show an authentic piece of art\u2026And then not only that, you can give the fans this original [art] and a gift card and maybe a print.\u201d<\/p>\n

7 Brew, for its part, has plans to hang their custom piece of artwork in their office, Hinton said.<\/p>\n

When deciding what to paint, Verrier said he often has no idea what will end up going viral. Like the rest of us, he says he is always surprised to see what gets people\u2014and brands\u2014talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of art for social media,\u201d he said. \u201cYou get to be seen. Hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n