|
|
A Brief Introduction by The Artist
"I was born in 1969, as Andrew Posada,
with my identical twin brother, Alex Posada. We were raised in a very poor
household with our mother and half brother. Alex and I were extremely
competitive with each other. We started competing at a very early age and one of
the things that was a part of our competitions was drawing. Who could make the
best drawing and get the recognition and attention? We didn't have money to
buy sporting equipment and video games, etc. but we always had pencils and
paper. If it weren't for these facts I don't believe that I would even be an
artist.
"I graduated high school in West Seattle
in 1987 where I received my only art instruction from an art teacher named
Phillip Bradshaw. He didn't teach me technique or art history, he taught me to see. "I became a professional freelance
artist in 1985. After graduating high school I freelanced as an artist and
worked as a picture framer. I became a very well known and highly regarded
picture framer, but I did not want to spend the rest of my life framing
pictures. I did gain a lot of experience working in galleries for 7 years. This
is where I first saw Olivia's work and realized that you could make a very
good living doing pin-up work. It became a dream of mine and a goal to someday
work for Robert Bane. I first saw Sorayama's work in 1994 and found out that
he too, like Olivia, was at Robert Bane's gallery. When I first saw
Sorayama's work my jaw hit the floor, the benchmark just got raised way out of
my sign, he became my enemy and my mentor, I envied him, he inspired me and
discouraged me. In my mind I tried not to know that I would never be that
good. I read where Sorayama said "you have to have
that hunger" and I know I have that. I don't want to be "the next
Sorayama" or even try to emulate him, I just want the same success, to do what
I love to do, like he does. However, I won't deny that he is the biggest
influence in my work. I've been working on my technique ever since I saw his
work and I'll never stop. Sorayama has been a big insecurity in self-doubt
that I try to overcome, it's an ongoing battle. Sorayama will always be the
King to me.
"In 1994 I was flown down from Seattle
to San Diego to try out for a job as an illustrator at Image Comics. They hired
me immediately and I worked for quite a few studios within Image; Top Cow,
Wildstorm and Extreme. This is where I learned how to paint in Photoshop. It
worked exactly like a real airbrush and was a lot easier to make changes to my
pin-ups. I started showing submissions to the Tamara Bane Gallery in 1996, but I
still needed to raise the calibre on my work. I kept trying until I finally
thought I had it down, and the rest is history."
Sadly, Drew passed away in 2007.
|