Youniverse by Ren in Pasadena

Since the age of 4 I had I love for drawing. I started with drawing some of my favorite cartoon characters, sitting in front of the television eating toast and drinking milk with my sketch book drawing various cartoons From Disney, Hanna Barbera, Nickelodeon, Looney Tunes and various comic book characters/super heroes. From there I grew a love for architecture specifically European cathedrals. I was highly fascinated by the art involved in building such beautiful structures. I started practice still life. While practicing still life and also being a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I started to study the artist the turtles the artist were named after mainly Michael Angelo and Leonardo. Both artist being in my top 3 favorite artist along with Salvador Dali, I fell in love with surrealism. In 2008 I attended The Art Institute of California-Orange County where I studied animation. I went for only one year with a gpa of 3.8. I was force to drop out due to not being able to afford going. In my 3rd semester the Dean called me into the office and told me that I wasn’t going to make it in his school before him becoming my color theory teacher and failing me. That school got shut down and a huge lawsuit case against them. Karma I guess is real. After dropping out of there I got into cosmetology where I was able to get licensed and work throughout Los Angeles county. Due to a lot of racial discrimination in the business I fell out of love and gave up. I really only turned to it as a back up to art/architecture. In 2013 I went to a full moon camping party where I met this amazing artist. While in awe of his work, artist Michael Heltebrake paused his live painting to speak with me. We converse for a while when he finally convinced me to start painting. I tried painting in high school but I was fearful of making mistakes and not being able to get it right and correct. Turned out to be a very silly fear lol. Since 2013 I haven’t stopped painting. It’s like medicine for me now. Something I need to feel fulfilled in this world. I have so many ideas and concepts and messages that I want to bring to this world and share with others. I hope to fulfill my dream of being a full time artist. I currently run an online business where I share and sell merch and art.