Chiclets and Empanadas (2021)
Digital Painting and NFT
"Chiclets & Empanadas" is a digital art NFT piece that I started in 2019 and finished in 2021, over two years of colorizing and texturizing. The piece initially was much more bubbly and radiant. Over time, with the darkness of the pandemic, it became a piece with much more texture and some roughness.
This NFT art piece, over the two years, took around 15 hours in total. I worked on each layer individually with Affinity Designer brushes and other Affinity Photos post-production edits for lighting and depth.
FROM THE ARTIST
This NFT art piece represents a rough yet empowering and transformational period in my life and the evolution of my art style to another stage.
I imagine my brain in a flirty state, thinking about a Thursday night in Chacaito in Caracas, Venezuela, back in 1998. A bright morning, almost noon, chewing gum after eating empanadas. I see the boi from my class; I hold that gaze for a few seconds longer, and to my surprise, he does too.
Maybe that's just my brain trying to escape from this insane event that hit New York that winter. Yet, despite the challenging times, I was able to do more art than ever. Pieces like this showed me my passion for grain and texture, concentrating on expression over perfection, and my newfound obsession with neon colors that influence my most recent pieces.