Sunday, November 28, 2010

In high school my friend Patrick and I always joked about having our own radio show called "Rick N Root in the mornin". Little did we know our joke would become reality when Patrick started to attend UC Irvine and got his own show on the campus radio broadcasting his show called "Angry Pato's Happy Hour" throughout Orange County. I started becoming a regular guest on the show and we got to live our dream of "Rick N Root in the mornin". In this picture is Patrick(Rick) in the Pink Floyd shirt and me(Root) in the blue sweater. We play whatever we want as long as its not too mainstream; underground hip-hop,trip-hop, experimental,house,electro,trance, drum n bass, alternative rock, indie rock, etc. Check out his regular show schedule, Angry Pato's Happy Hour at Kuci.org.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010




Here are some drawings from my current figure drawing class with Craig Attebery. I have come to a point where I can confidently draw the figure in less than half the time I used to do it in. The portrait was done in 10 minutes and the female figure in 20.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

When I was 16 I decided to paint my white vans for fun. I painted two Native American portraits from one of my favorite painters Howard Terpning. I got alot of positive responses from people and being the young entrepeneur that I am I decided to make a business out of it. I made a decent amount of money painting at home.Although Hart Costum Shoes was starting to become really popular I decided to take a break from my business to focus on doing illustrations for a doctor who is publishing several books and my job at Art Center College of Design's student store. Three years and 30 pairs of one of a kind costum pairs later this pair is still my favorite. I've never had as much fun as I did painting this first pair and although they are now tattered and torn Im going to keep them forever.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The most common misconception about figure drawing is that the models are actually "models". People expect every nude female figure drawing to be lustrous and romanticized like in The Titanic. Sure, figure drawing is about drawing nude models, but its main purpose is to give you a better understanding of the anatomy and the variety of human body types. One of the reasons why I love figure drawing so much is because it gives you a better understanding and appreciation of not only your own body but the human body in general.Some days the model might be really beautiful and in amazing shape as most models are dancers. Some days it may be men of all different physiques and some days woman that are quite heavyset.

Here is Ludmilla in all her glory. I have a deep sense of respect for all models and especially for her. Most people wouldnt even model clothed and here is Ludmilla sitting comfortably naked as everyone studies and draws every curve and fold. She knows that thats the way she is and she can either be self conscious or model there in all her glory for the sake of art! We can all learn a little something from you Ludmilla.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010


This is a very special drawing, pgs. 60-61. I spent New Years at Big Bear with my family and grandparents about a month before they headed back to Tehran,Iran. My grandpa was a surprisingly good model. I was able to do this drawing in a considerably fast amount of time, about 30 minutes. This drawing is so significant because i dont know if Ill ever have the chance to draw him or my grandma again since they already went back to Tehran.

Monday, August 23, 2010



Here is another one of my doodles that got carried away. It started with a portrait drawing with my friend Megan. Later I added a forrest,a beach scene and a kid running on the upside down clouds. Its a flip page drawing with visual content on all sides and planes of the page. Its drawings like this that I feel make my sketchbooks stand out from others. Pgs 48-49 in my second sketchbook.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Here is the drawing from the free concert me and my friends stumbled upon at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena's arts district. See the post below for more information. The Korean lady next to me was impressed with my sketches so she told me to write me and my friends' full name down on paper so she can pray for us that night. Im not really religious but I thought it was so cool how that night I was gonna have this nice lady pray for us and wish us prosperity. The band that was playing was this really interesting blend of latin/alternative rock. The singer had a really nice voice and aura,truly beautiful.
This is an old drawing in my first sketchbook, pgs. 210-211. I went on a random no destination planned adventure on the LA Metro rail system with 3 other friends and we ended up stumbling upon a free concert at the Levitt Pavilion in Memorial Park,Pasadena. After the concert we ended up at one of my friend Bobby's house around midnight and watched him and my other friends jam while I did this drawing. He had an electric drum set so I did him the favor of drawing a real drum set instead of the electric one so he didnt look nearly as ridiculous.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

A psychedelic drawing I did for fun in my sketchbook. Started out with a random drawing of an elephant head and ended up turning into a full image as I got carried away. I used different elements found in my previous sketchbook pages. For example the rug the elephant man is sitting on is from the patterend background of the guitar performer drawing and the village from a full page doodle. I also drew inspiration from art of different regions and time periods. The village is in the fluorescent color palette that youd find in 60's counterculture rock and festival posters. The background is a 17th century french baroque style pattern. The clouds are inspired by the clouds found in Tibetian buddhist art.

Sunday, April 4, 2010


Kevin Hubbard performing classical guitar with a taste of jazz as it was called at the Burbank Buena Vista branch library(10/28/08). The show was a little over an hour long so I used the whole performance to do this one drawing my sketchbook (pgs.110-111). Its funny because I ended up getting more attention with this drawing from the people in the library than he did with his performance,although his performance was beautiful. A year latter I came back to the drawing and added a colorful baroque patterned background which was something that I started experimenting with at the time.


A little psychedelic drawing I did in my sketchbook (pg.26-27). My friend Ara was practicing piano in between classes so i drew him and the architecture at Pasadena City College. A week later I went to the library looking for a quite distraction free place to draw. I ended up with this drawing that came out looking psychedelic.