Lately I’ve been trying to explore subjects that I haven’t spent much time on in the past. Generally I avoid still life or landscape compositions, so this year, I’m trying to work on tackling more still life collages. “Sushi Time” is a piece that I completed the other night, inspired by one of my favorite foods. I had a lot of fun working on the detailing of this piece – including cutting out the tiny pieces of paper to mimic the texture of rice in sushi rolls.
I’m a little late in making this collage—but that’s just what happens when you’re juggling a lot of projects at once. When I saw this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, I was mesmerized. It was a work of art, and I knew I had to create something inspired by it.
I had a lot of fun working on this portrait of Kendrick Lamar. I loved the grin on his face when he said, “Hey Drake,” and I wanted to capture that energy in my collage. I mainly used solid colors, incorporating more texture into the background.
In general, I’m really happy with how much work I’ve created so far this year. I’ve already made more artwork than I usually complete in an entire year. It’s amazing how much progress you can make when you build more routine into your schedule.
This was my first attempt at collaging an axolotl. These creatures really do look like aliens – they are so colorful and look so friendly. I had a lot of fun working on this one, especially with adding in the bits of color and including some texture for the rocky floor. I managed to complete this piece in one night, after I had completed the sketch a previous night. It’s not common for me to complete these so quickly, but sometimes inspiration can really speed up the process. This particular piece was inspired by an axolotl song that’s been pretty popular on TikTok lately.
The other day, I saw viral footage online of an anglerfish swimming to the surface. There was something eerie about witnessing a creature from the ocean’s depths in well-lit waters. I found it really poetic how others interpreted the scene and the symbolism they saw in it—some said she was born in darkness and died in the light, while others noted she was swimming toward a light she didn’t have to give off on her own.
That image was too symbolic, too poetic not to turn into my own work of art. So in just one very inspired night, I stayed up extremely late piecing together “She Rises.”
To think it’s not even March, yet somehow I’ve made more artwork in the first couple of months this year than I usually make in several months each year. Needless to say, it’s been a very creative year. This piece, “That’s Bananas,” is part of a food collage series I’m working on. Most of the pieces in the series will remain a bit of a secret until I finish the project. However, whenever I create a piece that won’t be included in the project, I’ll definitely share both the progress and the finished collage here. I currently have several projects in the works.
One of my goals this year was to be more creative than in previous years, and if I maintain the momentum I’ve had so far, I’ll be able to accomplish just that. I’m looking forward to sharing more of my projects that are currently in the works.
This weekend I finished the sixth and final (for now) collage portrait in my series inspired by the TV series New Girl. “Coach” (played by Damon Wayans Jr) was definitely a fun portrait to tackle. I’m noticing that when I actively work on several collages in a week, that I don’t feel as rusty when I make artwork. So here’s a reminder to all the other artists out there, that practicing your craft consistently truly is important. When I’m feeling rusty, it’s definitely a bigger struggle to complete these works of art.
With this particular piece, I focused a lot more on using solid colors with only some slight texture from the magazine cutouts selected. I also managed to complete this piece in a couple of days, instead of my usual process of slowly working on a piece over the course of a month (and by slowly, I mean only occasionally pouring time and energy into a piece).
So what’s next? I’m not sure what my next portrait series will be, but I do know that I’m going to work on a still life series on the side, outside of these portrait pieces.
This is the fifth collage portrait in my series in spired by New Girl, “Nick Miller” (played by Jake Johnson). I only have one more piece to go in this series before I move on to the next one. I’ve really enjoyed working on these portraits, although at times I’ve struggled to stick to a consistent art-making schedule. I’m hoping that this year I can get more consistent with my art. And I’m looking forward to continuing to work on several different series this year.
I’m excited to see how my process and technique improve this year by sticking to a better art-making routine. After all, that’s half the battle to being an artist – making time to actually make your art.
I can’t believe it’s already 2025. Last year I didn’t get to focus as much energy as I wanted to on creative projects, but this year will be different. I’m planning to focus more energy on making new work, marketing my work, creating more video content (both short and long content), as well as finally starting to experiment with different mediums and styles. Back in college as an Art Major, experimenting with different mediums was built into my weekly schedule. But since then, I’ve been bad about experimenting with my craft if I’m not taking a dedicated art class. So this year I have plans to roll up my sleeves and get messy with making mistakes, learning new creative skills, and seeing where experimentation takes me.
Already with the New Year, I’ve completed three new collages. This apple piece is one of my recent works, and it was an extra collage made in a series I just started that focuses on food as the subject matter. I’m working on a project that I’ll share more details on when it’s finished, but in the meantime, you most likely won’t see other food collages like this one unless they’re extra collages that were made in the series that won’t be used.
Here’s to a New Year, and I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!
The last couple of months of this year have been a bit busy with travel and celebrating the holidays. I managed to complete this portrait in between my trips down to Virginia. And this is the fourth portrait completed in my series inspired by New Girl, “Cece Parekh” (played by Hannah Simone).
This piece was a bit of a struggle since it’s been a while since I sat down and completed a portrait. In the New Year I’m planning to focus more energy on my creative work so hopefully these portrait will come easier to me in the future (with a lot more practice). I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and has a chance to start 2025 off wonderfully!
Lately, I’ve been enjoying the challenge of tackling different portrait series. I’ve been pushing myself outside of my comfort zone, and I’m also excited to start some new still life and landscape pieces that have been in my backlog for a while.
This is the third portrait in my series inspired by the TV show New Girl: “Schmidt” (played by Max Greenfield). He’s one of my favorite characters from the show, which made it especially enjoyable to take my time and focus on capturing his likeness. I’m planning to create at least three more portraits in this series, making it a much smaller body of work than the one I created inspired by The Office.