Genre Style: Cartoony/semi-realistic cute little paintings

Location: Ironton

How did the project start?: Well, nine times out of 10, my projects start with a few words I pulled from a jar and a few concept sketches. Then I put it together in one piece.

What are three adjectives to describe your style?: Cute, usually girly, sometimes mystical

Walk us through your creative process. Does it vary, if so, how?: I usually put on some music, grab a glass of a wine and create a concept with either my random words from a jar or I’ll gather a few references and try to take elements from one or two different pictures I see on Instagram or my own pictures.

How has your art evolved since you started?: When I started taking art seriously, I really just wanted to be able to draw semi-anatomically correct people. It was really all about practicing and getting my art to a certain level. But once I felt confident in my sketches and dabbled in a few different medias, I felt I could actually do commissions and satisfy customers with my art.

What is your favorite creative tool, and why?: Gouache on cold press watercolor paper. I LOVE the pigmentation from gouache, it’s thick like acrylic, but has the fluidity like watercolor.

What about being an artist fills your cup?: I think being an artist fills my cup because it’s amazing being able to create a concept and watch it appear in front of your eyes. Being able to make other people happy with paintings of pets and passed loved ones always fills my cup. It feels good to take something from either imagination or real life and actually creating it in a way that elicits emotion. It takes a long time to be happy with your work as an artist and I think we all just strive for the ability to make people feel something from our hard work.

Any advice for new or struggling artists?: For struggling artists, I would just recommend to keep trying.
Don’t be afraid to tackle the same concept or piece over and over until you get better. YouTube is free art school, I definitely recommend it.
And the art world is full of thieves, steal respectfully to better your skills. (Don’t sell/claim other peoples concepts, just use them for practice)

What upcoming project should we look for, and where can we look for it?: I don’t normally do large projects. I just do pieces that take me a day or two to complete and either sell it or hoard it. A dream of mine would be to do a comic book, but I’m hardly ready for something that big. Maybe one day!

What question do you never get asked that you would like to be asked? How would you answer?: I never get asked as an artist whether or not my commissions are open and I ALWAYS accept new challenges but I would love a season to myself to actually work on big projects. I love making art for others but I usually feel guilty working on my own art when I owe other people work. I do want to have a season where it’s just me working on something I’ll be proud of without any additional work looming over my head.