As the Lead Animator on Blink & the Brute, I had a direct hand in every design that's made for the show. I try to create a small set of rules for every character designer in projects I oversee to help us simplify and improve designs for later production, so that animations are consistent and efficient while still being effective.I have been creating various creature and character designs ever since I was a little kid. I loved creating dragons, monsters, and characters for stories that I made up for myself. So, of course, when I eventually started playing Dungeons & Dragons I excitedly dove head-first into bringing those worlds to life through my art. Fantasy is my favorite genre to work with although I have always had a love for drawing characters in general!
Color is one of my favorite things to play around with for anything I make. Whenever I create anything, I always tend to imagine the colors first, despite the fact that I end up focusing the most on shapes and composition when actually sitting down and drafting a piece. I go into all my illustrations focusing on the emotion I want to convey or push the audience to feel. I enjoy breaking the "rules" and making more unconventional illustrations to further push an idea. For example, with the thorny bramble illustration of my character Niko, I realized that the composition felt very busy, but I kept it that way on purpose to further illustrate the mood. Having complete control over my colors at all times is one of my favorite things about digital art.
I love creating 2D character-centered art and animations! I have always wanted to create cartoons, even from a young age. I try to focus on acting when creating animations I was formerly the animation lead on Blink & the Brute and am now the animation supervisor on Midmortis in my spare time.
Much like with my regular illustrations, I like to approach my designs with a clear idea of the feeling I want to achieve. I really enjoy sketching out my initial design concepts on cheap paper - having the more disposable materials makes it easier for me to consistently explore new ideas and further hone in once I come up with something I like! I have been working with businesses, individuals, and organizations since 2016 as a freelancer. I have worked with Magifest, the Columbus Metropolitan Library, the Gahanna Parks & Rec staff, and more.
Being a part of indie animation for several years has taught me many skills I may have not otherwise explored. Every step of the animation process is so exciting and interesting due to how much thought can go into it. As someone who's had several lead/director roles, I've become much more involved with visual development.Currently in my free time I am co-directing an anthology series of animated shorts and comics featuring DnD-inspired fantasy characters. As a result, I have made most of the visual development work for it. Here is some of the work I've created!
Here is some of my visual development work as the animation lead on Blink & the Brute.
Thanks so much for checking out my work! You can also find more specialized galleries for my specific skills on these different pages:
