YAY Horror Movie A Day 2015

I had the exciting opportunity to submit pieces to Yay LA Mag. They had a really fun project where artists picked horror movies and create work inspired by the films/shows/books. The following are the pieces I submitted and please check out the site: http://www.yaylamag.com/yay-hmad-2k15-obey-your-thirst/ so many incredible artists creating fun pieces of films we all love. Thank you again for the opportunity Yay! LA Mag :)

Side Project

Sometimes I find myself getting stuck as an artist. Creatively clogged up, to a point where no idea sounds fun enough to try and every small idea sounds pointless. To get myself back on track I like to ask myself these questions: Why do I paint? What do I love most about painting?
Why do I paint? I paint because I enjoy creating. Taking a blank canvas, and making something new that's never been done before. Seeing my imagination come to life in front of me brings me more joy than a Steelers win (if you know me at all you know that's a big deal).
What do I love most about painting? The challenge. The challenge to push my skills further each time I pick up a brush. To add more depth and detail than I did before, so that the viewer feels like they're looking through a window into another world.
So when I'm stuck I draw what I know,
I paint what I know, to remind myself of why I do what I do. There are times I hesitate with an idea because I don't want to be a cliche, but for this project I didn't care. I asked myself: if I could fill this huge blank space with something, what would it be? My answer, the things I love. So with that I decided to paint a 4'x5' cradled wood panel, as if it were a giant pile of skulls. I may or may not add other little things to it, but for now it's a pile of skulls, and it makes me happy to look at. That may seem morbid if you don't know me. However I enjoy looking at them because I know how difficult it is to make them look real. The time it take to make them look accurate is frustrating, challenging, and that's why I love it. I have always been a very competitive person, and there is no one I'd rather compete against than myself. To continually best myself makes me very happy. I know I'm capable of achieving my goals, so when this one is finished I know I'll be very proud and ready to do it all over again.

Work in Progress

New critter creation using acrylic on wood panel. This was an excuse to not only create a fun snake like creature (as I have an affinity for snakes), but an excuse to play with a heavily saturated warm palette (my favorite kind).

Digital Painting Class - Concept Design Academy Pasadena

In class still life studies painted using photoshop.

Quick sketch

Nice to know I can still draw people ;)

Quick Sketches

Realized its been too long since I've allowed myself time to sketch. I know it's probably because I hate starting a drawing if I'm not going to finish it, but that means I'm not practicing enough. So I'll try to get myself in a better habit of sketching and posting.

Movie Posters

A couple movie posters I made for Long Beach State Film Students