He is first and foremost a painter, having majored in painting for his B.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He continued his education at the Art Students League of New York, where he trained in figure painting under prominent figurative painter Ron Sherr and William Beckman
Palden currently applies these skills as a portrait artist in the Baltimore area, painting portraits in the tradition of his heroes: John Singer Sargent and Velasquez. He has recently been commissioned to paint Maestro Yuri Temirkanov, outgoing musical director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and present musical director of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Russia.
Illustration is also dear to Palden’s heart, his artistic talents having been discovered at an early age through his obsessive and ceaseless childhood drawings. During high school he began mentoring under The Economist’s Editorial cartoonist Kevin ‘Kal’ Kallaugher, and many of Palden’s illustrations have been published in the Baltimore Sun. Palden later studied scientific and botanical illustration in Chicago.
He has worked as a freelance illustrator in New York, including extensive work for Advertising Agency Digitas, Inc.. He continues freelance illustration, specializing in storyboards and concept sketches, which offer welcome structure in the otherwise amorphously scheduled life of a painter.
More of Palden’s artwork can be seen on his website
