Blake Waldman
Member Since January 2012
Artist Statement My first documented drawing was on a wall at six months old, of one of my favorite toys. The critics, at the time, did not appreciate the raw talent and only bitched about re-painting. I grew in artistic and cerebral prowess as the years went on, with the highly conceptual "Marking Of All Dimmer Switches In The House With A Big Black "B" (age eight) going severely underappreciated by the art world at large.
In my teens, others began to take notice of my view of the world, most notably my high school art teacher who accepted my signature on a block in her back room as my final project for graduation. After doing a summer program at Cornell, my senior year I received a congressional nod for one of my charcoal drawings (for sale in my shop - "Curled Up Nude"), did an infamous 8 foot x 10 foot painting called "white dot on white background," made a movie called "Killer Salami," and moved strangely into college.
After a short stint in pre-med, I found myself back in the heart of the art world again as an art student at the school of visual arts in NYC. What college kid can complain about three hour studio classes in sketching using female nude models? We wandered the city, immersed ourselves in all its strangeness, delved into projects, and thrived on the hours between 2 and 8 am. During the day, we sketched and painted and drew ourselves into oblivion, studying under such greats as ed benguiat, richarde wilde, and milton glaser, in who's studio I had the privilege of working. I chased two programs, eventually gaining the educational nod in both graphic design and advertising.
Since then, I have brought my style of design and visual point of view to all kinds of media, from the printed page all the way to the broadcast image and beyond into the nether world of the internet. You've seen my work, you just aren't aware of it! :) But that world - that world has critics. And clients. And others who get a say in what I create. In my spare time, I continue to create things that only I have control over. I write, I build, I play on my computer. But mostly, I draw and I paint.
Recent years have brought my work into the digital world, and I enjoy the freedom that comes with it. But I still love to get dirty with charcoal or paint up to my elbows from time to time... there is still a passion in the actual creation.... it's something you do not because you want to, but because you have no choice.
As Harry Chapin would say - "think of the people you remember the most... those that you remember the best....they all had passion. it's passion for something... for anything.... be it empirical, or be it silly.... it is the passion to succeed, regardless of success, that makes a person memorable."
exit, stage left.
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