Art Portfolio
I enjoy curating vibrant images that represent the little things that make me who I am. Expressing the personal is very important to me in all my work, as in writing as in art.
I was never classically trained, and I often get impatient with tutorials and self-training. What emerges, then, is childlike but raw, and hopefully interesting work. I do hope to become more technically proficient, better my renditions, and become more confident in my art as time goes on.
My digital rendition of Vladimir Kush's, 'Fiery Dance.' Hand drawn in pencil, colored via Photoshop.
'Gaze,' created using Adobe Fresco. I used watercolor tools on the digital platform to achieve a semi-realistic effect for this self-portrait.
'Bookshelf,' created using Adobe Fresco and Adobe Express. I used a rough sketch of my actual bookshelf to create this graphic. Inspired by graphic novels, I visually emphasized the stuffed bear and the hungry little caterpillar.
'Pear-fect,' a hand-drawn illustration. I used Adobe Fresco to color and alter the original drawing, giving it a vibrant pop-art aesthetic.
'Listen to your heart, listen to the beat,' a watercolor collage pasted onto dot-grid paper. I created separate watercolor illustrations (of a butterfly and a flower), but I did not like the original compositions of each piece. I combined elements of both pieces to create a collage scene of a flower greeting a butterfly.
'Intrepid Tiger,' hand-drawn illustration, digitized using Adobe Fresco. This graphic reads, "it's okay to be scared, it just means you're about to do something really brave."
'Indigeneity,' collage; this is a sticker made from a digital illustration I made of the same name. The sticker was produced from a drawing, and it was digitized using Adobe Fresco. Pen was used to outline the figure with the words: "celebrating indigeneity - my roots, most of our roots."
I was contracted to create this piece for the online music publication Hummingbird Magazine. This is a portrait of Dominican vocalist and songwriter, YENDRY. I used a bold color palette to capture the dynamism of YENDRY's music in this digital drawing.
I was contracted to create this piece for the online music publication, Hummingbird Magazine. This is a portrait of SZA.
'Door to Nowhere,' created using Adobe Fresco. I was heavily inspired by René Magritte's paintings of similar themes.
Stained glass window; I used a template of a stained glass window I found online and colored it using watercolor tools in Adobe Fresco. It was a very laborious task, and it was quite meditative.
'El burrito Sabanero,' created using Adobe Fresco. This holiday-themed illustration comes from the popular Christmas song, "El burrito Sabanero." The donkey is centered among a Christmas wreath, and he is wearing a necklace made of Christmas lights.
Untitled, created using Adobe Fresco. I used many chalk and blurring tools to establish the desired feel for this digital drawing.
'Just Keep Swimming,' watercolor illustration, photographed using Adobe Lightroom. I adjusted the contrast of the image slightly so that the digital version may look more akin to the original watercolor.
'The Female Form,' created using Adobe Fresco. I roughly sketched this using the pencil tools on the digital platform I used. This rough sketch explores my anxieties concerning the role of women in society, and it is open to interpretation.
Untitled self-portrait using Adobe Fresco. I created this graphic using a cut-up grapefruit for inspiration. I later added a sketch of my face atop the grapefruit graphic. I did this using an ink tool on the digital platform.
'Genie in a Bottle,' created using Adobe Fresco. I drew inspiration from this piece when I refused to throw away an Orangina bottle. I insisted that it felt like a part of the room, an extension of me. I added details like Nopales emerging from the bottle and a floral border.
Untitled work, created with Adobe Fresco. This is very much a conceptual piece about metamorphosis. The figure has no head (supposedly underwater), a tadpole looms above her, and she hangs on a branch that displays a cacoon emerging as a moth.
I was contracted to create this piece for the online music publication Hummingbird Magazine. This is a portrait of British rapper, Slow Thai. I used various effects, tools, and overlays in the making of this graphic.
'Martina the Beautiful Cockroach,' collage. This piece was created using illustrations that were cut and later put together using wheat paste. The illustrations fill the back of a children's book entitled, "Martina the Beautiful Cockroach." The colorful images came from a 2015-2016 planner that I adorned with many doodles, and have now retired as a collage.
'Sunrise Blue,' using Adobe Fresco. This self-portrait was made using charcoal tools on the digital platform. I made the background using a textured brush called 'wishy-washy.'
Bottle series, using Adobe Fresco. This series stemmed from my work on the self-portrait 'Genie in a Bottle.' Instead of focusing on my figure alone, I created digital portraits of friends and family on top of their favorite drinks.
Untitled collage, using construction paper, a broken vinyl record, and cut-and-paste illustrations of various subjects (including a koi fish, a world map, a gardenia, and a figure of a man resembling Sisyphus). The bottom of the collage reads, "The weight of the world is love," in black sharpie. The quote is from Allen Ginsberg's 1954 poem, 'Song.'
'Chartreuse,' using Adobe Fresco. I was inspired by one of my favorite colors, a yellow-green. I created this comic with little coherent storyline, focusing on random objects in various shades of green and yellow-green. This graphic includes depictions of (right to left) an unknown planet, a sky scene with amorphous blobs, a flower emerging from a grid, and floating avocados.
I was contracted to create this piece for the online music publication Hummingbird Magazine. This is a portrait of the Detroit-based rap group Griselda.
'Circus Mind,' a hand drawn illustration, digitized and colored with Adobe Fresco. I was inspired by 'Little Wing,' a famous Jimi Hendrix song, in the making of this piece. It depicts a tiger on a merry-go-round that stands on a brain.
'Martina as a Pez,' illustrated using Adobe Fresco. I used simple tools on Adobe Fresco to make this piece, and it is colored in using paint-bucket.
Untitled, using Adobe Fresco. This illustration is of a tiger with a perplexed look on her face. She is surrounded by yellow and pink flowers.
'Fools Gold,' portrait of musician, Aries. I used Adobe Fresco to create a portrait of Aries (amongst my favorite musicians). The background was created using various paintbrush tools and Ink roller effects. I drew inspiration for the portrait from Aries' music video, 'Sayonara.' The piece is entitled, 'Fool's Gold,' a song off of his album, "BELIEVE IN ME, WHO BELIEVES IN YOU."
Untitled, illustrated using Adobe Fresco. I am strangely proud of this piece. My mind was a blank when I created it, and has served as a form of automatic writing (or it's drawing equivalent.) I created this piece using charcoal tools on the digital platform, and I focused on variations of blue and orange in watercolor and charcoal for the background.
Young self-portrait using Adobe Fresco. I gained inspiration for this piece from a picture of me running as a child. This digital drawing uses a bold orange and blue dual-toned background.
Self-portrait in a classroom using Adobe Fresco. This piece uses a bold orange and blue dual-toned background and goes hand-in-hand with the young self-portrait of me running.
I was contracted to create this piece for the online music publication Hummingbird Magazine. This is a portrait of Nicotine. I used surrealistic elements such as Koi-fish makeup, flowers, and mushrooms to achieve the desired psychedelic effect of this illustration.
Untitled, illustrated using Adobe Fresco. I was inspired by an editorial photoshoot of women and balloons in a desolate background. I found this image on the internet, but have lost the reference photo.
I was contracted to create this piece for the online music publication Hummingbird Magazine. This is a portrait of Sunni Colón, a visionary musician who makes incredible music videos.
'Buongiorno,' hand-drawn piece, digitized using Adobe Fresco. I wanted to depict a standing dragon in this whimsical 'hello' illustration.