a PORTFOLIO of sorts

"Canned Peas and Creamed Corn" (2022)

Digital (Procreate on iPad)

Named after the bright colours, freckles, and bubbles displayed in this piece, "Canned Peas and Creamed Corn" is an exploration of thicker lines, stronger shapes, and patterns that often go unused in my other work. I think the colours work really well together here, and despite the individually bold components, everything ties together in a way that isn't as garish as one might expect.

"Gerald in Oils" (2021)

Oil paint and gesso on wood panel

One of my first ever attempts at oil painting, "Gerald in Oils" is a monochromatic paint study of one of my friends, done on an abandoned stained square of wood that I found fascinating. The "Gerald" in question is actually the name of the fashionably dressed piece of concrete sitting atop her head, and is (deservedly) the centrepiece of the compositon.

"Roulette" (2021)

Digital (using mouse and MSpaint + Photoshop)

"Roulette" served as a lesson in patience and rendering. Working with tools like a mouse in simple programs such as MSpaint is extremely simple to learn, but far from quick to master. Having a steady hand when using a mouse to draw is essential and using one for an extended period is also strenuous, while MSpaint is incredibly simple, but, within that, also highly limiting. The effort put into "Roulette" mostly went into fixing and rendering things, as every part was almost impossible to finalise on the first try. This resulted in an experience more akin to sculpting than drawing, but the end result is something I am very proud to have put that effort into.

"Party People" (2021)

Digital (Procreate on iPad)

"Party People" is named after a song by 2Mello titled "24 hour party people", which I listened to (and the rest of the album) throughout the lengthy process of finishing this work. I believe that this work may have had the most amount of time I have ever poured into a singular piece of art before, possibly ever. Ironically, I think the total hours may just be around 24. It features three figures, all inspired by a wildly popular video game series at the time. The designs of the characters were original, yet also inspired by the people playing the characters, the actual game characters, and other artists' interpretations of the designs. Although not fantastically composistioned, I think that the work took so long as the stages of sketching, lining, colouring, line colouring, and shading, were made even more tedious by the fact there were three different characters as opposed to one.

"The Kelp Keeper" (2022)

Digital (Procreate on iPad)

Wanting to channel some of the inspiration I had taken from mermaid-focused artworks found in Beatrice Phillpott's 1980 book "MERMAIDS", I illustrated this work. I am relatively unskilled in the areas of both painting and rendering, so to develop a piece of almost solely background was a challenge and I am unsure if my intent was properly conveyed. What I wanted was to instil in the viewer a sense of the unknown: revealing only an eye (that must merely be a portion of a clearly far larger creature) through the stalks of a thick kelp forest. Most notably, I was inspired from within Beatrice's book by Gustav Klimt's "Mermaids" (1899).

"Waxing" (2021)

Digital (work 1 of 2)

Both "Waxing" and "Waning" are depictions of the same character, where, instead of being studies on character design and movement, they are an exploration of process and style, and demonstrate my ability to interpret a subject through multiple different lenses.

"Waning" (2021)

Digital (work 2 of 2)

Both "Waning" and "Waxing" are depictions of the same character, where, instead of being studies on character design and movement, they are an exploration of process and style, and demonstrate my ability to interpret a subject through multiple different lenses.

"Floral Queen" (2020)

Digital (Procreate on iPad)

This artwork is an example of a more painterly style, where I attempted to build up a face out of smaller strokes. Depicted is a character whose hair is made of flowers, a princess (soon to be queen) from a story written by a friend. A detail that may go unnoticed are the eyes: the pupils are meant to be floral buds too. Despite the lack of full rendering, I still feel this work is an important example of a softer type of my painting.

"Prism Catboy Prison" (2022)

Digital (Procreate on iPad)

With a rather nonsensical name "Prism Catboy Prison" is a collaborative piece guided by the instructions of a friend. the shirt and writing was a result of this influence, and the source of the "catboy" in the name. This digital illustration depicts the character "Perfume", who was the lead sidekick of my 2021 HSC project -- an animatic. Here, he is pictured with a vastly more colourful than usual perfume-bottle head, mimicking parts of cubism. This head is filled with liquid (being a perfume bottle ...) and serves as the bright "prism prison" that acts in the manner of a lighthouse to the piece: guiding the eye from the centre of it across the rest of the work.

"Split" (2021)

Digital (Procreate on iPad)

A relatively simple work, "Split" is a rough drawing but a great example of the style in which I enjoy designing mermaids. The character's tail is crisp and thinned out near the bottom, giving it a kinetic feel, which carries through the merman. Despite its roughness I still believe that my artistic technique is displayed within.

Various sketches of a monster design

Pencil and alchohol marker on paper, collaged digitally

A digital collage of traditional work, this slide presents a non-human design that I have attempted to shape and improve over many years. It is an unnamed creature with the most definable trait being its door-snake of a head. Lined with comically watermelon-slice teeth, the "head" of this creature is meant to basically be a pair of lips with googly eyes on the end, that allows it to wrap around prey, sink its teeth in and swallow it whole. Despite the goofiness of the initial description, I feel that this is still a strong design.

Various sketches exploring character designs

Mixed media on paper, collaged digitally (graphite pencil, colour pencil, watercolour, markers)

These are traditional process sketches and turnarounds, featuring characters in various poses, styles, and stages of completion. This slide is to highlight my unfinished work and my traditional practices, as sketches make up a vast majority of my artistic practice.