BIOGRAPHICAL
SUMMARY *Artist,
writer, storyteller and musician, Erial has been drawing since he
was about 3 years old. At 11 he began painting by copying the masters
and observing nature. His other major influences were comic books,
science fiction and fantasy.
*He
graduated High school in 1973 with honors and went on to 4 years
of College where he majored in Illustration and Design. He worked
at night for Job shops such as 'Say Graphics' as a technical
illustrator, which included layout, design, production, paste-up
and camera work.
*After this he became a free-lance illustrator and designer working
for companies such as 'Educational Insights' doing black
and white and color illustrations for children’s magazines,
books and educational materials. In his twenties a strong personal
style began to emerge and he contributed to several magazines including,
Fantasy Book and Elan Vital’ (Journal
of Art, Philosophy and Science) with spot illustrations for
short stories.
*To
further his education he began studies in mythology, metaphysics,
philosophy, dream theory, meditation and spirituality. Subsequently
his work began to move from an almost exclusive fantasy/sci-fi orientation,
to more spiritual and mythological themes.
In the early 1980’s he completed a successful series of sumi-style
watercolor portraits of aboriginal peoples of the world. Showings
of the paintings took place in LA Nicole Gallery and Center Theater
in Los Angeles. Other commercial work included illustrations for
Meditation Magazine and designing posters and flyers for Botanical
Dimensions of Hawaii. He also did Storyboards for film at the
Dave Lowery Studio.
*During
his thirties he studied mythology, storytelling and shamanism at
the Ojai Foundation as well as to study the roots of consciousness
and creativity at the Esalen Institute of Big Sur, California.
*In
1991 he went to work on several animated films for Don Bluth
Studios as an Assistant Effects Animator. The films included
“Thumbelina”, “A Troll in Central
Park” and an experimental Japanese short. At the same
time he began work on his own graphic novel.
His personal search for meaning and a deeper sense of purpose culminated
in a series of spectacular visionary experiences. They inspired
several personal projects, stories, paintings and drawings. Many
of the paintings were seen at a two-man show with the fiber light-sculptor
Gregg Stephens at the Illuminarts Gallery in North Hollywood,
CA. He called these highly detailed airbrush paintings: Transdimensional
Realism. Several of which he also exhibited at the Art Rock Gallery
in San Francisco, in a group show with other notable visionary artists.
During the 90’s he completed a series of large paintings called
“Cosmic Devas” or “Galactic Angels”. These
works appeared at several shows including, “Things from Heaven”
in Ventura, Cal., The”Whole Life Expo Visionary Art Gallery”
in LA, The “Eco Expo” at the LA Convention
Center, and the “Band of Angels” concert in Ventura,
CA.
*In 1997 Erial self-published a small book of pen and ink drawings
and writings called “In search of Wonder.” He participated
in the 1999 multi-media event, “Imagine Los Angeles”,
held at the LA Convention Center, where his was a featured artist.
In 2000 he was art–director for the “Millennium 2000
Celebration, Performance and Video at the Solar Studios in Glendale,
Cal. He continued studies in Sacred Geometry, Human Potential and
Intuition at the Inner Light Center of Malibu, California. He also
held an exhibition of “Prints, paintings, and pen and ink
drawings” at the center.
* Erial was invited in 2001 to participate in a Sacred Geometry
conference at the Institute for Metaphysics in Joshua Tree, Cal.,
where he gave a slide presentation of selected works.
Since that time he has been working on several personal projects
including a screenplay and graphic novel for his Intergalactic Adventure
series “In Search of Wonder.”
