My name is Monica Reuman. I love painting, drawing, photography and collage. My favorite element of art is COLOR. My main interest so far has been portraiture because I find human beings much more interesting to paint or draw than a still life or a landscape. I have been using mostly water soluble oil paints. Portraiture is the best because each different face fascinates me, and the final product is exciting and fun to share. Every face is so different, and I can work for hours trying to capture not only a likeness, but a sense of their unique personality. These past seven years, I've tried a ton of different subjects, styles, and mediums, but I found myself coming back to portraiture most of the time. My favorite mediums are water-soluble oil paints, regular oil paints, colored pencil, and regular pencil. I really value the role of art in my life. The art-making process is a great outlet for me, always enjoyable, usually relaxing. My art in recent years has been influenced by Mexico. I spent almost 2 months in Guanajuato through an exchange program, and the vibrantly colorful houses, interesting artwork, warm culture, and happy people have greatly affected me in my artwork and outlook on life. I make realistic looking art for the most part, but I must say I'm jealous of some artists' ability to sit down to paint, not painting from anything but their mind. I'm better at drawing concrete things, such as objects or people.
The art of Norman Rockwell, Tim Okamura, Diego Rivera, Velasquez, and my art classmates have also influenced me. I hope art continues to be an important part of me throughout the rest of my life.