Efren Andaluz III, better known as Andaluz The Artist, was born on October 8, 1986 in Queens, NY. Growing up in the cultural melting pot of Richmond Hill Queens he was introduced to an array of beliefs, backgrounds and multi-cultured people. Being half Dominican and half Ecuadorian his latino upbringing focused on family and work ethic. A major part of growing up in the boom bap borough of Queens was the influence of Hip-Hop culture. Andaluz would wake up to the muffled bass sounds protruding from his uncle’s room as his uncle was producing instrumentals. This love for Hip-Hop was heightened by the fact that Efren grew fond of the graffiti tagged walls in his neighborhood. Graffiti, one of the four elements of Hip-Hop, would play a major part in his future art style.
Andaluz was inspired by saturday morning cartoons and superheroes. He found himself sketching these characters at a very young age. His grandfather, Efren Andaluz, was also an artist and would teach him different drawing techniques and buy him art books. Both sides of his family had very talented creatives but none would make it a career.
At 10 years of age his parents would move him and his brother to the starkly different suburbs of Long Island. Everything he knew had changed including the way his peers thought and looked at him. Here he had a difficult time adjusting and making friends. He was an outkast. Instead of hanging out with friends he would stay inside and sketch. Creating comic book ideas and honing his drawing abilities.
By the time Andaluz was a senior in high school his parents bought him an airbrush kit. These tools changed his life. He taught himself how to use the airbrush and quickly started taking orders from his classmates. Painting their t-shirts, sneakers and even designing whole outfits for different school clubs. This is when he realized he could make money from his unique talent.
Since then he started his own company On Da Loose Designs located in East Northport, N.Y. where he helps startup companies with branding, logos, social media concepts and many other creative ideas. In 2014 Efren established himself as Andaluz The Artist. The first artist to paint while rapping. He built his following from performing live on his youtube page and getting his videos on blogging media sites like 50 cent’s thisis50.com, MTV.com and BET.com. In 2016 Andaluz painted 151 pokemon on the side of his then utilized building in Huntington NY during the pokemon-go app craze. The story went viral once the Associated Press picked it up and sent it to news media outlets throughout the world. Some of those outlets include NBC, CBS, FOX and WPIX. That was the push he needed to focus on large murals and art for galleries.
Andaluz art focuses on a story through colorful collage like imagery. He combines his knowledge of realism, pop art, portraiture, graffiti, graphic arts and more to create these powerful pieces. Using many mediums like oil paint, spray paint, the airbrush and acrylics to transform any object. People often look at his murals and think that a group of artists with different styles collaborated on them because there’s so much range in the art. When it comes to versatility Andaluz takes the cake. If you’re looking for an all around artist that can paint live at events, create media attraction, perform and touch on worldy issues Andaluz is your guy.
Facebook: Andaluz The Artist
twitter: @andaluzart
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