"Dream Hard" by artist Taron Jordan

Description

Artist Bio: 

My name is Taron Jordon, I also go by the artist name of Cone Bread. I was born June 27, 1988 in Evansville, IN. I developed the passion for art at a very young age from watching my favorite cartoon characters and drawing from Disney children books. Soon my drawings began to change from Mickey Mouse & Company to Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon. Imagination became easier and the freedom of expression was pure. At the end of 7^thgrade, my family and I moved to Cincinnati, Oh. This was a big move for me, because I was leaving all my friends and family behind and entering a whole I had no clue about. However, my drawing skill level only changed for the better. Since I was in a new city I didn’t want to leave the house much, so drawing became even more important to me. My brother and I increased our anime library, played more video games, and started to collect a lot of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Those times were the hardest yet the most influential in my life. I was one of seven with no father around and two older siblings living back in Indiana. My mother worked a lot, I had two baby brothers, and twins an age younger than me. They were my inspiration to succeed and not to live a life like we were. I knew I had the gift and the passion to be something but my family really didn’t see it and I didn’t really know how to express it. High school came and all I really cared about was art, no other subject mattered. My skill level grew very fast. At the moment I wasn’t drawing anime characters much, I was more influenced by the human figure. Black and white was my favorite medium, color had no place in my life. I ended up graduating by one letter grade, only art mattered, but I still had no clue about college and neither did my family. Luckily my soccer coach Dave Berry introduced me to Cincinnati State and Coach Combs welcomed me in. He was the main reason I was able to graduate with an Associate’s Degree and transfer to Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). SCAD made me what I am today. The knowledge, the skill, and the friendships I owe to them. SCAD has taught me so many skills to achieve and to be able to share it with family and other aspiring artist.

            My work reflects what I have experienced throughout my life, but it’s also combined with a lot of culture, symbolism, myth, and folktales. I tend to express struggles I have been through or have seen with symbols and myth from cultures of different race. Human struggles are beautiful to me, it’s what I know. To me nothing express beauty as much as body language and the emotion we try to hide. I lust for the fight within and the journey that one has been through. Sin is my favorite observation, we are a race that lie and sin, then try to cover it up. I love exposing it and leave you questioning yourself. I want to leave you with questions like did this person make it out of there darkness or are they going to succumb to it. Then hopefully make you reflect on your own darkness or your love ones darkness. I want to leave the feeling that you can relate with this person and there inner demons but still be motivated and see the light at end of the tunnel. Question yourself, if you were that one that overcame or fell to the darkness. Maybe you know someone that is going through these feelings and my work influenced you to be that motivating force that guides them to a brighter place.

            My process is simple, it consist of a lot of people watching and understanding the struggles we go through. I heavily research body language and facial expressions, because with these I can express so many feelings. I then research symbols ranging from colors, animals, deities and folktales that relate with the emotion of the piece. The majority of my work is a combination of traditional drawings and digital coloring. However, I don’t shy away from traditional paintings. Once I began to understand myself and drawing freely, my art matured greatly. There is still much to learn and mistakes to be made, but with the openness to learn, I will be fine. The goal is to inspire.