Daily Doodle 2

The Pope's Divine Explosion Highlighter markers on 8.5 x 11 paper 2010

Daily Doodle

Dead Head Glow Highlighters on 8.5 x 11 in. paper  2010

Yeah, let's see how far this goes.

Halloween is for Chumps

I will be spending my first Halloween away from home this year. I wonder how Chicago celebrates it? Probably nowhere near as good as New York, but you can't blame them for trying. We'll see. I really hate this kind of art but decided to do it anyway. Need to loosen up more!

Boo, you dirty son of a bitch.

This makes me feel so damn itchy.

I so need a vacation.

You Reek of Alcohol

My sketchpad got soaked in beer. Can't have a better primer than that. Unfortunately it's all to waste with these incomprehensible images. Make sense of it if you can. 

I hate this one the most because it reminds me of college.

This one sucks as well.

The model was so boring I ended up drawing some of the people.

Favorite spot.

Yeah, not a fan of too much from this session. A mixture of feeling like I was back in school (model was boring as fuck) and not warming up properly lead to crappy results. My good comrade, Kosinski, actually got some pretty good stuff out of it though (like a butt load of PBRs).

I've been recording all sorts of stuff as of late which explains the delay in the visual department, but not to worry, I will have better things to show in the future.

The Mystery of the Park

I have always been fascinated by Forest Park at night. Growing up in the small town of Richmond Hill, Queens I would see all sorts of stuff. On many occasion as a child I would see figures in the dark on the playground. Naturally as a kid I always asked my parents what possibly could be going on at the playground so late at night. Everytime I asked my parents the question the answer was always the same:

"Teenagers."

I think I'm finally going to take up the project that I've been wanting to do since college.

Norman Rockwell became a famous illustrator for portraying the all American family. He captured the essence of good values, strong male figures such as fathers, soldiers, athletes, soft loving women such as mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, and a humorous take on not so loving women and their incompetent husbands, and of course your All-American wholesome kids.

Imagine if Rockwell were still living and captured the America we live in today. I think it would be hilarious. Black kids, spanish kids, ghetto white boys, emo kids, hipsters, spoiled children, teenagers getting their first car, texting, sexting, internet junkies, video game addicts, people smoking pot, coke heads, strippers, mafia, gang bangers, politicians and their scandals, abusive fathers, struggling single mothers, dysfunctional families, divorce, muggings, economical hardships, teenagers in a world of shit, rape, drugs...just to name a few subject matters non-existent in Rockwell's work.

I want to be the anti-Rockwell.

So this is a color sketch for my first painting in the series of America's youth.

Teenagers at the Park: Drinking, Making-Out, and Up to No Good.

Sometimes I miss being a teen....eh, not really.

"Esploded"

A giggle parade gone horribly horribly wrong.

All you heard was chaos.

 

Sounded  a bit like this.

Drawings from Third Ward's Drink and Draw

Truth be told I like to drink. Some may say that I enjoying the occasional drawing here and there. Putting the two together must be a dream come true for me right? Of course it is. These wonderful nude model drawing sessions take place in Brooklyn at a wonderful place called Third Ward. These drawing sessions have the Alex Ariza stamp of approval for great price (just ten bucks!) and unlimited PBR. The following are drawings I did from the two times I attended. The first week wasn't all that glamorous at all.

Hipster chicks look very very weird in the nude.The second week I really wanted to stop playing it safe so I drank a bunch of beers, which may or may not have helped in drawing but it definitely loosen me up. I laugh every time I see the progression of drawings after each beer.

One Beer In

 

 

 

   

 

 

Hi there Blobbert.

The Smiths Suck

Morrissey's voice sounds like fucking Kermit the Frog.

