portraits – M. Szal

Xi Mingze, JD Vance’s Ancestral Home & memes

I have been fine-tuning my 32-bit and Game Boy Advance (GBA) aesthetic in my graphic design work. I learned to make animations with Photoshop at Pratt in 2010 and still like to use the old-school legacy techniques. The person above is Xi Mingze, the daughter of Xi Jinping. I hope this image of his daughter in America makes the Chinese troops return to China from Eastern Europe, yet I would not hold my breath by any means.

Next, we have the house in Ohio where Vice President JD Vance lived as a boy. I usually put my signature violet-haze on my animations, yet since JD Vance was in the Marine Corps. I decided to use a green haze. This is dedicated to Public Affairs Officer Hamel.

Every great graphic designer must be a great meme-person…

Check out my meme page on IG: @memes_of_magick

I have been working on a new series of oil paintings of the Presidents of the United States. I read the books The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency and The Imperial Presidency to gain some background insight into the topic.

Greg Dow of Dow Art Gallery in Fort Worth, Texas

My old boss and mentor, Greg Dow, instilled my love of America inside my character. His father collected Lincoln pictures and memorabilia, some of which I helped restore when I worked for him at Dow Art Gallery (the oldest art gallery in Texas). I will likely dedicate my Lincoln picture to them both since, after Pratt, it was Mr. Dow that really taught me how to paint on a professional level. He gave me a job in 2011 when Roman was born and I thought my life was over since I had to leave New York City. Thankfully, he helped me realize it was only the beginning. I would never have been able to have my first big show at Fringe Art Gallery without his help/connections.

Video of my oil painting process

This is a video with some process footage of my painting the first picture. George Washington was in the British Army before the Revolutionary War, so I painted him in a younger version and then painted over in the older version. All the pictures are in oil paint on canvas boards, which are 12 inches by 12 inches. I added a hand to the portrait holding some cherries since George Washington could not lie to his father about chopping down the cherry tree. Yet, I have not taken any pictures of this latest stage.