Twice-named Louisiana Portrait Artist of the Year, Darrell Chitty is a professional photographer and 21st-century artist who paints with not only a brush but with a mixed media approach integrating his camera and computer.  

Many Shreveport-Bossier City residents know Chitty as the photographer who started Heritage Photography many years ago, but now he is showcasing a different technique catching the attention of many.  

Chitty creates impressionistic masterpieces by combining his modern technological skills with an abiding appreciation and in-depth knowledge of art history and the age-old techniques of the Old Masters, Monet, Renoir and particularly, John Singer Sargent. What sets Chitty apart is his approach to art.  

Traveling to work with clients on location keeps Chitty very busy. He recently completed a portrait of James Burton, a famous guitar player, and he just returned from visiting a gallery in New York to help them transition to a mixed media gallery.  

“I paint initially [from photographs] with my computer. I do the whole thing. I create the whole image, and I take that image and totally repaint it,” Chitty said.

“If you were to go to the original image, the setting would look nothing like that. The colors were not there. And this is where I try to bring in the same approach an artist would with a real brush in his hand. 

“And I try to build it in the same manner he would, and after I’ve done that, I have it printed by a lab; it’s a digital file, and I have it printed on canvas. It’s printed on canvas, and I go back after that and put oils into it and add more depth and dimension into it.”

When he is not painting or taking photographs, Chitty conducts seminars and teaches workshops for aspiring artists through his mentorship program. He is also a professor at Bossier Parish Community College, where he teaches fine arts, graphic design and photography. He feels a special calling to share his acquired skills with others, and he has developed quite a following wanting to learn his technique.  

Chitty said, “Art may be my passion, but business development is my education. Besides a master’s of photography, I also have an MBA and am a full-time college professor teaching fine-art photography, graphic design and business development for photographers.”

His two-part mentor program offers several choices for serious and experienced artists and even an option for a summer onsite camp at St. Francisville.  

“The mentoring program is even designed to teach the “old-timers” out there how to reinvent themselves,” Chitty said.

“The Painter’s Touch” is a program is designed for those wishing to develop the painting skills necessary to create beautiful art but are not concerned with the business of marketing their art. This program is offered for three, six and 12 months of webinars, artist blogs, downloads and personal assistance. 

The other program is called “Master Strategies for Success” and is for those wanting not only to create art but also wanting help to find clients who will crave their art. Chitty works closely with the artist over 12 months to help him/her achieve success. He said, “This is the mentoring program that can alter your career if you passionately desire for it to happen.”

Chitty credits his success to his ability to adapt and change with the times, and that is just what he did. He said he was fortunate to study with great artists himself, and “the indicator of a great artist is how much they are willing to share with other people. That is why I teach and mentor.” 

“I could see that my real competition was no longer the other professionals out there in my market but gobs of amateurs, so I decided that I had to learn something that no lazy novice could ever do,” Chitty said.  

“What I do is I call my style expressive realism, expressive being the setting, the textures and the clothes, but I’ll maintain that realness in the areas that I think have the most impact.” 

Chitty has bridged the gap between the digital and traditional painting worlds. He is working on his next exhibit set to debut Dec. 4 at the Women’s Department Club of Shreveport.