From My Left Hand
by
Gabriel Wong
Paintings
Amal
I wanted to challenge myself by making a person, so I decided to start with her. My inspiration came from a picture a friend of mine took, and I wanted to remake it. Capturing the beauty of a black woman was not easy. I spent some hours building up her cheeks, lips, and nose, trying to get the perfect look. Making the ears was was pretty fun. I rolled out some clay and formed them by hand to get the look. I was initially going to use a necklace I found on Amazon, but I wanted her to have something that looked a little more natural and a sense of purpose. I had a last-minute idea to make the necklace from some grapevines I had growing in the backyard. The pendant is a mini vase made from a branch. I later added a live plant to it, and it feels pretty cool that I'm able to water it.
Cherub Mural
Believe it or not, this was my first time painting a mural. I met a lady in a plant store who needed help getting some plants to her home. After making the delivery, I gave her my card, and she later called and asked if I could paint something on her ceiling. I was very nervous, but I did a little every day, and this is how it turned out.
Elle
I wasn't sure where I was going with this when I started, but I like where it ended. The cool thing is that the texture in its face was unintentional. My original plan was to add a texture or carve its face after building it up, but I stumbled upon an easier way. I eventually got tired of adding layers of modeling paste, so I added a thick layer to speed up the process. When I woke up the following morning, she had the cracks, and it looked pretty good to me. The ears needed to be free-flowing and add to her somewhat lively look, so I used a floral faux leather material I found at Hobby Lobby. I eventually started a business and couldn't think of a logo, and she became the logo.
Giraffe
After making the elephant, I knew I had to try out the giraffe next. It took a lot of work looking over pictures of giraffes and understanding their features. I was even able to add some chin hairs and eyelashes to this one. I loved making this giraffe.
Peacock
I believe this was my first painting. I took on a request from my sister but I didn't want to just make regular painting. So I challenged myself take it beyond the canvas and it became the blueprint for anything I did afterwards.
Dream Catcher
My father once told me that if I wanted something try hanging a picture of it on the wall. I decided I would painted something instead and hung it up in my bed room at the time. It now hangs in the bathroom of my own home as a thinker piece.
CanVase
Growth
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