Frank Ordaz: The Land Iconic

Frank Ordaz states, "I knew I was an artist by the time I was 7 years old. By the time I was 12 I was studying with a portrait master by the name of Theodore N. Lukits in Los Angeles. I was also mentored by notable California Plein Air artist Sam Hyde Harris who was friends with Norman Rockwell. I grew up with stories by 2 men who were born in the 1800's. By the time I graduated Art Center College of Design in Pasadena I was already painting for the movie industry and was hired by George Lucas's company ILM. My first assignment was to paint a large establishing shot for the motion picture ET. Director Steven Spielberg liked it and my career took off. I had the wonderful opportunity to work on many well known and successful oscar winning movies as a matte painter. The most universally known was Return of the Jedi. The movie contained over 40 matte paintings. The definitive book to see is "The Making of Return of the Jedi" by J.W. Rinzler. Along the way I was awarded an Emmy for my contribution to the " Ewok Movie". The experience at Lucasfilm taught me the importance of deadlines and painting everyday at a high level of consistency. Restless as an artist, I went on to start a new career as an illustrator in 1986. During a span of over 20 years I worked on movie posters , magazine illustrations , gift merchandising , book covers ( over 100 ) , advertising campaigns and finally illustrating children's books. One of the highlights was winning the ECPA Gold Medal for illustrating the book " The Very First Christmas". Also , as a result of illustrating the book " Josie's Gift" I caught the attention of First Lady Laura Bush and I was asked to be the featured artist for the 2006 White House Easter Egg Roll. Years of professionalism all came in handy as I designed the Poster , the graphics on the Easter Egg, as well as designing the art for the Hats and Aprons. Finally in 2011 I returned to my first love of painting in oils. Stepping out in faith I opened the Ordaz Gallery in Auburn ,CA which featured my Fine Art Landscapes and portraits. Within a short time I attracted the attention of local collectors with some owning as many as 8 of my oil paintings. I was asked to paint portraits , teach Plein Air painting and lecture on Art throughout the greater Sacramento Area as well as Ashland Ore. Also , I gathered a following of loyal Bay area collectors after I participated in the Tiburon Arts and Crafts Faire. I have been a regular artist to date. Then one day in 2013 a fellow artist came into the Studio and taken with my Plein Air painting suggested that I enter " The Great California Paint Out" hosted by the John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis. I won Best in Show. In short order, I was juried into membership of the California Art Club and have participated in their Gold Medal Show where I sold my first entry. 2014 was a busy year. As my work became noticed, I was invited into several group shows and this year I was juried into the prestigious Crocker Kingsley Show curated by Gregory Kondos. Currently, I show at my venue and the John Natsoulas Gallery where I will have a One Man Show in late 2015. Lucasfilm shaped my vision in capturing a larger than life cinematic moment in a landscape. There is a challenge in painting popular vistas. Since many people have seen the same location, there is a shared reality in memory of the condition of Light and Space. Above all, I want to capture the elusive quality of light."