Though I have enjoyed a professional career in graphic design for almost a decade, my other love is illustration, and I often sell prints and commissions online or at conventions in my spare time. My work on a parody crossover of "Sailor Moon" and "Golden Girls" has been featured in online articles by Comicbook.com, Mashable, and Nerdist, to name a few.
I would love a professional career in illustration, but I also enjoy finding ways to incorporate art into graphic design (such as iconography and logo design).
I love to work in a style that echoes works from 1980's-early 1990's Japanese animation, as it was the most influential for me. Here, I've attempted to recreate a rendering style found in hand-painted cel-animation.
Most of what I draw comes from my personal interests from pop-culture, such as this Golden Girls and Sailor Moon crossover. I also like to draw inspiration from entertainment, such as the piece below based on the movie adaptation of the musical "Godspell."
Lines
Flats
Finished
As mentioned, I enjoy working on commissions in my spare time. A Pokémon fan approached me to illustrate her and her family as Pokémon Trainers in the style of the popular game/anime franchise. I was given direction on what Pokémon to include but was allowed the freedom to design everything else (outfits, layout, background, etc.). The result is a piece that feels fun and showcases the family's love for Pokémon.
Finding ways to incorporate my interests and love for illustration into graphic design can be challenging, so I often look to iconography to express my love for drawing.
Above, I've taken recognizable items from one of my all-time favorite franchises, Sailor Moon, and turned them into simplified icons. I enjoyed this personal project, but it also helped me sharpen my skills in Adobe Illustrator.
I'm also learning how to create 3D art using the Blender software. I imported one of the above icons into the program and made a simple 3D render of the design as if it were an acrylic charm. While I'm still a novice with Blender, I am pleased with the result!
Style emulation is also a fun challenge! Here is a self-portrait I've fashioned after the Flintstones, and below are works that also pay homage to earlier Hanna-Barbara cartoons (in this case, the Jetsons). Imagining how something in one style might look in another is a great way to utilize creative thinking!
I also draw inspiration from my time working at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in Orlando, Florida. In the Spring of 2014, the new Festival of Fantasy parade was introduced to the Magic Kingdom, and I fell in love with the costume designs. Below are a few illustrations of iconic Disney characters in their colorful, parade attire.
I was a performer at Walt Disney World and loved spending time with Chip and Dale, a pair of mischievous chipmunks famous for tormenting Donald Duck and Pluto. During Star Wars Weekend, a limited-time celebration of the popular Star Wars franchise, you could find this rambunctious duo dawning Ewok garb and greeting guests. I've featured more process images here, from sketch to finished piece. Sometimes, I'll continue to refine a composition throughout the work process. Using reference images of these two "Chippewoks," I still needed to finalize some elements, such as the banding and feathers on the spear Chip holds or the extra strap that falls below Dale's Belt. These are the fine details I like to include in my illustrations.
For the artwork below, I was commissioned to create a three-color graphic that could be used by a group of runners participating in a Disney marathon. They named their group "Riders of the Lost Park," inspired by the Indiana Jones movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." They wanted Mickey Mouse dressed as Indiana Jones, running away from a giant gumball. The challenge was keeping the image to three colors to help reduce the shirts' cost. However, it was tough to identify the object chasing our hero as a gumball, so I added smaller circles to give it that "multiple gumballs from the 25-cent dispenser" feel and used s bright pink color to further associate the sphere with bubblegum. The team chose "blue" as their final color choice (black for the lines, pink and blue for accents), and the image was completed!
Sometimes, creating an original character is a great way to study a style for emulation. Below is an original design study of the 1980s American Greetings' style used for their "Care Bears" franchise to create Celebration Bear, an original character who loves all celebrations, big and small.
Thumbnail and Sketch
