Tag: design

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Personal Pratt Queens

Ace of Queens

After traveling around Vermont and Cape Cod, I returned to New York City and signed a lease on an apartment in Queens. I also found that Xi Jinping, Waylon Jennings and my son Roman all have the same birthday – June 15th, the zodiac of Gemini. So, Roman and I have started learning Chinese. Chinese is very similar to Kanji in Japanese; for example, the Kanji and Hanzi for water are both 水. This 水 symbol is also on the dials on the Japanese Submarines in one of my favorite Burt Lancaster movies, Run Silent Run Deep.

I have been talking to several card store owners in New York City about selling my deck of cards. Instead of calling the deck “The American Game” – I may switch the name to “Emblem Cards”. I was sad to leave Capitaland, yet I needed some space from my family. My New York family members have all been so disruptive to my graphic design work and my car mechanic/Art Conservation practice that a few hours of space as become preferable. I pray will be good for all of us. I have missed living in NYC, yet the city has changed a lot from when I lived here in 2010 and 2011. I liked living near my mother, yet Upstate New York makes one yearn for the city. I lasted about a year in Schenectady.

I have been missing my pet bunny rabbit, Mugs Bunny. Easter was always our special day. Yet, I found a famous rabbit sculpture by Jeff Koons in Manhattan, which took some of the pain away from our seperation. Stay tuned to the blog for more Queens and New York City updates. Ciao!

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ARMY Art/Design Capitaland Personal presidential_portraits

General Washington

I have finally completed my first of the Presidential Portrait series. After about six weeks of working on a painting, I begin to worry that I have over-done it and thus ruined the painting. I had a drawing teacher at Pratt who used to tell us to stop at 96% and leave a touch for the viewer to fill in with their imagination. If someone works a piece of art even past the threshold of 101%, it destroys that remarkable quality.

detail of the cherries – hands and an object are a common way to add a personal vibe to a portrait

It is so nice to have so many resources to study to try to learn about a person who you are trying to paint in a way that captures more than just a physical description of the person. It is essential to capture the “essence” of a person, and I thought the story of young Washington admitting he cropped down the cherry tree to his father would be interesting. The cherries also have a sexual reference that speaks to our nation’s birth in blood and war through Washington’s deeds.

My uncle, John Szal, was a captain in the Marine Corps. and he asks me not to join the Marines. I thought joining the Army would be a perfect solution as a loophole to get around this. I can enlist at a higher rank with ASE tests and hopefully work on vehicles and/or helicopters. However, several things might disqualify me or limit my options in the military from my past. Also, in the Army, you do not get to pick what you do and are obliged to follow your orders, so I could do graphic design again.

He who lives by the pen shall die by the pen – no force of arms can resist my ink…

Capitaland has a policy of letting people leave for military service. Yet, I do not expect them to have a job waiting for me in four years, so I will be leaving Capitaland. I will miss my new manager, Brian Hansbury, and his dog Bandit (my favorite part of Capitaland). I will no longer be around to receive any commission from someone purchasing a car, so no more pressure on anyone to buy a vehicle to help me.

Brian Hansbury of Capitaland
Categories
Capitaland Personal The American Game

Back with Brissette

After several stressful weeks dealing with my court cases in Texas, I have been able to smooth things over with my lawyer, Miles Brissette. I wrote some things about Miles when I was frustrated with the court, yet he is an excellent lawyer and I would recommend him to anyone.

I ordered a new batch of my cards, which will be for sale again on my website on the Ides of March (3/15). I have been busy with my GMC training, so I have not yet been able to finish my George Washington portrait. I plan to finish by next week so I can start working on John Adams’ portrait earnestly.

New Suit of Clubs
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ADTPR blog Capitaland Magick Mechanic Mechanic PR Professional

Captured by Capitaland

I have evolved from a tire shop mechanic into a dealership mechanic. I was very sad to leave Larry O’Shea, yet Capitaland made me such a good offer that I could not refuse. I have also decided to stay on probation here in New York and not pursue a trial by jury for the cases in Texas. I have wanted to focus on improving my mechanic skills and Subaru/GMC are both brands that I really enjoy servicing.

My grandfather died before I was born, yet he fought in the war with Japan and so I like to work on Japanese cars. I was also named after him and the original “Matthew Szal” grew up in Brooklyn. This is another reason I wanted to go to Pratt so much was on account of him. I also like GMC vehicles, which are really good American family vehicles, and utility cars/trucks.

I may still do graphic design work for Adirondack Tire, yet I may have to stop working for them entirely and stop running Magick Mechanic. I hope to start a family soon now that I can support one and I have never been more hopefully for the future.

Buy your next vehicle @ Capitaland Subaru/GMC!
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Art/Design oil portraits Studio Videos

1st Presidential Portrait: G. Washington

I have been working on a new series of oil paintings of the Presidents of the United States. I read the books The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency and The Imperial Presidency to gain some background insight into the topic.

Greg Dow of Dow Art Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas

My old boss and mentor, Greg Dow, instilled my love of America inside my character. His father collected Lincoln pictures and memorabilia, some of which I helped restore when I worked for him at Dow Art Gallery (the oldest art gallery in Texas). I will likely dedicate my Lincoln picture to them both since, after Pratt, it was Mr. Dow that really taught me how to paint on a professional level. He gave me a job in 2011 when Roman was born and I thought my life was over since I had to leave New York City. Thankfully, he helped me realize it was only the beginning. I would never have been able to have my first big show at Fringe Art Gallery without his help/connections.

Video of my oil painting process

This is a video with some process footage of my painting the first picture. George Washington was in the British Army before the Revolutionary War, so I painted him in a younger version and then painted over in the older version. All the pictures are in oil paint on canvas boards, which are 12 inches by 12 inches. I added a hand to the portrait holding some cherries since George Washington could not lie to his father about chopping down the cherry tree. Yet, I have not taken any pictures of this latest stage.

Categories
Art/Design Design

Biden

Joseph R. Biden

In honor of my presidential portrait series, I have decided to make the secret page of designs I created for President Biden – public!

I will not say if I liked him or Trump better, you will have to wait and see how I paint them at the end of the series. Also, check out my political designs on my portfolio here. I will post some process shots of my Washington portrait soon.

Bishop of Hibernia’s Blessings
Categories
animation

Sequana, Ace & some new animated backgrounds

Sequana, the Celtic Goddess of Water/Healing
Ace Malagurio meditating underwater

These are some animated .gifs that I created with Sequana and Ace Malagurio, my representative character in The Flying Dutchess.

I have also completed some new animated backdrops, which will also be in my updated portfolio. I have been working on several new logo ideas with mountains at work, inspiring my latest animated background creations. It has been stressful at work with our lead mechanic out with a hand injury, yet I have a newfound respect for him since I have been filling in for him with some of the advanced mechanic jobs. All the hardest jobs from other stores get sent to corporate. I enjoy the challenge, yet it can be very taxing. I have also ordered a new batch of redesigned decks with no text and changed several cards. I am not sure if it will still be called The American Game either, yet when the cards arrive I will blog about the new information.

Mount Strimba – Ukraine
Emerald Chasm – inspired by my new job at Adirondack Tire’s Corporate Headquarters