1. What inspired you to start doing art?

The earliest memory I have of doing anything art related was a pikachu drawing I made when i was really young, maybe 5? I finished it to show my grandma and she was so excited and supportive of it that it fueled me to draw more. That simple bit of encouragement was all I needed I guess. Since then I constantly drew in my school notes and carried around a big book of animals to draw. I was massively inspired by all of the Pokémon designs, so that was creative fuel for years. I also made comics at school inspired by the Captain Underpants series. So you could say I had the right kind of support from an early age, along with a bit of an obsessive personality to help me be the kid who drew during lunch time while the other kids played. Since then the dynamism in Anime has been a powerful motivator for me, and has been something I keep coming back to. 2D art in general has my heart.

2. What is your favorite piece you’ve made?

This is a tough question. I tend to try to leave all my pieces behind me, thinking of them as stair steps till I reach the level I’m aiming for. But when enough time passes and I look back at certain pieces, I find I’m very fond of them. So I’m trying to be appreciative of where I’m at more, rather than look so far into the sky, I miss the clouds. Anyway, long story short one of my favorite pieces is a piece I did of Jesse, James and Meowth from the pokemon series, which I think is appropriate considering Pokémon is what made me start drawing. I accomplished a certain look in that piece that I haven’t really been able to capture since, so I’m hoping that was just some of my potential leaking haha. Most of my favorite pieces are fanarts honestly – I love expressing my take on the characters that mean a lot to me.

Portfolio

3. What advice would you give other creators?

The main advice I’d want to give is to be PATIENT. This world of social media and constant comparisons can be a killer. I found myself constantly comparing myself to every artist I would scroll past, as though I had to be just as good or better than the collective they represent. That’s just nuts lmao. Get off social media every once in a while, go do non art related things, and experiment with other forms of art. Being creative is a transferable skill – something you learn while sculpting can transfer into your approach to drawing, having fun with fashion in your everyday life can influence the characters you draw, etc, etc. Once I adopted this mindset, I became very excited to try new things. Embrace failure and see that everything is connected, it’ll inspire you. Learn to be in control of inspiration, don’t let it control you. Being an artist means being an eternal student of life, and being a student means being curious and asking lots of questions.

4. What are your plans for 2021?

For 2021, I’m largely focused on collaboration. I’ve found that I can complete projects better when I have someone else’s energy to bounce off of, to tell me yes or no, and to help carve a direction for the project. Historically, I’ve tried and failed to execute on many projects when it was just me, and I’m seeing now it was basically my trying to pump up my ego by doing that. Even if it’s just one person, the fact that I’m not stuck in my own head shooting off ideas into the void is massively helpful. So beyond that, I’m excited to continue to dive into pixel art more, and I’m hoping to learn the 3D modelling tool Blender. During early Quarantine, I was very burnt out on traditional line art. I started playing more video games and being inspired by all the art, story, and characters. I downloaded the pixel art tool Asesprite and have fallen in love with the limited nature of the medium. It forces you to think differently about how to solve design problems because you can only paint within the parameters of single pixel squares. I’m working on a few personal projects and game development animations that just make me excited!