Tag: matt szal
I have finally completed my first of the Presidential Portrait series. After about six weeks of working on a painting, I begin to worry that I have over-done it and thus ruined the painting. I had a drawing teacher at Pratt who used to tell us to stop at 96% and leave a touch for the viewer to fill in with their imagination. If someone works a piece of art even past the threshold of 101%, it destroys that remarkable quality.
It is so nice to have so many resources to study to try to learn about a person who you are trying to paint in a way that captures more than just a physical description of the person. It is essential to capture the “essence” of a person, and I thought the story of young Washington admitting he cropped down the cherry tree to his father would be interesting. The cherries also have a sexual reference that speaks to our nation’s birth in blood and war through Washington’s deeds.
Since Washington was the father of the American Army, I have decided to speak with an Army recruiter about enlisting in the “regular army”. My uncle, John Szal, was a captain in the Marine Corps. and he asks me not to join the Marines. I thought joining the Army would be a perfect solution as a loophole to get around this. I can enlist at a higher rank with ASE tests and hopefully work on vehicles and/or helicopters. However, several things might disqualify me or limit my options in the military from my past. Also, in the Army, you do not get to pick what you do and are obliged to follow your orders, so I could do graphic design again or become a combat medic. It is impossible to say, yet I will keep the blog updated with what they say and the progress of my next portrait (John Adams). I am not a violent person and would prefer not to have to hurt anyone, yet I am not a conscientious objector by any means.
Capitaland has a policy of letting people leave for military service. Yet, I do not expect them to have a job waiting for me in four years, so I will be leaving Capitaland. I will miss my new manager, Brian Hansbury, and his dog Bandit (my favorite part of Capitaland). I will no longer be around to receive any commission from someone purchasing a car, so no more pressure on anyone to buy a vehicle to help me.
Categories
Back with Brissette
After several stressful weeks dealing with my court cases in Texas, I have been able to smooth things over with my lawyer, Miles Brissette. I wrote some things about Miles when I was frustrated with the court, yet he is an excellent lawyer and I would recommend him to anyone.
I ordered a new batch of my cards, which will be for sale again on my website on the Ides of March (3/15). I have been busy with my GMC training, so I have not yet been able to finish my George Washington portrait. I plan to finish by next week so I can start working on John Adams’ portrait earnestly.
My first week at Capitaland was excellent and I was very happy to be placed as a GMC mechanic. I had initially wanted to work on Subarus, yet Capitaland offers the chance for a person to master both with time. My first car was a ‘98 Subaru Impreza that I bought with money saved by working as a lifeguard at Caroll Aquatics Center (my high school pool). However, my second car was a ‘03 Buick Century(in the GM family), like Chevy and GMC(my current focus). I also signed the title of a Subaru Forester to Cheyenne before she left me and took Roman from Fort Worth to South Carolina without my permission.
All my problems started a year later when my stupid personage felt it necessary to relocate to South Carolina, where Roman lived. I hated Columbia, and Leigh Ellen is so rich she still has people mess with me since she is that wealthy. Scott Jaco has not been the best either for anyone and yet, since he is Roman’s stepfather, I have to keep up the appearance of cordiality. He made Cheyenne have a medical condition which made it impossible for us to be married and did not even ask her permission. He also was abusive to the point I thought Roman’s safety was in danger. After my parents got divorced, I was on my own, and I had no one to assist with such a terrible situation I was placed in becoming a teen parent trying to finish college.
I have several new marriage prospects on the horizon now, although I try to focus on my career as a mechanic, graphic designer and painter so it is hard to find time for dating. One of the symptoms of schizophrenia is not wanting to date or have romantic relationships, yet I have experienced seeing “ghosts” and “spirits” over the years. Capitaland will let me work there with a disability as long as I perform at a super high level and do not ever have any accidents. They employ several disabled veterans and disabled civilians, which lets me feel safe to talk about my disability. I tried to sue Frank Bufano over getting sent to JPS hospital against my will for a week (October 2023), yet I do not think I will ever try to sue anyone again since I was treated so poorly by Judge Brandt and everyone in the office of JP3. They even let Frank sell his house twice and relocate to California to avoid getting served a subpoena.
Thankfully, Tim has decided to drop the charges now that I have a good job and want to start a family. I have decided not to say anything bad about him on the blog and will allow him to keep whatever funds he acquired by pulling a job on his little boy.
I have evolved from a tire shop mechanic into a dealership mechanic. I was very sad to leave Larry O’Shea, yet Capitaland made me such a good offer that I could not refuse. I have also decided to stay on probation here in New York and not pursue a trial by jury for the cases in Texas. I have wanted to focus on improving my mechanic skills and Subaru/GMC are both brands that I really enjoy servicing.
My grandfather died before I was born, yet he fought in the war with Japan and so I like to work on Japanese cars. I was also named after him and the original “Matthew Szal” grew up in Brooklyn. This is another reason I wanted to go to Pratt so much was on account of him. I also like GMC vehicles, which are really good American family vehicles, and utility cars/trucks.
I may still do graphic design work for Adirondack Tire, yet I may have to stop working for them entirely and stop running Magick Mechanic. I hope to start a family soon now that I can support one and I have never been more hopefully for the future.
After a year of lousy treatment on probation, I have decided to return to Texas to take the charges from the case with Timothy Szal to trial. I will take a bus to Texas at the end of the month. It is clear now that I need to clear up these criminal charges in Texas if I want to get a decent job or decent treatment anywhere. I have taken a leave of absence from Adirondack Tire until this matter is resolved. Larry O’Shea, Sean O’Shea and Eric Steele have been unbelievably supportive during this difficult time.
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.
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.
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.
Categories
Sneak Preview: Company Logo
Hello everyone, Larry (Owner of Adirondack Tire) has given me special permission to share the concept for our new logo. This is just a sneak preview, so stay tuned for more updates!
I have been courting several different public relations agencies to do publicity for my new deck of cards. Yet, one company called S99 is a huge scam, and I was almost able to prove this by emailing one of the company’s co-founders, Chris K.
I was a public relations minor in college, and I was a member of PRSA. I emailed Chris a press release with a $500 retainer offer for “proof of concept” before hiring the agency. I have been burned before by services that advertise getting your press releases in the newspapers and other media, yet just steal your dough and do not deliver anything. Such companies will keep taking your money as long as you are stupid enough to keep giving it to them. People like Tony Curtis’s character in The Sweet Smell of Success come to mind.
I have planned several media/marketing campaigns over the years and know I need to hire some high-caliber agency people for this one. Please email me if anyone has an agency or PR person they recommend. My next meeting is with Artsy Shark.
You must be logged in to post a comment.