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This is my final assignment for my Fundamentals of Design class. I just turned it in this morning and the critique was amazing. I knew going into this piece that it would turn out great because I love to paint using opaque watercolors and I love to paint nature (hummingbirds especially). In fact my teacher liked it so much that he said that he was definitely going to document it and that it might be used in a display at he school. So if you're ever in Costa Mesa, come down to the Art Institute of CA - Orange County and check it out in person. It looks even better in person than in my photo, so I highly recommend seeing it if you're ever in the neighborhood.
This was one of the last assignments I was given for my Fundamentals of Design class. The assignment was to create a poster using the word "FORM" that conveyed the meaning effectively. From a distance you only notice the woman, but if you look up really close you'll notice that the woman is made up completely of the word "FORM." I repeated the word over and over in various shades of gray to create the plain changes, shadows, etc. In other words, the word "FORM" actually forms the woman, for without the repetitiveness of the word, she wouldn't exist.
This was the first assignment that I was given for my Fundamentals of Design class. We were supposed to, using an organic shape, create a design that was visually pleasing and contained at least three variations of line. I was the only one in the class that used an image within an image (overlay). The end result was really great and I am thoroughly pleased with the outcome.
I had an incredible amount of fun making this piece. I created it as an assignment for a Saturday art class that I took at USC. The assignment was to draw a self portrait (using these mediums) as someone from history. Since there are many different types of history: world history, movie history, etc., I decided to draw myself as a famous music artist. There is no name or image more recognizable, in my opinion, in rock history than Gene Simmons from KISS; one of the greatest rock bands of all time. I played my KISS CDs and rocked out as I drew myself as the infamous Gene Simmons in his Kabuki make-up and outrageous outfit. I don't think I have ever had so much fun on a piece before or since "Ultimate KISS Fan."
I painted "Busy Bumble Bees" over a four day period. I painted for a number of hours each day and painted one bee per day. Finally on the fourth day after I had painted the three bees, I painted the sunflower and background. It took me less time to paint the background than it did to paint any one of the bees,but the hours spent were worth it. With this painting I won the district art show watercolor category and won first place in the 2008 Congressional Art Contest. In winning the Congressional Art Contest I was also awarded a $10,000 scholarship to The Art Institute of California - Orange County (my current school) and my painting hung in the Halls of Congress for a whole year.
I was commissioned by a friend of my grandmother to paint an American buffalo, given that she and her husband own a buffalo ranch. There they breed buffalo for meat mainly, but people can buy a buffalo and pay for it to be taken care of as well. Anyway, I was given a photograph and asked to paint it in my style of realism. I put my paintbrush to the watercolor paper and a few earthy tones later, "American Buffalo" was born. My customer was very pleased and I have been commissioned by that same woman to paint a leopard (to be used as a gift), as well as portraits of her favorite horses.
I drew this still life as an assignment for a Saturday art class I was taking at USC. I wanted to draw a still life that was very pleasing to the eye and that anyone from my church would feel comfortable hanging in their living room. Some of my previous work wasn't to their liking for one reason or other (mainly based on content), so I was basically trying to cater to that specific audience. It turned out incredibly well and has an elegant and almost fairy-tale like quality to it.
I drew this piece as a Mother's Day present. It is a Red Conte drawing of my dog Carl, whom my mother absolutely adores with all of her heart. Every year my mother says that it is unnecessary to give her Mother's Day gifts, but being that she's always been such a great mom and has supported my art career from the very beginning, I thought the least I could do was draw a picture of her favorite animal as a way to show my thanks. Out of all my work, this drawing is still one of her all time favorites, as well as mine.
I created this piece for my Fundamentals of Design class as an exploration of both the use of line and good design composition. The actual pice looks much better in reality and I felt that it was a well executed design. My teacher apparently did as well since he gave me an "A" on the project.
I drew "Peace in Death" as a cover for my report on "All Quiet on the Western Front." I was supposed to draw a scene from the novel that was meaningful in some way to me or that I found particularly interesting. On page 127 of the novel, in the last paragraph I found my inspiration. I remember that as Paul Baumer was in the trenches on one particularly peaceful day, he looked out of the trench to spy two Brimstone butterflies fluttering about. He watched as they slowly flew down toward the ground and settled on a skull. I felt that, that was such a powerful image and so appropriate for the novel thatI had to illustrate it.
I painted this piece shortly after Barack Obama was elected as the first African-American President. Throughout his campaign he made very obvious his dislike for the war on Iraq. He has also been seen as a symbol of hope in these tough times, with the recession, massive loss of jobs, etc. This piece was inspired greatly by his message and the hope that he has brought to Americans in a time when there was none. It was alos partially inspired by a previous work of mine called "Peace in Death," which I created as a portfolio cover for my report on "All Quiet on the Western Front," but with a more optimistic outlook.
Orchids have always been one of my favorite flowers. I have always found them to be visually appealing and when I had to draw a flower for a school assignment. there was no better flower to draw, in my opinion, then the orchid. I used an orange orchid that had a great variation in color and I thought the little bud that had yet to sprout added certain sweetness as well.
This isn't the best painting of an animal that I have done, but it is one of the most meaningful for me. The sleeping dog in the painting was my aunt's dog, Sad-Sack. I painted him from life as he slept. At the time of this portrait he was 18-years-old. Because of his age and my health problems that plagued him due to his aging, I knew he might not last much longer. So I painted him over a four hour period in which he barely moved an inch. He was the best model I have ever had. I was right to paint him when I did because that was his last summer. I gave the painting to my aunt and she had it professionally framed and t now hangs a s a reminder of a truly loved dog in the living room of her home for all to see.
My painting of the golden-orb weaver spider in its web relates to the massive web of lies spun abut the war in Iraq and the major players behind these lies. Some of the more memorable of these were the Sadam-Al Qaeda connection, the supposed connection of Sadam and 9-11, and the weapons of mass destruction that Iraq supposedly possessed and planned to release. These are only a few of the lies that were spun by the Bush Administration that eventually led to the war on terrorism and the war on Iraq. Each played a important role and now, we Americans, as well as the Iraqi people have now been caught like insects in a spider's web.
I drew this piece one summer when I had nothing really to do. During this particular summer I drew and painted a number of birds, including my piece "The Hungry Hummingbird." That summer my fascination with birds and the bird form was at its peek and resulted in some of my best animal work (birds specifically). After this short period I veered away from birds for fear that my work might be compared to Audubon in the future. Though his drawings of birds are absolutely incredible, I didn't want to be compared to a master such as him for the rest of my life.
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