My Artistic Journey
My artistic journey began more than 20 years ago, because ever since I was able to pick up a pen/pencil I was drawing compulsively. For many years, making art was never really a focus of mine…for me it was just something I did for fun. I believe it was a way to channel my anxiousness and overactive imagination onto paper.
Humble Beginnings
Not my first drawing ever, but the oldest I still have. Here is a mother elephant with her baby in an African savanna.
I had trouble concentrating in school & doodling was a tool that helped me absorb information and deal with the boredom of public education at the same time. I would draw crazy scenes of plants, angels, monsters and abstract designs; and as I got older the doodles got bigger, brighter and weirder. In fact, I was so used to my own style that I had trouble getting through art classes in school; I once used my own doodles to pass my art class and saved myself from missing my high school graduation!
Finding my own style.
A strange doodle I drew on the back of my math homework in high school. I wonder what my teacher thought of that!
A few years later, I transitioned from pencil & markers to using watercolor and acrylic paint; I mostly painted landscapes and animals in the beginning. Before long I started to incorporate my older style of abstract and psychedelic images into the traditional landscapes. From that point, I continued to play around with different ideas and styles while going though different artistic “phases” like outer space, trees, animals, and abstract designs.
Explosions of color
One of my early watercolors with gel pens for the illustrations. Here you can see a precursor to much of the artwork I created later on.
The first painting I sold, was an abstract piece that my dad purchased and it hit me: I can still have creative freedom, while simultaneously finding ways to profit from those creations and share my artwork with the community. I began to market my artwork in the best way I could, through social media and I was quite successful among a small circle of people and their friends as well. I started to bring my artwork to local arts & crafts shows; those shows were mostly successful and also taught me a lot about self-marketing.
From abstract ideas to canvas
The first painting I ever sold. It is a visualization of the abstract idea of “mutual dualism”, where the white and black spheres are co dependent.
More recently, I am still creating similar images but the artwork and ideas have had time to be “refined” and I am expanding to include new tools and new objects to paint on. Some of the new subjects and ideas I have been exploring include: wizards, dragons and warriors. Over the last four years, I have been using a lot of wood, much that is refurbished; in 2020, I began to really seek out wood that has unique properties like a specific shape, an interesting grain, or a special origin.
Passion becomes perfectionism
One my recent dragons, which is part of a series. Meet the Dragon of Passion! This is a great example of practice making “perfect” when you compare it to my older artwork!
In the future I will still be creating artwork and even I cannot imagine what will be created, for I am not the owner of the Muse, but merely a soldier that does its bidding. One thing is clear, I will not stop creating for as long as I am on this earth, maybe even after. As always I appreciate the support from my community and hope to be part of your lives in the future!