The Smiths suck. Yes I said it, and I'll say it again,the Smiths suck.
There is one song, though, that I really can't get over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5HpeA_WSo&feature=related

For some reason Morrissey's voice doesn't annoy the hell out of me when singing How Soon Is Now? What is it about this song that makes it so freaking good? There are a lot of instrumental elements that bring the song together. From the continuous choppy chord progression that seems to get mush through an oscillating tremelo effect, to the sweeping guitar effect, which is my absolute favorite part of the song. The cool synths that come in and out of the song How Soon Is Now? is definitely NOT your typical Smiths song. In fact, that was the first song that aroused my curiosity in the Smiths. Unfortunately, that song was the only one of its kind, the Smiths suck after that. I've been wanting to know how to recreate that sound, or how Marr even got the guitar to sound like that.

I researched wikipedia and found this somewhat helpful quote that was pulled from somewhere.

“The vibrato sound is fucking incredible, and it took a long time. I put down the rhythm track…through a Fender Twin Reverb without vibrato. Then we played the track back through four old Twins, one on each side. We had to keep all the amps vibrating in time to the track and each other, so we had to keep stopping and starting the track, recording it in ten second bursts…I wish I could remember exactly how we did the slide part- not writing it down is one of the banes of my life! We did it in three different passes through a harmonizer, set to some weird interval, like a sixth. There was a different harmonization for each pass. For the line in harmonics, I re-tuned the guitar so that I could play it all at the twelfth fret with natural harmonics. It’s doubled several times.”

What the hell can you even take out of that? Harmonizer and Harmonics. My next quest to find the ultimate badass sounding sweep/slide has presented itself. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to control that effect? The possibilities are endless.

So maybe, the Smiths don't suck so much after all. Actually, yeah, they do, for keeping Morrissey as a vocalist. Horrible, horrible vocals. Still that track makes up for his shitty voice somehow.

We need more guitarists like Marr that explore their instruments to create awesome sounding effects and songs.

Anyway, maybe I'll throw up a song soon...till next time!

The Mind Scrawls of a Mad Man

Oil on 8.5 x 11 in. paper sketch

Oil on 8.5 x 11 in. paper sketch

Gouache and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Gouache and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Watercolor and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Acrylic and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Gouache and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Acrylic and ink on 8.5 x 11 in. paper doodle

Watercolor and ink on 11 x 17 in.  paper doodle

Smells Like Chocolate Body Paint to Me: Alex Ariza's Student Watercolor Paintings

I got to scan in some images from the watercolor sketch book Bil Donovan told me to fill up. Filling up a sketchbook isn't as hard as you think it is. Just do it damn it!

Here are some pieces that I'm somewhat happy to show.

I did these at the New York Public Library...you know, the big one famous one with the lions at the entrance.

Watercolor Sketch of the New York Public Library Interior 2009

Some chick was studying, so I decided to draw her too.

Watercolor Sketch of a Woman Reading at the Library 2009

These few below I did for Bil Donovan's class. The lady model was dressed in a skimpy skirt with a wonderful view of her ass hanging out. I wish I had more time to draw her.

Speed Drawings of Models in Constant Motion 2009

Watercolor and Black Color Pencil 2009

I stayed after school tonight to draw some nudes thanks to one of our teachers, Peter Emmerich.

Watercolor and Black Color Pencil Drawing of Woman 2009

This piece would be my favorite if I didn't fuck up the woman's hand. It annoys the hell outta me, but I posted it because I liked how the rest of it came out. Very Egon Schiele inspired.

Watercolor and Black Color Pencil Drawing of Woman Posing 2009

Rejected Society Of Illustrators Student Show Submissions 2009

Been real busy lately as the deadline for the Society of Illustrators was today. I will make this blog short just cause nothing is coming to mind at the moment.

First we have two pieces from the series I've started called Kids With Guns

Johnny Acrylic on 16 x 24 in. Masonite board 2009

Justin Acrylic on 16 x 24 in. Masonite board 2009

I also did this piece especially for the show itself within the span of three days. Really happy how it came out. I give credit to my brother Richard for pushing me to get extra detailed, pain in the ass, but totally worth it.

A Cowboy's Worst Nightmare Acrylic on 20 x 32 in. watercolor paper 2009

That's all for now folks. New projects coming soon!