HEY THERE.

I was drawn to art (like the pun?) from an early age because it came naturally to me. My mother and brother are artists, which is why I had access to sketchbooks, graphites and other artistic tools from an early age. I would even say that I gravitated toward art because the process is not only fun but also incredibly therapeutic for me. I can’t tell you how many school tests and classroom desks (shhh, don’t tell anyone) I’ve doodled on to alleviate my anxiety and pass the time. Eventually, my friends began to associate me with my art, so I decided to take ownership of my identity as an artist.

I’m primarily a self-taught artist. Online and print resources have always been my go-to and I still rely on them today, but I’ve also learned techniques from other artists and teachers from the handful of art classes I took throughout my time in high school and university. I originally planned to go to an art college, but ultimately decided against it for financial reasons. As such, my art is the result of many years of personal dedication.

Since I’m a graphic designer by trade, I’m always creating something or other on a daily basis. As a result, I’m always using my skills to make designs for my employers and other clients. However, it should be noted that graphic design is a very different form of art from illustration. Graphic design certainly helps me keep my eyes sharp on composition, typography and color – but I still need to practice other subjects such as anatomy, landscape and perspective regularly to ensure my abilities as an illustrator don’t dull. That’s why I try to draw as often as I can. Sometimes that means making time for it whenever possible, be it on my lunch breaks or at night when I’m done with work. Most of that time is spent doing quick sketches or studies, but I also have a goal to finish at least one full illustration a month. Each illustration can take anywhere from 10-50 hours before completion while practice sessions range from 10 minutes to a few hours.

Inspiration depends on the piece. Generally speaking, I’m inspired by colors, shapes, nature and architecture. Otherwise, my sketches and speed paintings are focused on an area of artistic study or based on my mood at any given moment. Vivid dreams and music are also great sources for inspiration, too!

There are so many great artists I love! When it comes to classical art, Monet, Degas, Rembrandt and Mucha are some of my favorites. When it comes to contemporary art, I adore works by Hayao Miyazaki, Yoshitaka Amano, Toshiyuki Itahana and Terada Katsuya.

As far as digital artists are concerned, I’m currently a huge fan of Zheng Wei Gu (Guweiz), Zeen Chin and Ilya Kuvshinov. You should totally check out their works if you haven’t already!

My favorite brands for graphite pencils are Faber-Castell and for mechanical pencils are Orenz. My favorite sketchbooks are Moleskines. As for painting, which I do rarely, I use Windsor & Newton oil paints or Liquitex Basics and Golden acrylic paints. I think Faber-Castell watercolor pencils are also worth mentioning as well! 

When I work on designs, I use the Adobe CC Suite on an iMac with a Wacom tablet. My most used apps are Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Otherwise, I use my iPad and Procreate for illustrating. These tools are all top-notch and I highly recommend them to any aspiring artist.

I got my first client by word of mouth. Lots of people hesitate to put themselves out there, but the truth is that if you don’t let others know you’re looking to do work, they will never know to hire you. Once I started letting others know that I wanted to do art seriously, people started asking for commissions. At first, I kept my prices incredibly low because I needed to build my skills and portfolio, but as I improved and gained greater recognition, I started scaling my prices accordingly. I eventually landed a full time job as a graphic designer and worked my way up to being an art director by deliberately pushing myself to get better as an artist.

There are so many great art books, but there are a select few that I always revisit. Here are a few…

Color and Light by James Gurney – A friend I used to paint with suggested that I pick this book up if I wanted to understand the relationship between colors, and I am SO glad I did. Hands down, this is my favorite art book on color theory. Not only does this book contain plenty of beautiful pieces from Dinotopia, but it also offers tried-and-true advice on how to use color to create atmosphere and drama in a composition. A lot of courses I took on color theory failed to mention the importance of how light affects color as well, but this book brings the topic to the forefront. It blends a scientific explanation with an artistic one so that readers can comprehend the concepts in more ways than one. Love this book!

Figure Drawing for All It’s Worth by Andrew Loomis – This book was recommended to me by many professional artists when I was first debating on going to art school or teaching myself. If you want to know the basics of how to draw people, this book is a comprehensive guide. The language is a little outdated (such as the way it describes women from a male-centric point of view), but the principles it teaches about the human form are still reliable. It even makes difficult subjects like human anatomy easier to understand by simplifying the skeletal system and muscle groups. It also has great information on how different subjects relate to and differ from one other in a given space.

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Ollie Johnston – Want to bring your drawings to life? Then knowing the basics of animation is a must. My friends who studied and work in animation suggested this book to me. It’s often used in the classroom to teach aspiring animators how to illustrate movement. Whether or not you’re a fan of Disney, there’s no denying that the studio has refined the art over many decades. You’ll get a look into the company’s history and see how their techniques evolved as they discovered more ways to emulate objects in motion. Even if you’re not interested in being an animator, knowing about animation can give your composition more action.

Perspective Made Easy by Ernest R. Norling – This is a short and sweet book that can fit into just about any bag. I’ve picked up many books on perspective and lost interest because of the overwhelming amount of math involved (this could possibly explain why my art is weakest when it comes to building backgrounds – a skill that I plan to develop further in due time). For someone like me who prefers written and visual explanations that are easy to digest, the title I’ve recommended is much more approachable. It simplifies the concepts of single and multi point perspective by offering real-world examples and provides concise steps on how to apply that knowledge to drawing so your backgrounds will look more realistic and thereby more believable..