I remember a day in the beginning of the semester when I took Kazu's class. He had us all bring in portfolios of our work to review. He took notice of a small print of one of my digital paintings and asked about it...I let him know that It was a painting whose digital file I had unfortunately lost when my laptop's hard drive broke. "You should do it again" he said. That statement stuck with me because he said in such a matter-of-fact manner. I hadn't considered going back because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to re-capture what I thought was good about the piece. But that was something that I learned from Kazu, that you can't let artistic fear and trepidation keep you from moving forward, and trying again and again to become better at what you love to do.
I also learned about the process behind his art, and how much he seemed to love contemplating the beauty in nature. I loved his dinosaur paintings, how his attention to detail and artistic vision could make the fantastical T-Rex seem real, and could bring out the otherworldly in faces and scenes that are familiar. I think about how his essence could be a part of the nature and history he so masterfully painted. This compelled me to try and carve his signature mark into stone, by chiseling away the negative space...so that it wasn't like it was imprinted, but rather drawn out of the rock. How it looks like it was worked out by someone primitive, who maybe has not achieved a level of technical mastery, but who finds that the symbol carries deep meaning, and should be left for others to find, and through its beautiful design get a feeling of who it represents.
I feel very grateful to have been one of Kazu's students and I thank him for all the lessons, wisdom and knowledge he has shared.
-Urbano Espinosa
BFA Illustration, 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment