Below the initial pencil sketch.

November Forever - Completed on 3/01/06
This painting took me 1 month to complete

View the development of this painting

One of my most emotionally charged paintings in a long time. The month of November is my birth month (November 14th in case you want to send me a card). This month is also responsible for reminding me of loved ones that I've lost. I have lost my girlfriend Cecilia (Ceally) Carandang to cancer (Nov. 4), my high school guidance counselor Joe Mullin (Nov. 8), good friend Leandra Esposito to Lukemia (Nov. 10), and my brother Robert to suicide (Nov. 13).

I sampled several paintings to create this piece. In the upper left corner has the Ceally painting visual -- the gates to heaven. I used this because of Robert being accepted into heaven.

The periscopes are from 'Life Goes On' and 'Progress'. They represent all the emotions I thought I had finally dealt with, but instead resurfaced with even more intensity.

The tidal wave and magic carpet with the lamp are from 'Later Haters' and 'Progress'. The wave represents my career. I was unable to ride it because I was so sad. The magic carpet is docked because I needed to get myself together before working with my clients again. And the lamp is Yao-Hui Huang, my business partner, waiting patiently for me.

The fence and tree are from 'Life Goes On'. The fence represents me being trapped with the emotions in my mind. I could not get away.

The tree represents my family tree with the four remaining people from my immediate family. I thought that after Rob's death I would lose them all to depression and despair. They are holding plates sideways and emptying the cake from the plate. Sadly, my brother had taken his life 8 hours before my surprise 30th birthday party my Mom wanted to have for me. This was my first birthday that not one of my family members wished me a happy birthday. The angel floating is my brother David, he passed away before he was released from the hospital. I have dreamt of him since I was young. I've always wanted to paint him, but could never remember what his face looks like. The man behind the fence is Joe Walker, my mom's husband. The bird in the tree is Lisa Williams, representing my intentions of raising a family with her. Hiding behind the tree is Scott Williams, smiling because he is now ready to rob me.

The book in front of the tree is a page from my diary. It's opened to the page I drew 1 year prior to Robert taking his life. The creature that I drew shows exactly what I did when my sister said that Robert was dead -- I roared with pain!

The conveyor belts are from 'Life Part 1'. Oddly, the last person I painted in this painting was a person who committed suicide. My brother would take his life, with a gun, exactly one month later.

The tombstone is 'Dead head'. The painting was done in 1997 and it was about one person dying on November 13th stating that they got nothing out of life. This is what my brother wrote in his last will to us. The second conveyor, I believe, represents the birth of my sister's baby (due in Oct. '06).

The roller coaster car leads to my next Life painting -- Life Part 2. It also uses the grill from 'Self Portrait'.

Guess who the purple person is?