Original Art By Deodato Pangandoyon | Ugallery.com

artist statement

My work has always been influenced, in one way or another, by my heritage. Growing up in a semi-isolated town on a southern Philippine island, I had a very colorful upbringing filled with superstition and intrigue. This was a culture where mythical creatures lived amongst the common people. Like many other mythical creatures from other cultures, it is not uncommon to hear about stories of sightings during lunchtime conversations. It was those conversations that spurred my imagination, and ever since then I have been fascinated by fairy tales.

Life then was a different reality, and moving to the United States was a blessing due to the educational system that introduced me to various artists. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Picasso, Monet, Klimt, H.R. Giger, Maxfield Parrish, and Katsushika Hokusai just to name a few. As a younger artist, I was obsessed with the process of replicating reality. I rigorously copied every minute detail in every scene. I eventually found the process limiting and mentally strenuous, but good for the practice of discipline. Over the years my work became less restrained as I experimented with different styles, venturing into the realms of Cubism and Impressionism and so on. Eventually, I was lucky enough to have been under the guidance of political illustrator Steven Brodner and portrait artist Steven Assael. I am thankful for their influence and for bringing back order and sophistication to my work.

Although I comfortable with most mediums, my personal favorites are watercolor and gouache, because of the immediate results they give. Each medium is a lesson in patience and discipline; watercolor for its spontaneity and gouache for its unforgiving nature in terms of mistakes. But practice makes perfect, and with proper knowledge, the results are often rewarding. They produce images that exude vibrancy and luminance that are specific to the mediums. For commercial purposes, watercolor and gouache also reproduce very well.

Currently I am a freelance illustrator within the New York Tri-state area, and I hope to work for the entertainment industry. Future projects include writing and illustrating a children’s book and then making it into a feature film. My experience with computer art and the digital medium has brought new possibilities and opportunities for me to further express myself in the art world.