De La Salle Mural Project: Part 1

Clearing the cobwebs in here—haven’t posted in a while but I have so much to talk about that has happened in the last several months!  

Right now I want to talk about this wonderful opportunity I have at my former middle school, De La Salle Academy.  After over 25 years they have moved from their 1-floor location in the upper west side to a beautiful 6(?) floor building a block away from Port Authority.  The building, renovated by CookFox Architects—the ones responsible for the new Bank of America Tower—is truly a space conducive to learning and exploration.  My mural project for the school has evolved from simply explaining the history of the school in the upper west side to now instilling the warm yet strong culture and foundation of De La Salle Academy in their new location.  In my visual language I see it as the “ visual gatekeeper” of the De La Sallian tradition-- prominently displayed in the mezzanine library for all to reflect on and see.

All artsy language aside, I have a hard deadline of November 20^th to finish the mural so I’ve been doing a little hustling to get this done.  The focus and challenge will be the line work… hoping to get that part started next weekend.  Will continue to post the progress on it every week until it’s done so be sure to check back soon!  Here are pictures of the last 2 weeks of the process so far:

Wall primed & ready for art with CookFox superstar architect Zach

Pencil lines on wall

Color Comp process on my laptop

Color blocking begins-- the fun part!

Ivy Queen: La Diva, La Caballota, La Potra

Ivy Queen is one of the leading ladies of the Reggaeton scene.  I admire her for her strength and resilience in a genre dominated by men.  Her style changes frequently, constantly redefining herself but never changing her love for the youth and the Hood.  It is for all these reasons that I thought it was only appropriate for her to be my next portrait.

For this particular piece I wanted to establish a heavier presence of urban and street art as well as a Caribbean cultural vibe-- giving a nod to the music she puts out.

Here are some videos and music that influenced me for this project and represents Ivy Queen's musical career:

Old School Reggaeton, Live - Ivy Queen
In The Zone- Ivy Queen ft. Wyclef Jean
La Vida Es Asi - Ivy Queen


More portraits coming your way soon!

Prez Obama Portrait

 I'm working on a couple of portraits and decided to work on a portrait of President Obama first since he's been a "hot topic" this year with the elections and all.  This was one that I started one night not knowing where it was going to go and at some point, after trying several things, I ended up really liking these stripes that cut across the page. 

I also included pictures of some of the process.  Looking forward to posting more!