I’ve come to love many things in my two decades of life, but my first two loves were animals and animation. Ever since I was born, I loved watching animated movies from the likes of Disney, Dreamworks, and BlueSky, connecting with the worlds and characters that they created, especially when the characters were centered around animals. Once I got older, I grew interested in the process that was used to create these works of art, trying to learn to draw in the styles of the series I loved and the artists I watched on YouTube. These were my main inspirations for my cartoony style, anime and series I got into once I was a bit older evolving my art style into what it is today.

Back when I didn’t have access to digital programs, I mostly made my pieces traditionally, using colored pencils and alcohol markers, but nowadays, most of my work is digital, whether it’s an illustration, drawing, or animation. When drawing digitally, I mostly use Procreate and its massive library of brushes, but when animating, I prefer to use programs like Toon Boom Harmony or Autodesk Maya. My process when making a new piece typically involves me having an idea, then doing some research and brainstorming to see what I want the piece to look like, before trying to sketch out what I want the final product to look like. For a drawing, this would simply be the sketch portion of the piece, while for animations, this would mean drawing storyboards for what I want the final animation to look like.

Throughout my life, I’ve faced many challenges in pursuing my passion for both animals and animation. For starters, because I focused so much on drawing animals, I spent less time attempting to master drawing humans, a skill that is needed within the industry. There’s also the worry about if I’ll be able to make my way in the real world as an adult, if I’ll be able to use my passions to provide for myself, and if I can be a working adult that my family can be proud of. However, no matter where my art journey takes me, I’ve continued to move forward, and my hope is that one day, I can inspire future artists with my characters and stories, just like I was when I was a kid.