Los Angeles Firm Inc. Magazine May/June 2015

EXCELLENCE LOS ANGELES FIRM INC MAGAZINE MAY / JUNE 2015 LOS ANGELES FIRM: Who recognized you and gave you the break you needed to become LOS ANGELES FIRM: How would you best de- reconized? scribe your style? SON DUONG: My style in these women sketches that I do is a mix between beauty and darkness. It’s a metaphors for everything really. I’m Buddhist so in Buddhism there’s always a ying and a yang, what I mean is there is always a balance of everything. Good and evil up,down right wrong. So in my sketches it shows the beauty and the darkness that lies underneath. I get a lot of fans of tattoo art because it looks like tattoo style, but to me it’s a stylize drawing. SON DUONG: Originally my art was design- ing graphic logos, typography and illustrate for the action sports industry. I did that professionally for 10+ years until I got laid off during the recession in 2009. With all the free time I set a quest on learning and trying to master the craft of drawing women’s faces. I’ve always like to draw skulls in the action sports genre so I learned to develop my own style and signature look of crossing the girls faces with the skulls. Kind of like the Dia de la Mortes (Day of the Dead) style. I’ve done a lot of famous and not so famous models trying to get my name out and the only one to respond was LA Firm magazine. I was super excited because my art crossed a new platform into fashion which is one of my loves. LOS ANGELES FIRM: What motivates you to keep going? SON DUONG: believe that I’m really close to what I’m trying to achieve and that is to be discover for my art and my style. My dream is to have my own fashion line with my art on it in one way or another. I would love it if a celebrity like Rihanna (I’m a huge fan) or Jay-Z wants me to do their next cd cover which will lead to other things and get popular and be invited to the Playboy mansion LOL (Hugh Hefner is my idol)! So if RiRi or Jay Z is reading this holla at your boy! LOS ANGELES FIRM: How many pieces have you done? SON DUONG: Well since I started this obsession LOL back in 2010ish. And my goal was to draw one finished sketch a day not counting weekends (because it’s family time), I think I’ve reached 400+ drawings now, not counting the bad ones. I’ve looked back and I cringed when I see my early stuff. Of course I’m always a fan of my most recent sketches, because I can see the progression. LOS ANGELES FIRM: What are a few high- el·e·gance/ noun the quality of being graceful and stylish in appearance or manner; style. the quality of being pleasingly ingenious and simple; neatness. LOS ANGELES FIRM: Where are you originally from? SON DUONG: I’m originally from Saigon Vietnam, my family emigrated over to the states in 1975 when I was 6 years old. I grew up in Olympia Washington and now live in Monroe, Washington. LOS ANGELES FIRM INC MAGAZINE MAY / JUNE 2015 lights of your career as an artist? SON DUONG: Well the one that stands out most to this day is to meet Rick Alden (The creator of Skullcandy headphones) in 2006? And having him say “hey I love what you do, how would you like to travel with Skullcandy and do art at my booth at trade shows? In which I took a big gulp of air and said yes! You can type my name and Skullcandy and see me at work on YouTube. At that moment I was on cloud 9 and pretty much wanted that Rockstar lifestyle. A close second is being recognized and to be featured in LA FIRM magazine of course. LOS ANGELES FIRM: Describe the feeling you get when people recognize your art? SON DUONG: It’s like better then money if you can understand that although I prefer the money LOL! It’s a feeling of accomplishment. I hope that I’ve developed a style of my own by now and no one steals it. LOS ANGELES FIRM: How much does it cost to get a personalized piece done ? SON DUONG: For the sketch that I do I charge anywhere from 75.00 to 200.00 depends on the subject matter and size of paper. I love to draw women and that’s all you see but I draw men and kids too. LOS ANGELES FIRM: Where can our readers catch up with you and view more of you amazing art work? SON DUONG: They can see my other stuff on my website www.sonofagunart.com “Thank you soooooo much for letting me be a part of your magazine, this is a whole new audience and genre for me and I hope it will open some doors. I appreciate it very much I like to thank my wife Reina, my son Nathan and daughter Cyan, PEACE! .” —SON DUONG

Los Angeles Firm Inc. Magazine May/June 2015 | Page 74