ILLUSTRATIONS
A variety of digital illustrations created from 2019 to Present Day using a mixture of Photoshop and Procreate. I would describe my usual illustration style as semi-photorealistic, though I also enjoy creating vector illustrations. The subject matter of my illustrations range from landscapes to people.
Discovery of the Rock Giant 2021
This is a fantasy landscape that I created using Procreate. The illustration features an explorer who stumbles upon the home of rock giants. In the background, a rock giant stands guard among the mist. The idea came to me after a search through Pinterest lead me to a photo of the Arctic Henge in Iceland. The odd rock archways, as well as the ominous nature of the photo made me think of the kind of place where a giant might live.
Calm 2021
This is my rendition of one of the iconic landscapes from Studio Ghibli’s movie, “Spirited Away.” With this scene as well as my previous illustration, I am trying to hone in on what makes Studio Ghibli’s style so popular; this time, using Procreate’s “Salamanca” brush to create a more oil-painted appearance.
Quick Sketch
Reference from Google
Night Market 2021
This is an illustrated study of a landscape from the Studio Ghibli film, “Spirited Away”. As an artist, I’m always evolving my style and looking for inspiration in the art around me. I recently started watching more Studio Ghibli films and have been really inspired by the light quality as well as the looser style of their background designs.
Sketch
Color Blocking
Reference
DnD Character Art - Aquarius Wolfsbane 2020
I created this illustration based on my character in a game of Dungeons & Dragons. My character, Aquarius, is a dragon-born sea elf who is also a sorceress.
For the illustration, it was important to capture not only her physical appearance and abilities as a sorceress, but to also hint at her origin story. To do this, I included a dragon in the background, to indicate that she is of draconic descent. I also portrayed her in tattered clothing and covered in cuts/scars which indicate her experience as a nomadic adventurer.
This illustration was created using Procreate.
Black and White Version
Line Art Sketch
Reference via Google Images
Lil Nas X Album Art 2020
In September rapper, Lil Nas X teamed up with Adobe Gen Create to host an art competition. Artists were tasked with creating an album cover design for the rapper using only Adobe products. The artist whose work is selected will have their cover art used for a new song that Lil Nas X will write based on the art itself.
My entry was completely illustrated using Adobe Photoshop. For the concept, I wanted to stick with Lil Nas X's brand by portraying him in his usual cowboy gear, but adding a futuristic twist. Based on his past music videos in which he is featured as a time-traveler and a robot, it seemed to me that the artist has an interest in sci-fi. Because of this, I decided to take some inspiration from "The Terminator" and created this version of Lil Nas X as a cyborg space cowboy from the future. The background features an Old Western style landscape as well as the "horses in the back." These are a nod to his song "Old Town Road" which launched the rapper into super stardom in 2019.
Final Album Mockup
Illustrated Landscape (without Lil Nas X)
Reference Composite Image (Created in Photoshop)
Ridgecrest Poster 2020
Ridgecrest is a small town in Southern California. With a population of about 27,500 people, this small desert town sits in between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Death Valley. Though I don't live there, I am familiar with the area and after a quick Google search, I realized that there isn't much in terms of promotional posters for the city. I felt as though this blank slate gave me the opportunity to pick out what I felt represented the city.
The poster features a desert scene with the Eastern Sierra Mountains in the background. In the sky, three jets can be seen soaring through the air. I included the jets because Ridgecrest is home to the China Lake Naval Base. So, many of the residents are either in the Navy or work for the Navy. Finally, a large fault line extends towards the viewer, representing the magnitude 6.4 earthquake of 2019, which was California's largest earthquake in over 20 years.
Final Poster
Reference Composite Image (created in Illustrator)
Sanctuary Cover Art Concept 2020
In anticipation of Joji's new album, Nectar which was released September 2020, I decided to do my own version of the cover art for his song, "Sanctuary."
The music video for this song features Joji as an astronaut, accompanied by his space crew in a fight against a villain on an alien planet. This allusion to sci-fi movies inspired me to recreate the song's cover art in a comic book style.
Taking inspiration from comic book cover designs for "Venom," "Batman" and "Mystery in Space," I pieced together a concept and style for the cover, as this was a new illustration style for me. The foreground features Joji sitting in a captain's chair and looking somber. In the mid ground is a cityscape floating on clouds as honey separates Joji from the city. The honey alludes to the upcoming album, Nectar, whose album cover features a spoon with honey dripping off of it. The cityscape, which is inspired by New York City, alludes to where Joji currently lives. In the background is outer space, which references back to the Sanctuary music video.
Sketch
Reference Composite Image (Created in Photoshop)
Style Reference
Itomori 2020
A fan art illustration based on the Japanese anime film, "Your Name," which was produced by CoMix Wave Films. The drawing features one of the main protagonists, Mitsuha, as she witnesses Comet Tiamat's core split over her hometown of Itomori, Japan. What struck me about this particular moment in the film was the tragic beauty of this scene, which takes place moments before disaster as the comet causes mass destruction to a culturally rich town.
Color Blocking
Sketch
Itomori reference via Google Images
Mitsuha/comet reference via Google Images
The Black Lake 2020
This illustration is fan art based on the Harry Potter series, specifically the Prisoner of Azkaban book. In the third book/movie, there is a scene where Harry rides Hagrid's Hippogriff, Buckbeak, over Hogwarts' Black Lake. According to the novels, the Black Lake is the home to a giant squid (among other mystical creatures).
I created this illustration in Adobe Photoshop using a Wacom Tablet. I began by pulling reference images from Google and Youtube. Next, I composited parts of each image into what I wanted the final composition to look like. I then did a simplified sketch of the composition, followed by color blocking the main areas. I finished off by adding the details, section by section, going from back to front; starting with the sky and ending with the giant squid.
Color Blocking
Simple Line Sketch
Reference Image Composite (created in Photoshop)
Black Lives Matter 2020
This is an illustrated study of a photo of Livia Rose Johnson and other protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest in New York (photo reference by New York-based photographer, Jeremy Cohen). This powerful image captures just one of the many voices speaking out against the injustices that the Black Community have faced here in the United States and around the world. I felt compelled to create this illustration to show my support to the Black Community during this historical time. This illustration was created in Photoshop and, as for technique, I drew several different colored splotches (eye dropped from the original photo) and blended the colors together with the blur tool to create a more photo-realistic effect.
Line art of main subject
Photo by Jeremy Cohen
New York Sunset 2020
This is an illustrated study of a photo taken by New York-based photographer, Jeremy Cohen. The image displays the New York City skyline in front of an orange, coral and yellow sky and a wave of fluffy clouds.
What interested me about Jeremy's photo was the stark contrast of the dark skyscrapers against the bright and colorful nature of the sky.
Process
Sketch
Photo Reference by Jeremy Cohen
Crisis at the Border 2019
During Spring 2019 I was challenged to create an illustration, made entirely out of graphite powder, that surrounds the subject of the Crisis at the Border. I chose to focus on the separation of families as that issue really struck a chord with me when I learned about it. In my illustration, A young child is shown behind bars, crying and reaching out towards viewers as if pleading with the viewer to help her out. In the back are non-descriptive figures, which may represent other children who are locked in the cage. I really wanted to make the piece as emotional as possible in order to show viewers the importance of this issue.
Love 2019
This illustration, created in Photoshop, depicts a broken swing inspired by the secret swing in La Jolla, CA. It was meant to represent love and the changing of time as one chapter closes and another opens. The colors of the sunset are meant to symbolize the beauty of love in both the good times as well as in heartbreak.
