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The Influences

 

 

 

 

 

While I have felt Salvador Dali was the illegitimate father of my art, there were several others who helped formed the thought processes I go through, and their artistic outcome. I thought I would pay homage to these individuals that have influenced me most up to today. While some may yet to make themselves evident, the following list of people, in this order have somehow contributed to my art and thought process. In order for the portraits to represent an artistic evolution of the work I had done prior to them, I used a very special technique developed by computer graphics genius Lee Griggs to combine special textures with the portraits to give them a liquefied appearance. This liquid execution was of extreme importance to me to pictorialize the flow of matter, the flow of energy, and the flow of life. Following my liquid portraits and my fish portraits, the liquid theme and relevance is carried out here to bring the movement forward. For each portrait, several hundred textures were rendered in a 3D program to test their effect on each subject. When I would finally accept the results the results were transferred to canvas where I would meticulously glaze, glaze, glaze in oils to render the final image. I feel the final results are portraits that not only convey the liquid essence I desired, but also give the viewer a better understanding of the true nature of each subject. By understanding the feeling, or emotion I am trying to depict in these portraits, you too, dear reader, will become more fluid, flowing and self confident.

 

The Major Influences up to 2021

At the tender age of 13 I became interested in art, not becayse of museums or art books, but by the genius of this man, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. His car designs lit my imagination in the same way that in 4 years later, Salvador Dali art would. HIs imagination and ability to build car designs beyond the imagination of any other, fist led me to imagine and try. Also the inventor of Rat Fink.

Ed "Big Dady" Roth
 

 I listened to the radio for hours on end to try and catch any song from Bob Dylan. His poetry and verse taught me there was genius in a way of thinking I had never heard or imagined, but wanted to know more about. When I became aware of him, I had no way to obtain his work, but clearly remember looking all over Greenwich Village to find a pirate copy of "Tarantula"

Bob Dylan
 

While the Beatles and the Stones effected most of the population (including me) it was Hendrix who took rock and the genius of showmanship to a completely different level. The feedback and fuzz of his guitar spoke to me and rendered the world a marvelous and chaotic place. A place where sound, love, sex and ecstasy all met to mingle from the power of a single guitar player.

Jimi Hendrix
 

Captain Beefheart
 

The music of Clear Spot and The Spotlight Kid to me proved Beefheart's genius beyond a doubt to me. Unlike any musician before or since him, his unique lyricism and rythem's are captivating. I loved these two albums so much I would carry them to the beach with me in the summer, just to show how cool I was and to attract woman, but unfortunately, noone was cool enough to spot me

Salvador Dali
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Dali is ultimate fluidity. His Nuclear Mystical work opened up the spiritual world, and had me understand the relationship between matter, art, and the world. Having spent 6+ years (4 as his protege')working with the man has left an indelible mark on my psyche and work. His portrait being superfluous is homage to a man who made a soft watch a household staple

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Albert Einstein
 

Einstein has been the inspiration of many and the catalyst of much. His work inspired Dali to invert his pictorialization of space between matter, allowing the art gong public to contemplate matter. His genius and method of approaching complex issues of physics gives hope to any man in solving problems of immense complexity. He is a beacon of critical thought for everyone.

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Benoit Mandelbrot
 

Considered the father of fractals, Benoît Mandelbrot coined the term “fractal” in 1975 to describe the naturally occurring, never-ending, infinitely complex, [often] self-similar, geometric patterns. While early 2D fractals were considered psychedelic and are generally difficult to use as art, it was the invention of the 3D Fractal that inspired me to return to art.

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Thom Yorke
 

Radiohead front man Thom Yorke's songwriting and complex rythem's has effected me since the bands inception till today. Thom becomes liquid by the genius he has displayed time and time again. The music and lyrics of Radiohead have at times lifted me and at times reminded me of the beauty that is found in sadness, a fact that Bach, Beethoven and Wagner moved millions by.

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Don Miguel Ruiz
 

Don Migul Ruiz is an Aztec Indian who wrote the book "The Four Agreements". This simple set of rules condensed hundreds of volumes of philosophy into four simple rules to live by.

1. Be Impeccable with your word.

2. Don't take anything personally.

3. Don't make assumptions.

4. Always do your best.

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Friedrich Nitzsche is considered one of the greatest minds the world has ever known. Not only was this true, but he knew it, and wrote prodigiously to help his fellow man. He is listed as German philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, philologist, and a Latin and Greek scholar whose work has exerted a profound influence on Western philosophy and modern intellectual history. 

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Alexander McQueen
 

Alexander McQueen was a fashion designer who completely understood the fluid motion of life and exhibited it in his clothing. Designer of the stars and a genius without compare , Lee Alexander McQueen utilized nature and his sociological outputs to create garments like those never seen before. THe tragedy of his taking his own life has left a hole in the fashion world, now being filled by Iris Van Herpen.

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Iris Van Herpen
 

Iris Van Herpen, I would call the Salvador Dali of the fashion world. She has innovated in making flowing and fantastic dresses utilizing a wide array of technology, and mimicing shapes and forms found in nature. Not since McQueen has anyone stepped so above the rest of the industry to not only new forms of art in fashion, but to bring art to its presentation.

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