My personal painting collections are focused on romance and the intimacy that comes with interpersonal interactions. My work has sexual undertones at times and reveals my intimate encounters with life and love. Every experience I encounter subconsciously reveals itself on my canvases. My art has a surreal aesthetic, and I take pride in creating my work free hand, revealing a clear and consistent path from one’s mind, to hand, to canvas.
SoCal Artist, LOUDLABS, is a self-proclaimed Urban Decorator and visual storyteller. In 1995, he abandoned the written word and began painting pictures as a way to narrate a supersonic adventure story that races through the jungles of earth and into the vast expansions of space. Sixteen years in the making the pages of his work were brought to life on raw canvases and clothing throughout the Los Angeles underground art and music scene that influences his style and rattles his imagination. LOUDLABS was victorious in Round 1.
Combining a strong musical background with patterns drawn from diverse traditions, Jill Leighton’s images are bold in imagination and ambition. They typically show strong angular frameworks barely supporting the soft but relentless pressure of the supple plants (ranging from seaweed and mushrooms to convolvulus and iris), whose growth seems to have been responsible for the background fragmentations. The images dwindle down through identifiable forms such as the plants to tiny dots of colour and the finest of hairs twisting in an invisible breeze. Jill's uncanny ability to orchestrate the unlikeliest colour combinations to form her images are reminiscent of music - crazy jazz, serene sonatas, sad laments, dissonant modernism, mesmerising minimalism - where the same twelve notes can be endlessly recombined, and remixed, just like colour combinations elaborated from a few primary (red, yellow, blue) and secondary (orange, green, purple) tints and shades. Finally, each of Jill's creations has what she calls an 'energy point' that triggers the explosions that adorn these walls.
Raven is an up-and-coming Los Angeles based artist. He started his journey in 2013 and has not slowed down. His attention to detail and ability to capture a moment through his surrealistic portraits is quite a site to see. Hoping to make an impact in people's lives with his illustrations Raven pours every ounce of emotion into each piece. Self-taught, he pulls his inspiration not just from artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Picasso, but Circa Survive and Bring Me the Horizon. Not only does his creativity show through his artwork but also through his sense of fashion and overall A E S T H E T I C. Recently venturing into murals, he is currently working on a wall in Koreatown. Raven is always pushing the envelope and perfecting his craft and hoping to inspire the artist in you.
Matt Smith is a San Diego native, graduating from SDSU with a bachelors in graphic design in 2007. Throughout his career, he has worked for several publications and created ads for some of the biggest brands around. He is currently managing graphic and UI designers for one of San Diego’s largest non profit healthcare companies. In his spare time he enjoys drawing, skateboarding and video games. Matt was victorious in Round 1!
Derek is an artist and designer living in sunny Santa Barbara. His favorite medium is pen and ink but really enjoys a multitude of methods of expression, including acrylics, watercolors and sometimes spray paint. The important thing is getting imagery out of his head and on paper, canvas and walls. Derek enjoys sports and being outdoors.
Alex is an Argentinian photographer, currently living in the beautiful California. She sees the world through her camera. Her photography is focus on landscape and portraits, passionate about photography but also about potatoes!! Alex enjoys music, food, art and travels. Alex's design made it to the final four!
Drawing from her love of nature, Jessica creates her art using a wide variety of techniques, tools and materials at her studio on the Connecticut seashore. Her use of mixed paints and stains, mica pigments, wax and varnish on an assortment of substrates yield subtle textures and aquatic imagery creating her unique abstract art. Jessica's design was in the championship!
My name is Jade, and I am a wildlife artist and illustrator. I run my small art business out of my home in Colorado, where I spend my time creating artwork depicting my adoration for the dark wilderness I am so fortunate to call home. Living alongside the native wildlife, I have always been deeply captivated and intrigued by the mystery of their quiet, ambiguous world. Creating art surrounding my passion for these beings has become my best way of expressing respect and appreciation for this mountainous region and the untamed spirits that inhabit its untouched wilderness.
Always a painter from a young age, I am inspired by objects of the world around. Everything I see, I want to paint in an abstract way. Some days it’s linear and some days it’s circular and fluid. I see things analytically and portray them creatively.I am drawn to bright colors and items that evoke happiness. Flowers seem to be a big draw for me. I'm not a gardener but I love to photograph flowers then paint them. I often change the colors or change the proportions making the images abstract. I’m drawn to both fluid objects and linear objects, chemical structures and close up flowers. One could say I work with both the left and right sides of the brain. Pamela was victorious in Round 1.
Be it family history, a memorable trip or hometown pride, we all have an affinity for a particular corner of the world. Orange & Park combines thoughtful typography and simple illustrations to create memorable art prints, stationery, apparel and other unique goods inspired by these special places. The project's namesake can be found in the heart of our hometown of Coronado, California. It's there you'll find the town's main thoroughfare, Orange Avenue, crossing a small side street called Park Place. orangeandpark.com"
Mark Banducci, was born in Santa Clara, California. Currently he lives and paints full time in Los Angeles, California. He discovered his love of the watercolor medium in high school, and enjoys employing multiple techniques in each piece. Mark had the good fortune to attend California Institute of the Arts, in Valencia, California, where his art appreciation blossomed. Mark's design made it to the final four!
Denver based artist, George Yakubisin, is known mostly for apparel, but is self taught in many different mediums. Originally a graphic designer, George blends an illustrative vibe into each physical piece. Akubis Design is based off of George's love of cartoons and anime. His love for expression lead him to get involved in profeasionally and lead a life of creativity and happiness!