Simplified Beauty

Artwork by Jonathan Andrade

My names is Jonathan Andrade and I am a self taught artist from Chicago. Since a young age, art has always caught my attention and has continued to spark my creativity throughout the years. At the age of 9, I began drawing alongside a good friend of mine, we began with creating our own comic books. I would draw everyday practicing in order to become better at what to me at the time was a hobby. I started at first experimenting with pencils, slowly but surely I began to use from crayons to color pencils and pastels. As the years passed and my interest grew, I learned more about the art world and all its different mediums available which allowed me to begin to expand my horizons.

During my time in high school I became involved with the graffiti and aerosol paint scene, which opened the opportunity to learn about contrasting colors, shading, different dimensions and techniques. As my skills in different mediums began to improve, I began to buy books and research on human anatomy and other techniques I had yet to dabble in. I started to use oil based paints this year and I fell in love with the aesthetics of it, how vibrant colors look compared to other forms of painting. At first it was very difficult for me since I attacked it head on by painting in the same form as I would draw. I realized it was because despite of my excitement and interest painting with oils, i did not take the time to research into all the steps that should be taken when working with oils. The struggle continued because of my ignorance in the subject not knowing of things such as never preparing my palette before hand, which would create more issues by just jumping into a canvas with nothing but an idea. After various attempts, I began trying to explore many resources from books and YouTube videos to successfully accomplish this hurdle in my art. Upon doing so, I became more aware of the steps needed to successfully paint.

The painting that I am submitting is one of the only paintings I added multiple colors into it to achieve the most depth as possible. Despite the countless hours put into my painting, I feel there are still many different techniques and skills I need to learn. Not having any professional aid in the field, it has been difficult for me, but I am confident with what I am submitting because it is a culmination of my hard work and motivation to continuing the never ending battle of being an artist.

To be able to win this contest and receive the free courses would be a blessing because I feel like the raw talent and motivation I have is a great stepping stone for my art but to be able to have professional instruction would definitely be very beneficial to aiding an overall improvement with my work. I have always been interested in the classic artwork from the masters as Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Vincent Van Gogh because of their execution of demonstrating emotion through their colors. My ultimate goal is to someday be able to paint portraits or scenic works of art involving multiple characters and realism. I have attempted to draw and paint portraits but there is still something missing. I am a firm believer that one can never stop learning, and being able to win this contest will continue my development as an artist.