Assignment - Portfolio Day Poster - Commissioned by Anthony Padilla for the
Laguna College of Art and Design. Print Size 24 x 36 • Collaboration with designer Jeff Burne.


This assignment was to create a poster for "National Portfolio Day", an event that takes place throughout the year to educate artistic individuals in high schools and junior colleges as to the different art colleges available to them.
 
Sketches were drawn with the idea of art connecting to your heart. The image of different elements growing out of a heart was chosen. Initial design and type ideas were discussed with Jeff Burne. Then a large drawing was created on Gator board. This archival board is like a very stiff foam core.
I have stacks of magazines, old books, transparencies and newspapers that I cut images from. Intuitively I place them on and around the loose drawing. The board turns into a large collage. Even though much of this imagery will be covered over with paint, I like the idea of it's energy being a part of the final artwork.
 
In some of the art I create I let parts of the drawing show through, but in this instance, it all gets covered. All collage pieces are glued down and sealed with acrylic matte medium. I wear surgical gloves because most of this process is done with my hands.
When the surface is dry I begin to paint over it in acrylic paint. I wear surgical gloves here too as I slap different colors on the image, obscuring a good part of the college. I am not too concerned with covering up the image because I can always pull up the paint later with rags or scrape the paint away with a variety of tools or sandpaper. This surface became quite scuffed-up by the time I was through with it.
 
Oil paints now take over. Using Sable brushes of different sizes, overall
form and shape of the heart and it's swirling ventricles are refined.
Flowers and other designs are given form.
 
Detail of work in progress.
When this first layer of oil paint was dry I gave the whole piece
a glaze of yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and burnt umber
After this glaze has dried more refinement of form continues.
 
The process of refining form and glazing lasts until I feel the painting is complete.
There may be sanding and scraping of the image between layers of glazing to give it added texture.
 
Detail of work.
The completed painting.
 

Digital Work:
When the painting is finished, I have a professional high resolution scan made of it (same size, 300 dpi). In Photoshop I integrated subtle effects or designs. The color intensity was increased or decreased in certain areas. The border integrated along the sides of the heart started out as a design I stretched on a copy machine. It was then manipulated further in the computer and placed into the image.
Jeff Burne then integrated final type solutions using Photshop and Freehand.


See more of my posters under Editions.