My typical body of work includes The creation of fictional characters and environments using lore and mythology from real life cultures and stories. What I hope to do is create a fictional world that mirrors the stories of our own. All myths and stories from all cultures, mixed and modeled into a single history with a single canon. The title of the world is Nexis, named after the actual word “nexus” but like the cultures that are being the name was changed to carry out its on life.

My biggest inspirations come from creators of video games and graphic novels. Stan Lee(Marvel Comics), Kazuki Takahashi(Yugioh), and Tite Kubo (Bleach) are an inspiration when doing my work or picking characters from graphic novels to mold into my art works. I also look to video games for inspiration, from  companies like Sega (Sonic The Hedgehog) and Blizzard (World of Warcraft), however the the main source has been on is Nintendo. In particular I am interested in the various designs created by Shigeru Miyamoto (Mario Brothers, Legend of Zelda) and Satoshi Taijiri (Pokemon).

When it comes to the Nintendo based works I am inspired in two ways. Not only do I use their characters and icons to create my work, but Nintendo itself is really good at putting their character and objects into situations, scenes and spaces that one would not expect to be. It is interesting to see how characters and locations can be mixed in a way that is unexpected. I want my audience to look at my work in a similar way that I am attracted to a good graphic novel or game design. I view my work as a stepping stone to see characters, scenes and objects  in a unexpected ways.

When it comes to creating a character from combining real life cultures, I focus more of just the design. A characters personality, traits and and culture are all important. While designs are taken from various cultures, the personalities of the characters come from my own real life experiences. I am aware that a characters personality may not me as important as their looks in a visual art form but, I try to capture as much personality in the characters faces as I can. Often characters are based of people I know and the most common character I draw is based on self portraiture. This character is sort of mix and mash of cultures and lore I liked as a child and developed over time

Aside from the conceptional aspects of my work I tend to work in semi flat colors and thick harsh lines. Another reoccurring theme in my work are close up on the face and eyes. If I am to make an obstruction of a character or draw a character I always start with the eyes. Sometimes I will make a work around the shape of eyes. I also limit my color pallet to the cool side of the spectrum using mostly blues and greens. I feel theses colors are a good way to get what I was feeling while painting or drawing to the viewer. If I was depressed I use dark and medium tones. When happy light and soft tones, and when angry dark tone with heavy contrast to lighter tones.

In short, my work is about a combination of understanding and inspiration. I want to have people first see something they recognize and identify with, then see that same thing in a new light. Once someone seems something they recognize in a new light, I would hope that it would cause them to think; think about how things they see every day are just one mind set away from become something new.

Iron Demon Ben Muro

Eastern Dramun Jay Daneils

Human Torahime Aurazon

Human Jesse Bloodroad

Iron Demon Korana Vallon

Iron Demon Shad Vallon