Crayons & Coloring Books
Hey VIP Keyy crew and welcome to my “ The Mind of Keyy” Blog launch and first post! So happy to finally take this journey with you and give you some insight on me. I’m sure from the title you can assume what this post will be about, and I hope after reading it, you are able to reflect on your own experience with art.
Crayons and Coloring Books...hmm... what can I say other than a simple beginning to something great! My story into the world of art starts off kinda ordinary, in the sense that as a child, I was gifted with what will become the two most prime possessions I have ever owned. It all started with a box of Crayola crayons and a coloring book. I was always the type of kid who enjoyed interesting designs and lots of colors. When I was little, a coloring book and a box of associated crayons were like winning the lottery to me. I mean, who could beat a fresh box of 64 colors of pure joy in a cardboard box and 25-page empty coloring book just waiting to be turned into a one of a kind Keyy Original! as my gaze set on the line patterns and outlines just waiting to come alive, magic that would fill my eyes. I was able to turn a still image into a mystical wonderland. I would spend hours in my own space creating masterpieces; or at least what I called masterpieces. This was the spark of it all, like a light to a candle, my creative spark was ignited!
A world that will forever change me or should I say become me. Throughout the years I was able to nurture this love of color, as a way to channel my inner artist and release my inner thoughts. I would say even now, that my art is like my security blanket; it gave me comfort in times that seemed foreign and complicated. In an ever-changing, temporary world, the only constant was my understanding of art, color and the creation of new lands I can call my own...Seeing myself in not only the pieces I create, but also in the thought process building up to them and new meanings; Redefining my adolescent self with each wax based crayon and outlines unique to my own unspoken language.
Fast forward a few years to my high school days, where the adolescent artist meets the more mature but still-discovering-myself artist. Here, I was met with new obstacles. No more were the simple days of coloring books and pre-designed puzzles. I now would take on the next step in developing my artist skills, and learn to use my talents to capture the human figure. In my first figure drawing class, I came face-to-face with this new challenge of uncharted territory. Yes, I have always been fascinated with the human figure and the stories it can tell, but having to capture what I see and transferring it to canvas, was a new experience.
By this time, my language through color made it easy to see shapes and shadows in a three-dimensional way. Combining my color language with my new skill of drawing the human body I was able to take on this new perspective of adding that to a living, breathing figure that stood in front of me. Needless to say, my first class was pretty intense, but I also found it exciting to try to add a new dynamic to my work. The only other way I could describe the moment is like viewing the world through thermal imaging night vision goggles. That is where I had my second artist spark, and I realized then that that is exactly how I see life. I discovered that I no longer saw the ordinary limbs, skin, hair, and eyes; but instead, I saw beyond it, and glimpsed the unseen. I saw the red and green undertones, the orange and blue shadows with teal highlights and golden streaks where the light reflected against the curvature of bone and muscle. That is who I was and who I am, connected with color and sparked by my artistic creativity.
“ I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.” - Vincent Van Gogh