I first became interested in the arts when I was about twelve, I had recently become more involved in animation and comics and it sparked something in me. From that point on, I found myself drawing daily, carrying a sketchbook around with me everywhere and sketching during class, lunch, recess, whenever I could find the time. This passion followed me into high school where my ideas of what art is began to expand to encompass more than just fine art and animation and include things like advertising, web design, concept illustration and layout. I dove into art, building my schedule around the graphic design and web design courses offered at my high school as a stepping stone to what I really wanted to do.
In undergraduate school, I majored in Illustration, focusing on traditional media, primarily using a combination of watercolor, gouache and pen and ink on illustration board to get the look and feel I wanted, but this was still not what I wanted to do. The digital classes offered at the New Hampshire Institute of Art were a bit lacking for my taste, and upon graduation, I immediately sought out a school more equipped to teach me to use these tools. This is how I came to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California.
At the Academy, I was able to focus my studies on digital painting courses as well as traditional painting that would inform the way I use programs like Photoshop and Painter. I majored in Visual Development with a focus on Game Design and over the years I attended, I have seen my work improve in leaps and bounds.
I am currently working as a freelance illustrator alongside a book publishing company but my dream is to eventually break into the world of concept art for gaming and I am confident at this point that I am ready to do just that.