Hello, my name is AJ Brockman and I am an award-winning artist that truly has a passion for art, design and all things that are awesome. I also have SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), a progressive neuromuscular disease, and have been wheelchair-bound since age two. I view myself as being "differently abled" rather than "disabled" and I live life to the fullest every day. As a kid, I would paint and draw traditionally when I had the use of my hands. As I got older and my disease progressed I turned to a computer in order to still create. I quickly became an expert in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter. I went to art school and graduated valedictorian with a bachelor of fine arts degree. Next, getting hired by a former professor, I joined the corporate world as a commercial graphic designer creating websites and logos. Although the money was awesome, this quickly became a soul-sucking nightmare dealing with clients that thought they had a better artistic vision then I and just wanted the design to "pop more", Regardless of good typography or color theory. After three years of this, I quit to pursue my own artwork and digital painting full-time. I consider myself an old soul and that carries through to my work. Using life experiences, my interests, and many other forms of inspiration, I create. My technique is a hybrid of Impressionism and Realism. I use reference photography to get my proportions correct, but everything I do is a unique composition. It is an extremely time-consuming process and I do hours of research on my subject matter before I ever open the canvas. Every brushstroke is created by moving my computer mouse and individually selecting each color. For those of you that are not familiar with digital painting, the easiest way to illustrate what I do is to follow my creative process from beginning to end as demonstrated in this video below. I am now the owner/operator of an art gallery, craft beer bar, music venue, and responsible for establishing an entire arts district in South Florida.

Introducing the FishEyez series! Back in 2012, I started this series to highlight some of the most popular tropical fish here in South Florida that also happens to be the best tasting. Always trying to diversify, this is a different more contemporary approach to my artwork. I was inspired by a more pop art focused color scheme and the final product was printed on a floated acrylic which completed the vibrant display. This was the first of an ongoing series that I will be posting in the coming weeks. Much to my surprise, this has become one of my best-selling series of all time. We can find beauty or art anywhere in the world around us, we just have to know where to look. One of the more obvious examples of this is mother nature and the truly breathtaking creatures we cohabitate with. This is the mahi-mahi. Also known as the common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), It is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado and dolphin, it is one of two members of the Coryphaenidae family, the other being the pompano dolphinfish. The name mahi-mahi comes from the Hawaiian language and means "very strong", through the process of reduplication. Though the species is also referred to as the common dolphinfish, the use of "dolphin" can be misleading as they are not closely related to dolphins (Porpoise) In the Pacific and along the English-speaking coast of South Africa, the mahi-mahi is commonly referred to by its name in Spanish, dorado. In the Mediterranean island of Malta, the mahi-mahi is referred to as the lampuka. SIDE NOTE : Can you see the hidden surprise in this image? Please comment below with your guess. (HINT : it is hidden in the namesake of this series).

“It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters,” – Amit Ray. I love this quote, and it pretty much sums up how I try to live my life. I am a firm believer of what you put in, is what you get out of life. Positive vibes and a good work ethic are the most important factors in what it means to be successful. What does success mean to you? I created this particular piece in 2013 and was a reoccurring vision I had. This scene could be any beach in South Florida, but the color palette is what really spoke to me in this piece. It is very difficult to capture a pink sky and unless you have seen it for yourself it's hard to even express. It is an ambient light that literally makes the world around you radiate. Sometimes referred to as "the golden hour", This is even more intense than that. It usually occurs In early winter when the temperature begins to change and the skies are crisp right after the rain. There was something about this piece on a personal level that I still can't quite explain… Needless to say, this is part of my private collection and I view it daily.

This is part of my Nebulous Series where I digitally create nebulas in hopes of inspiring imagination, creativity, and curiosity. Each nebula is created individually every day and they are all unique to one another in the series, never repeating. Let's all gaze into the stars together. > Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. - Stephen Hawking As part of this series, it is my goal to give back here with Lbry community as well. So, I will be giving one person at random a tip after leaving a thoughtful comment about what this image means to you. – Thank you for reading and please consider tiping this post, following me, and leaving a comment. If you're looking to go the extra mile in helping me on my journey, also please consider a re–post so I am able to reach your audience. The Lbry community means the world to me and I look forward to posting daily content with all of you. Everything posted on my profile is 100% original content. Any reproduction of my work without written consent is strictly prohibited. Please remember the best way to grow our community is by producing outstanding original content of your own to share with all of us.