I started off by researching various ideas, these included themes related to earth. I focused on two themes which were Humans and Nature, this interest was because I wanted to explore the combinations of both themes and the human form with its nature. The experiences contributed to making all of my artworks were my surroundings, emotions, and my journey throughout my life. All I wanted is to express my emotions towards these two themes in my own perspective.

When creating my first piece, I was inspired by Nunzio Paci because his illustration related precisely to my theme of Humans and nature. His Illustrations demonstrated collages of human bodies and nature. He shows various explorations that inspired me to create “Us and Nature” which is a portrait with elements of nature. Not only was I inspired by him but also from Leonardo Henriquez, his usage of Scratchboard was a unique choice representing art. I used Scratchboard because I like the aesthetic this technique gives out, the black and whites makes it look realistic towards the final outcome. This kind of material impacted me because of the tiny details that can be produced, such as facial expressions that can be made with small scratches onto the board. In addition, I created another piece with that technique, called ‘Wonderful’, with this piece it allowed me to explore the ways in which light is set. My other work ‘Flower universe’ was the most unique piece for me, the material being used is charcoal, I used this technique to give my piece rough texture, to produce dark and light lines. The purpose of why I chose photography/Photoshop for one of my final pieces called ‘My life’ was to see an uncommon way of reality, to find distinctive ways to play with the real image. When creating my digital piece I was inspired by Goro Fujita, this form of media had a lot to offer from different brushes and colors that a digital art piece can be completed quicker. My two pieces ‘Broken Outside’ and ‘don't worry, be happy’ were produced by procreate. I used that Digital Illustration because it was accurate and there are endless possibilities of exploration with different tools that effects the final piece

The way I considered the arrangement of my pieces was balancing different pieces together, which meant having different colors, sizes, and mediums joined unequally to each other, making this an eye-catching Art wall. Having this in mind, I visioned all my pieces to be connected distinguished to each other but at the same time still having the same theme.

Daniel Cortez