From: david hernandez
Date: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 3:56 PM
To: davidh412@yahoo.com
CC: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Just a somewhat self-proclaimed artist who likes your style of art

Good Evening,
My name is also David Hernandez, I was just cruisin' the internet, when I decide to enter my...well our name in Google, and surprisingly (I'm not naive) I found a lot of David Hernandez's! And your link caught my attention. So I opened it up and learned about your creative ability/talent. I was looking at your drawing style and it's very familiar to mine, our writing styles are different, but our art styles are similar. I was wondering did you get your style thru other artist, I'm not saying plagerizing, I mean more like...did you, by looking at many style of drawing, accumulate your own? I got mine from Graffiti style writing, I did graffiti from the time I was 12. Every year my style would progress and become a brand new treasure. With hopes, I desparetly wanted to attend art school. Do you feel art school will hone or just downgrade my own unique style? I ask you this because no one in my family tells me anything, they just say my work is good, but I guess the artist in me always says, "Dude it's not done". So I thought, an artists opinion would be nice and I know some artists from my local area XXXXX and XXXX, but I don't really confide in them for opinions, but in some weird way, maybe because our names are the same, I feel this little connection. Maybe you can answer my questions, if not it's cool, no hard feelings, I thought it be cool to hear opinions from some one with the same name, like if it were my little artist voice in my brain, you know what I'm saying? Like I was saying, My style came from graffiti, and then I explored many eras in the libraries and came across Van Gogh and Monet, and I really dig their style. I using paints like the ones they did, combined their style and my style graffiti(totally leaving out the essentials for graff style writing..the spray can) painted on canvas. It looked funny to me at first, blotches of paint here and there, it just looked wrong. I felt I did the past artists no justice so i burned them, and pretty much quit painting. I still sketched and and doodled, but I lost all hopes for art school. With that being said, I joined the United States Navy. I've been in for almost three years now.
Sorry I'm taking up so much of your time, but if you don't mind I'd like to tell you about my art life.
From the time I came in the Navy, my drawing has rekindled, I met this girl (who is now my wife) but anyway she was the spark that started it all, my drawing grew to new measures, and all because of her, most all my drawings were secretly for her, I never showed them to her, I even realized that they may have been my best ever, but I burned them cuz she was already ready to settle down and not with me, you get it? So yeah I burned them. Well, time past and we got to know each other, We went out and MAN!!! my style just kept growing, I drew on everything and wrote on everything, all the words that came out of me were poetry, not poetry like lovey-dovey shit, but dark, yet humourous, yet romantic, did I make any sence? and I too knew that was good stuff, but once again, the girls' past was catching up with her and I fell into this depression....I'd call this "Phase II" of my life or the beginning of it. My art, my floetry..all depressive but yet comforting to me and those to who I chose to share with. The paintings I did (mostly using Crayola color pencils) were on a totally different level, but yet I could still see the Van Gogh in them, the street style in them. I chose one color and stuck with it like Van Gogh and his "lapiz blue" like you would say while he painted "Starry Night". But you know I did that and I impressed myself, hard to do but I did it, and all for the girl...So my next question is this...How did you realize you had thee artist ability you have? How did your words come to be inside your brain? Was it a girl? And in your opinion, do you think art, while the artist is depressed is the pinnacle of the artist who does it?
Sorry I keep wasting your time but I just feel comfortable talking to you, and I don't even know you! Like I said it's the name probably.
What do you think about now-a-days art? like I read this article a while back about an eight year old girl who paints canvas and her paintings sell for thousands of dollars, and these painting are typical eight year old drawing, but on canvas, and they sell for so much money all because she has cancer! I don't mean to come out as a dick or anything but really come on?! So many fine talented artist are struggling to to make house payment, rent payments cuz they sell their soul with every painting they do and she gets that much money for crap. I know she's sick, but if thats the case the kids in somalia would be rich!!! Oh and there is only a handful of artists who actually make money while they're alive, but all the money comes in after they die! It's a sad art world. Also at the XXXXXXX on XXXXX, I'm sure an artist like yourself has gone to see the paintings there right? Well they have this painting there its valued at $150,000!!! Dont recall the artist name but, it has green, blue and a red line across the middle, the green and blue are just splatterd on the canvas no particular pattern or anything remotely to a pattern, can you help me understand why it sells for so much?
Back to what I was talking about, sorry I tend to get side-tracked, my painting style, my wife loves everything I do, whether it's on a napkin, loose leaf college ruled paper, or an envelope (which is pretty much all I use. since that's pretty much the only way we connect while I'm on the USS XXXXXXXXXXXXX). but how do get into the art scene, like how do I get noticed, and I mean legally not graffit noticed, like i was before? I did some freelance work, like paint house themes, painting rooms for the kids play room, and peoples garage doors, but I'd like to feel appreciated and have one of my paintings hanging other than on my walls, actually you know what nevermind, I draw for me and those who appreciate my work, I dont paint to get paid (although it would be nice.) But sorry to have taken up your time and thank you for listening to me. Please if you can spare some time I'd like to read what you think, and I really like your drawings, and floetry its bad ass!!! this may sound funny but have a good evening and have a good life Mr. David Hernandez. I congratulate you on your success and wish for you the best in life. Take care and que Dios los Bendiga, a usted y su esposa. Oh congratulate her too on her book, i read and excerpt from it and its good, I'm gonna go buy it and read it to my wife, she loves those kinds of books.

Very respectfully,
David Hernandez