When Garrett Petersen talks about his art he speaks like an old master.

“I try to balance contrast with detail and I would rather remove detail from a particularly busy part of it than have to add it somewhere in a scene that didn’t have so much going on.”

Petersen is 19 and has only been painting seriously for three years, but he knows what he likes. Acrylic paint for one. “It’s low maintenance and really clean. I don’t need to wear full jump suits that oil painters need to wear,” he says, adding that “acrylic has very brilliant colours and dries quickly. With oil you have to wait six months for it to dry.”

Although he took art in Grade 8 at Cedar Hill middle school and Grade 9 at Mt. Doug secondary, the Oak Bay resident has since learned through reading and taking the occasional workshop.

He paints recognizable urban scenes, like the exterior of Pure Vanilla on Cadboro Bay Road or Fan Tan Alley in Chinatown. But he also captures the busy streets of Paris, Washington, D.C. and New York.

He works mostly from photographs, stills that he projects onto a wall in his parent’s basement on Cavendish Street.

He’s twice taken part in the Bowker Creek Brush-Up and has had two solo shows in local coffee shops. He’s even figured out a pricing system – roughly width times height times 10 – and his work has been selling well.

This week he’ll have a chance to sell more. Petersen is one of seven young artists featured in Youth Group of Seven, an exhibit at the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria.

Arranged by Oak Bay artists Lily Wallace and Flo-Elle Watson, the show is the third of a three-part exhibit series featuring local young artists. Wallace says it’s a chance for the public to learn about emerging artists they may never have heard of.

“There are an incredible amount of young people out there with talent and not enough venues to show their work,” she said.

The former Cedar Hill middle school art teacher joined the council two years ago and knew she wanted to promote Victoria’s up-and-coming artists.

“This is an opportunity for young people who are very talented and really want to do a good job and have more than just a fleeting interest in their art.”

The seven artists range in age from 14 to 22. They’ll host the opening night reception – Peterson will be the master of ceremonies – this Thursday (June 25) from 6-9 p.m. at the arts council gallery, G6-1001 Douglas St. (in the Sussex Building courtyard). Ted Harrison is guest of honour.

Others in the group are Caitlin Ambery, Elaine Kao, Scott Leslie, Caitlin McDonah, Celia Pankhurst and Holly Trew.

Youth Group of Seven runs to July 2. For more information go to www.cacgv.ca.

vmoreau@saanichnews.com