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Negrón

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David J. Negrón, born David de Jesus Negrón (December 24, 1935 - ), is an American Impressionist artist. He is regarded by his contemporaries as a painter with the eye of Sargent and the wielding brush of Monet - Art Gallery owner, art instructor, lecturer, writer, illustrator, inventor, and actor.

EARLY LIFE

David J. Negrón was born in Del Rio, Texas. he is the fifth child of Delis Negrón and Adela Negrón, his father was Puerto Rican and his mother was Mexican. When Negrón was three, his father moved the family to Laredo to established a newspaper where most of his young family worked. In 1942 his father moved the family to San Antonio, Texas where Negrón spent his teenage years learning the basics of art from a devoted art teacher, Miss Eldah Burk at Sidney Lanier High School and special classes after school and Saturdays at the Mexican Christian Institute. After school and on the weekends he would worked painting Mexican movie stars on twelve by twenty feet wide posters for three Spanish movie houses. He got involved in the announcements of coming attraction. The F.B.I. took an interest in his art when he reproduced fake money as advertising for an upcoming Mexican movie - the title was Money is Worthless and the bills were passed out to the public who was fooled to think it was real money until they looked at the bill more closely. The F.B.I. realized that he was too young to be a serious counterfeiter so he got away with just a warning and the confiscation of all the remaining bills.

EDUCATION

After graduating from Sidney Lanier High School he was invited by a close friend to go to Baylor University and visit. He decided to continue his education there. Not being too certain that art could make for a viable living, he decided to major in math and aeronautical engineering. Since Baylor did not award an engineering degree he had to finish two extra years at Texas A&M. The work there was grueling and finally after seeing the real devoted young engineering students and how they loved engineering as much as he loved painting portraits for friends in his dormitory room - It finally dawn on him that his true destiny and ambition lied in the arts and not in engineering. In 1958 he quit Texas A&M without graduating and return to San Antonio to work as a graphic artist and window display designer. In November he married his childhood sweetheart, Diana M. Rivas. She was very supportive of his career and became one of his best critic, model, business manager and coordinator of photo shoots for commercial art and painting.

He was called back to Baylor to work as a Student Union Art Director in charge of all functions and theater shows that required art decoration and presentations. While doing this work he continue to finish his academics to get a math degree which he was on the verge of completing when he work in preparation for his attempt at becoming an aeronautical engineer. By 1963 Diana gave birth to four children - Cynthia A., Laura L., David Jr., and Joel M.

Never forgetting his dream of becoming a commercial illustrator or an advertising art director, he proceeded to look for the best school which could give him this education. He picked the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California. His hard work there payed off and was awarded a Degree of Professional Arts with Distinction which also help him land a job at Twentieth Century Fox Film Studios as a storyboard artist and Production Illustrator. Their last child, Lawrence E., was born in California in 1965.

His reputation as a movie artist grew and was soon given assignments in movies as memorable as Hello Dolly, The Great White Hope, Raider's Of The Lost Ark, Dog Day Afternoon, Back to The Future III, Rambo III, Jurassic Park and many others. He was inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in 1997.

His talent embellished by his participation in the Motion Picture Industry as an illustrator and an Art Director, nourished his gift for expressing a zest for life on canvas in a touching, enduring and colorful fashion.

During the "70's, Negrón established an Art Gallery/Studio in Los Alamitos, Ca. where he painted and sold his work.

HIS DEVELOPMENT

Much of his subject matter is derived from his keen sense of observation of the human family. He has capture many moments of the Turn-of-The-Century celebrations inspired by the opportunity he had mingling with crowds of extras in the middle of all the production action during the shooting of the Movie "Hello Dolly." His talent was furthered polished by his experience on other major motion pictures such as Star Trek - The Motion Picture, Jurassic Park, Raider's of The Lost Ark, King Kong and many others. His art also depicts slices of contemporary life, historical subjects, and of ordinary people having fun.

Though his subject matter varies considerably, his mastery of classical painting techniques remain very well grounded. His contemporaries hold him in high esteem and recognize his rare talent as one of the great American Modern impressionist. Negrón has climbed to the top and today his work is displayed in murals at Disneyland, Disney World, France, in the collections of Steven Spielberg, Fay Donaway, Richard Zanuk, Times Mirror, J. Walter Thompson Advertising and is featured in publications such as Premier Magazine, Art West Magazine, Hot Dog of England, The Art List, Quasar Visual Media, and The International Artist Magazine.

His series of patriotic paintings using the Turn-of-the-Century as his theme has become a collection for a book he is due to publish entitled "The American Spirit." It is a book full of celebration, good fun, and happy times. The American Civil War has also been of interest in his recent work.

At present he is working on a series of paintings called "The Expressions of The Christ." Though many artist have painted Jesus in virtually all situations depicted in the Bible, what he's attempting to accomplish is to focus very close on the expressions of Jesus' face and letting the viewer fill-in the rest of the scene. He is hoping to put the viewer face to face with Jesus during the different situations of His exciting ministry.