Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Sleep Paralysis Painting

I realized that I never put up a high quality version of this Sleep Paralysis painting I made back in college online.

It was rejected many times over. Maybe I should go back and throw a street background in that piece...

Sleep Paralysis Painting by Alex Ariza 2010
Cowboy's Nightmare Acrylic on Watercolor Paper 20 x 37 in. 2010
I rolled it up and forgot about it, it's currently being flattened out by a bunch of heavy books...that's a start right?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Delictum Gravius

This is gonna turn into a painting about sexual abuse to minors by Catholic priests.

 

Nightmare Before Christmas - Sally As A Slut

Every so often I like to see how my blog is being discovered by people's searches. Sometimes they make sense, they type Alex Ariza in hopes of learning more about Pacquiao's (the Filipino allstar boxer) trainer. Then there are searches that kind of make sense, drawings of the Brooklyn Bridge, Sleep Paralysis Women, The Mars Volta, The Smiths Suck...etc. etc.

and then of course we have this...

blogger analytics sample

Yeah, you read that right...nightmare before christmas sally as a slut. I had uncontrollable laughter when I saw that. How that search pulled up my blog is beyond me. Doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.

I felt compelled to satisfy the needs of horny emo/angsty/loser dudes who want to see that beloved Tim Burton character whore-ified. I picked up a discarded piece of cardboard and had at it. Felt good to paint that way, quick and enjoyable...almost how those boys will...oh nevermind.

Anyway, here's the painting of Sally (from the nightmare before christmass) as a very well endowed slut. Used acrylics this time instead of gouache, it's nice to change mediums every so often I guess.

FUN!
Nightmare Before Christmas Sally as a Slut Painting
This is NOT fan art. I hate fan art.

This is probably how Jack Skellington would react if he saw those new and round undead chest puppies on his woman.

MERRY  CHRISTMASS!!!


Thursday, September 29, 2011

In The Visual


Queens College has a pretty kick ass looking art building.

Paul Klapper Hall Art BuildingPaul Klapper Hall Art Building Queens College
When I first started going to Queens College, I wandered a lot around campus. A lot of the campus holds pretty ugly crappy looking 1970s-80s modernist buildings that I cannot stand to look at. When I
"discovered" Klapper Hall, I immediately walked inside to find out what this beautiful building was for. I found out that it was the college's Art Department building. I took a stroll in and out of classrooms to see what kind of work was being produced by the students. Eventually, I wandered into a gallery space. It was a legit space. High ceilings, white walls, and wooden floors, what more can a man want? The gallery space was used to exhibit student work. A sort of envy came over me. FIT never had any proper viewing space for their student's work. How is it that a normal Joe Schmoe college have a gallery space, and an art school not have any space available for their students?

I made it a point to find out how I can get my work to be hung on those Queens College gallery walls. I learned about a show that was going happen in October. The submission date was sometime in late September. I gave it a try,  I went out bought frames, made mattes myself, and even tried making a new piece for the show itself.

Unfortunately, the new piece didn't get in. Guess it didn't look as finished as the other ones. At least I can take it back home and work on it some more.


Here's how they all looked framed

The opening reception is on October 5th from 5:30pm-7:30pm at Paul Klapper Hall.

I'll probably check it out early on, but won't be able to stay since I'm seeing a Portishead concert later that night.

Can't wait to hear this song live:


 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Still Alive, Just Busy...

Went back to school. Attending Queens College, majoring in Technical Theater (set design, lighting design, etc.) and minoring in Music (always wanted to learn music proper). I still draw, I just don't post as often as I should.

Death of a Phoenix
The colors in this photo don't represent the actual colors of the piece...damn shame.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Gyorgy Ligeti

If you've never watched Stanley Kubrick's, A Space Odyssey: 2001, then you are missing out on one of the best films ever made. This film was made in 1968 and till this day looks fresh and cutting edge. The music for the film really made it all the more amazing for me.

Gyorgy Ligeti's Atmosphere was a fantastic beginning and had me mesmerized from the very beginning of the film.

I became a huge fan of his music after watching the film.

Here is a portrait I did of him with the iconic monolith behind him.

Portrait of Composer Gyorgy Ligeti
Portrait of Gyorgy Ligeti Graphite, Ink, and Digital Drawing 2011

Here are some of my favorite songs by him.








Super awesome stuff to creep you out with.

Friday, May 20, 2011

An Oldie...But a Goodie!

I made this as a Birthday gift for a friend a while back, I just recently found my old flash drive with a bunch of scanned images from my college/just out of college stage. I used to be so much more into this whole art thing...

Bunny Girl Painting by Alex Ariza
Bunny Girl Watercolor and Gouache on 5 x 7 in. Paper 2010

The Well-Informed

I was recently commissioned by Paul Loren of The Well-Informed to produce a few drawings for a booklet he is providing his fans for his upcoming Fancy Chance Tour 2011. Let me start by saying that I was flattered for him to pick me as the artist to represent their visual style this year. It was lots of fun working on this project, especially since all I had to do was draw the way I like to draw.

Here are the set of drawings he requested:

Brian Ver Straten

Brooklyn Bridge Drawing Children's Illustration by Alex Ariza
Brooklyn Bridge

Evan Duby

Grand Army Plaza Drawing Children's Illustration by Alex Ariza
Grand Army Plaza

Famous writer, Henry Miller

Drawing of Paul Loren of the Well-Informed
Paul Loren

Carroll St. Subway Station Drawing Children's Illustration by Alex Ariza
Carroll St. Subway Station

I'm excited to see them printed. The Well-Informed are definitely a band to check out live. You can go listen to their music on their bandcamp site.


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Sacrificial Sketches

Still working out these "designs"
Currently working on a sketch that I want to blow up to a much bigger size...don't know what medium I'll end up doing it in.
Tired of planning...ready to make some moves.
Yeah, moves.
The High Priest

My friend has a shitty scanner...I should really draw in my own books.
Preparing the virgin for sacrifice!

Igor Stravinsky's music works so well when I draw these things.



Best stuff around.

Thursday, April 28, 2011