Artist Spotlight: Valentino Amaya

About Valentino: 

Age: 37 

Sentence Length/Time on the Inside: Lifer whose been incarcerated since 2005. I have a board date in 2029.

Where he calls home: Born in Sacramento, California

What his creative process looks like: It varies, sometimes it can be spontaneous, which involves a lot more freemixing and I allow intuition to guide me. Or, I go into it with a plan and think about my color schemes and do some premixing. 

What is it like to make art on the inside?: Con - I can be limited on my supplies, and that can slow me down since I can't just go to the store and buy something. I can't buy certain size brushes and certain paints like oil, and info can be limited. Pro - I have a lot of time, so experience becomes a good teacher as I brainstorm and problem solve why something isn't working out. 

His biggest goal as an artist: To innovate. 

What he hopes people feel when they look at his art: Connected.

What he's working on now: I am working on a lot of different art, from portraits in graphite, landscapes, portraits in acrylic, and animals. I've learned to work on many pieces, it gives me a fresh perspective when I get back to a piece I've started and keeps me well rounded in diversity.

"Honest Abe" (Amaya, 2023)

In his own words: 

Hello to everyone! 

My name is Valentino and I am incarcerated in a California prison. I have 20 years of art experience with various mediums. Art has always inspired me and some of the artists that inspire me today are, Rembrandt, Monet, Mary Cassatt, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock, Cesar Santos, Gregg Kreutz, Frank Covino, Steve Henderson, Voka, James Gurney, Basil Gogos, Norman Rockwell, and the list goes on. 

I hope to convey, express, innovate, and create like they did. Art has been a way for me to observe life. My favorite medium to use today is acrylic. My style of art can vary because I am always trying something new. "Honest Abe" is a good example of that. When I first got the "PRP3" invite I considered a few different presidents and the phrase 'Honest Abe' kept sticking to my mind, so Lincoln became my choice. I was eager to paint him and began sketching him on a sheet of canvas. I used polymer, thinking it will seal the pencil marks and what happened was it smeared the pencil marks and I used it to establish a rendering of the head. From there my idea was to use skin tones and create some realism. I began using washes of umber and started seeing something different, I saw a patina look and liked it. After that I had a choice to add some vibrant colors, or I could still add skin tones, and from past experiences those choices work 50% of the time, so I didn't want to take the chance and so I left it. And that is the shorter version of the process of "Honest Abe".  

Thank you for your time.