I created my self portrait after I went through a series of hardships. Two years ago I lost my father in an accident and for a long time I struggled with learning to cope with this loss. Even though life seemed hopeless to me at one point, I kept pushing myself and eventually made my way to happiness and acceptance.

My sugar skull was created to experiment with free-hand drawing and sketching. I also fooled around with mixed media and intricate design. Although it may not look like it, the piece took many hours to complete. My inspiration for this piece was a recent trip to Arizona where I saw many new types of flowers and came across a surprising amount of different candy skull designs. I started by drawing my outline in pencil, then I went over all of the lines in calligraphy pen, and finally, I filled in all of the spaces with watercolor.

This design is one that I have been thinking about for a while and just recently decided to make a reality. I wanted the flowers and the heart to contrast each other and to show what is giving the heart “life.” I painted the flowers with warm colors of watercolor paint and used India ink and Micron ink pens on the heart. I wanted to experiment with these mediums and produce something whose message may resonate with those who see it.

This image illustrates a lone girl and her bird walking down an empty street. This is a catharsis work that is meant to portray emotional loneliness in a physical way. I wanted to depict a twilight-like background, because I believe there is a lot of melancholic emotion that accompanies that time of evening. I used Micron ink pens and watercolor pencils in order to create a rainy-day atmosphere.