Art Chowder November | December, Issue 18 | Page 11

MURALIST DANIEL LOPEZ
Art Chowder: What was the first Art Chowder: You said earlier you dropped out of school. Why did you drop out?
piece you did that made you
think you could be an artist? daniel: I was using by the time I was 12, and by the time I was 17 I was addicted. I was so
daniel: My first year in high
school we were shown the
plaster bust of a ram on top of
a pillar and told to draw it as a
light source exercise. I drew it
in graphite and that was one of
the first ones where I was like
WOW, because I never had any
formal training and up till then I
was oblivious to any techniques.
far behind by then, everything just seemed impossible. My grandma did her best but I didn’t
have any direction and didn’t know what to do.
Art Chowder: Where did you do your very first mural?
daniel: I went to a Christian rehab program called Teen Challenge in Riverside, California
and graduated. I then did an internship and became part of the church staff. I ended up
doing a few airbrush paintings in and around the church. I use spray paint now.
I recently tried to get some pictures of those paintings but they are ten years old and
bleached by the sun. Street art in general doesn’t have a long life depending on where it’s
at. Once the weather starts wearing on it, breaking it down, it’s only going to last for so
long.
November |December 2018
11