We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brett Moffatt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brett below.

Brett, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

How did you learn to do what you do?
From a very early age, I developed my skills by meticulously copying images from magazines and books through drawing and painting. This practice laid the foundation for my artistic development. Eventually, I progressed to drawing and painting from life, which further refined my observational abilities and technical execution.
Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?
I’ve come to recognize that copying, though often disparaged as lacking creativity or invention, is actually fundamental to artistic development. Copying well demands that you truly see what you’re studying. This process requires constant judgment and decision-making about forms, spatial relationships, hue, saturation, value, and temperature.
I believe that learning artistic expression requires a solid foundation. Once you’ve mastered the fundamental tenets of drawing or painting what you see, you gain the freedom to invent and create without limitations. Embracing rather than avoiding this developmental stage would have accelerated my growth.
What skills do you think were most essential?
For me, drawing ability and understanding values were absolutely essential. These skills form the backbone of all my work. Understanding color – particularly the relative behaviors and relationships between different colors – came later in my development, building upon that foundational knowledge of form and value.
What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
The most significant obstacle was simply having enough time. Mastering your craft requires space and time dedicated to practice and experimentation. It demands considerable discipline and patience – countless hours spent working diligently to develop technical skills and artistic vision. Finding and protecting that time was, and continues to be, the greatest challenge in artistic growth.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For folks who may not have read about you before, can you please tell our readers about yourself, how you got into your industry?
My journey into the art world began in the rural landscapes of Australia’s Fassifern Valley, where I enjoyed an idyllic country childhood that nurtured my observational nature. Despite limited cultural exposure, I developed an innate curiosity that led me to document my experiences through drawing and journaling. Even then, I was captivated by the Jazz Age, Film Noir, and Hollywood’s golden era – influences that continue to shape my aesthetic vision.
My formal education began with a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Griffith University, but it was my parallel career as a make-up and special effects artist that truly transformed my artistic perspective. Working backstage at Warner Brothers Studios and various theatrical productions in the early 1990s, I found myself immersed in a world where light, shadow, and storytelling converged. This behind-the-scenes vantage point granted me unique access to the duality of performers’ lives – the contrast between their public personas and private vulnerabilities.
The trust I built with models, actresses, and dancers allowed me to photograph, paint, and draw them, developing a creative practice that bridged these worlds. I became a spiritual heir to Hollywood’s master photographers – translating the dramatic chiaroscuro lighting of George Hurrell, the psychological depth of Clarence Sinclair Bull, and the sculptural fabric treatment of Horst P. Horst into contemporary oil paintings. Where these photographers worked with silver nitrate and light, I work with pigment and brushes, but with the same intention: capturing suspended moments where glamour reveals deeper truths about the human condition.
For over thirty years, I’ve dedicated myself to exploring this delicate interplay between outer appearances and hidden depths. My artistic practice examines the duality of human experience – the performative aspects we project to the world and the fragile emotions we keep concealed. Drawing additional inspiration from artists like Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, and Hopper, I’ve created a body of work that honors their legacy while speaking to our current moment. Through my paintings, I invite viewers to contemplate the complexities and contradictions that reside within each of us, believing that art can bridge the gap between the external and internal, offering glimpses into the profound depths of the human spirit.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

At the heart of my creative practice lies a profound mission: to preserve and elevate the visual language of beauty in contemporary culture. I’m driven to create work that serves as a bridge between classical traditions and our present moment, capturing what I call “suspended moments” where time seems to pause and deeper truths emerge.
My vision extends beyond mere nostalgia for Hollywood’s golden age. I see myself as a contemporary keeper of an important visual tradition pioneered by master photographers like Hurrell, Bull, and Louise – not simply referencing their techniques, but evolving their understanding of how light, shadow, and composition can reveal psychological depth beneath surface glamour.
In our age of relentless digital imagery and instant consumption, I’ve dedicated myself to creating paintings that reward sustained attention and contemplation. Each work invites viewers to experience that delicate balance between revelation and mystery, between what is shown and what remains hidden. This exploration of duality – between public persona and private vulnerability, between the facades we present and the truths we conceal – forms the core of my artistic investigation.
I believe passionately that beauty carries profound meaning in contemporary society. My mission is to create art that demonstrates how classical techniques can speak to modern experiences, how glamour can contain substance, and how moments of visual enchantment can open windows to deeper understanding. Through my paintings, I aim to create spaces where viewers can rediscover the transformative power of beauty, mystery, and narrative in our increasingly transparent world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of my artistic practice lies in creating those transcendent moments where time seems to stand still. When I’m working on a painting, there comes a point where the carefully orchestrated elements—the dramatic lighting, the satin folds of a vintage gown, the contemplative gaze of my subject—suddenly coalesce into something that exceeds the sum of its parts. In these moments, I feel connected to a tradition larger than myself, yet uniquely expressed through my hand.

I find profound satisfaction in the dance between technical mastery and emotional resonance. As a realist painter working in the noir tradition, I’ve dedicated years to understanding how light reveals and conceals, how composition guides the eye, and how subtle expressions can suggest entire inner worlds. When these technical elements align to evoke genuine emotion or curiosity in a viewer, it creates a bridge between my experience and theirs—a silent conversation across time and space that feels almost magical.

Perhaps most rewarding is the creation of spaces for contemplation in our increasingly frenetic world. In an age where transparency is expected and privacy scarce, there’s something quietly revolutionary about crafting moments of elegant uncertainty. When viewers stand before my paintings and begin constructing their own narratives about what lies beyond the frame, I’ve succeeded in creating not just an image but an experience. This invitation to slow down, to wonder, to inhabit that delicious space between knowing and not knowing—this is why I continue to paint. The ability to resurrect beauty from the past while infusing it with contemporary relevance makes each day in the studio an act of both preservation and discovery.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brettmoffatt.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brett_moffatt/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrettMoffattFineArt
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BrettMoffatt