About Jared Franco

I was born in San Diego, California and was raised there most of my childhood. I grew up with the best mother and 4 other siblings. My love for art started at just 3 years old. All I wanted to do was draw. It was rare to see me without a pencil and some sort of sketch pad in my hands. As I grew older I knew I wanted to be a professional artist one day. At 11 years old I idolized masters like Michelangelo, Leonardo De Vinci, and Dali. From studying their art, I realized the importance of studying anatomy and from there I developed a passion for surrealism. I enjoyed creating a style of majestic images and story telling through my drawings. ​

 

At the age of 19 my dream of becoming an artist came to a halt when I joined the U.S. Army and enlisted into the infantry. Even through the constant training, lack of sleep, and 15 month deployment to Iraq, I still always found time to draw. In fact, my drill sergeant's demanded I provide them with one drawing a week.

 

After I got back from Iraq, I decided to discharge from the Army to continue my dream as a full time artist. The first medium I wanted to learn how to do was oil paint. I immediately fell in love the second I picked up a brush and put paint to canvas. It brought my sketches to life in a way that made me never step away from my easel. Day and night I painted. To further my ability I went to galleries and stared at each painting for hours. I would ask myself how they were created and closely study each brush stroke trying to imagine its purpose. Building my talent was all I wanted to do so that one day I could share it with the world. I wanted to create worlds and images that could only be imagined. Each painting isn’t just a picture or thought, it is an experience.

 

To me, art is a place for your imagination where magic is real and dreams come true!