At first, he let his art do all the talking.
For months, student Brandon Doak of Vancouver, Washington, simply signed “rebel-whiteboard” on his intricate, vibrant—and temporary—artwork on public white boards across campus: Scenes from Star Wars, portraits of comic book heroes and interpretations of Van Gough masterpieces.
Doak’s work is as ephemeral as it is colorful: All are rendered in a pointillist style with dry-erase markers. Each one takes him hours, dot by dot. Some celebrated his love for superhero stories, including a fiery portrait of Wonder Woman. Others are inspired by paintings of nature scenes. He recently dedicated a red and yellow fall foliage piece to Jose Diokno Ono, a popular and kind custodian in Mathes Hall where Doak used to live.
And of course, he’s spending time on other work—he just got word he was accepted into Western’s competitive design major.
He knows his art is meant to be temporary. When presenting the cover of this edition of Window magazine to University Communications and Marketing staffers, he said he had a fixative spray but he didn’t want to apply it without asking.
“I figured you’d want to repurpose the white board,” he explained to wide-eyed writers, photographers and designers.
Not yet.
See more of Doak's art, captured in photos by fellow WWU student Reece Budinich, on Instagram at @rebel_whiteboardart.