World’s Fastest Portrait Artist Rob Surette on The Today Show

Posted by admin on November 30th, 2009 and filed under portrait artist | 25 Comments »

World’s Fastest Portrait Artist as seen on the Hoda and Kathie Lee hour of The Today Show

Robert “Rob” Surette (born August 11) is a speed-painter and public speaker known for inspiring audience members with his 6-foot paintings (created live, in 1-5 minutes each) of Steven Tyler, Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Einstein, Lady Liberty, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Mother Teresa among many others.

Surette is known for utilizing amplified music, dramatic theatrical lights, accompanying video screens, body-encompassing paint-splattering painting techniques.

Surette grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science/Business from Saint Anselm College in 1993.

However, he wasn’t planning on a career in art when he arrived at Saint Anselm. When choosing a major, Surette was guided by the notion that artists dont make money, and decided on a major combining computer science with business. But he took art electives and spent hours drawing in his dorm room. Surette worked briefly for a video game company. Then he had what he refers to as a searching experience. For a while, I scratched together any little jobs I could get: restoring old photographs, driving an ice cream truck, delivering newspapers, drawing portraits on commission… I found a company that was looking for an artist to illustrate a couple of kids science textbooks.

Two years after his college graduation, Rob developed his first speed-painting performances and called his unique artform “Amazing Hero Art”. Surette has put on close to 3,000 shows at schools, conferences, celebrity events, fund raisers, and corporate events and in 2008 Rob performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Duration : 0:4:19


[youtube eoIGwLq9irk]

25 Responses

  1. TheArtistintraining Says:

    it got pretty …
    it got pretty sloppy at the end but other than that its pretty cool

  2. SDMF0033 Says:

    i agree
    seems a …

    i agree
    seems a little too systematic

  3. Yurichi87 Says:

    I had to mute this …
    I had to mute this cuz the ladies were pretty annoying. But damn, he’s good.

  4. lcc12572 Says:

    stumbled!!!
    stumbled!!!

  5. garamas Says:

    stumble
    stumble

  6. esteinworth Says:

    This is not that …
    This is not that impressive after you attend Art School :/

  7. LetsM0SH Says:

    He just came to my …
    He just came to my school todayyyy! he was awsomee. He even made a special video for us that hes never done before and a painting for us hes never done. he also showed us some vids of when he was a tiny baby and how he thought he could never draw. But now look at him noww! hes amazinggg

  8. LetsM0SH Says:

    Hes coming to my …
    Hes coming to my school tomorrow to draw some people.i cant wait for tomorrow,. hes coming 10 29 09

  9. richmond436 Says:

    Who the was …
    Who the was that suppose to be at 3:20?

  10. vampiregilr01901 Says:

    omg, wow. thats …
    omg, wow. thats really awesome. and icomplain that my art teacher only gave us two weeks to finish a project… :o )

  11. Lothomiras Says:

    *stumbled*
    *stumbled*

  12. guitaristavista Says:

    LMAO not the only …
    LMAO not the only one dude, though he’s def gifted

  13. OZZTYE Says:

    That’s not Einstein
    That’s not Einstein

  14. MindlessExcess Says:

    its good that you …
    its good that you have never seen black velvet paintings in mexico cause your mind would be BLOWN

  15. 4k1r3 Says:

    omfg O.o is so …
    omfg O.o is so awesome!!! now i know why my art teacher tells me to draw with both hands o.o

  16. stuff4ever Says:

    holy crap! thats a …
    holy crap! thats a of coordination!

  17. Randomness2470 Says:

    “Too much coffee”


    “Too much coffee”

    ha haaa omg he’s amazing =O

  18. FraudulentFoe Says:

    refreshing comment
    refreshing comment

  19. rootvalue Says:

    I think he’s …
    I think he’s talented.

  20. karlsnow08 Says:

    acutaly he’s pretty …
    acutaly he’s pretty dang good…i wouldn’t be bad mouthing him.

  21. FiddleSteaks Says:

    Am I the only guy …
    Am I the only guy who’s going to say that that doesn’t look like Einstein?

  22. m4lvolio Says:

    because this is …
    because this is what art is about: who can splash the paint on faster.

  23. superhetoric Says:

    no white eyebrows?
    no white eyebrows?

  24. TreelineKitty Says:

    He has an amazing …
    He has an amazing and rare talent. What he should feel is the exact opposite of shame, I think. Surely there’s no rule that only one person on the planet can do this type of art?

  25. peacethrumusic19 Says:

    he came to my …
    he came to my school today too!!!

    HE’S INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!

    i don’t understand how he does it… that painting would literally take me a year =/

    imagine all the people living life in peace… =)

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