ONCE UPON A TIME ...
I wanted to be a comic-book artist.
My parents never had to worry about me. If they ever wondered what I was up to, all they had to do was follow the quiet. They would find me reading a book, building spaceships out of LEGOs, or drawing, drawing, drawing amid scattered sheets of paper and mounds of eraser shaving. For a while, I considered making a career of it, but when writing and photography became competing interests, I chose journalism instead. Years later, I switched gears again, this time going into visual effects and eventually into my current job as art director. Along the way, I started teaching myself music, and discovered a new passion. Forever curious, I do not like having to fit in one easily defined box. And while that makes for a varied website, it does make the job search more challenging.
DIGITAL ART
Pencils scanned in Photoshop; an occasional sprinkle of Illustrator
I prefer to sketch with pencil on paper, then use Photoshop for colors and the final polish. I've tried to go full digital, but I've never felt comfortable with the disconnect between the Wacom Intuos tablet and the computer monitor. One of these days, I'll get my hands on a Cintiq the size of my house, and that won't be an issue any more.
TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Pencils, ink, water colors, and more
For the longest time, pencils were my go-to media of choice. As I ventured into comic-book territory, I started using Rotring ink pens. I never really took to watercolors, oils or other traditional media. The reason is silly: They require more room than I have, need constant cleanup, and are a pain to pack when moving out of state or internationally.
A.I.-ASSISTED CREATIONS
Digital paints on top of Midjourney-generated images
Playing around with Midjourney is like letting your fevered brain roll the dice at the craps table of imagination. Happy accidents and nightmarish visions are all on the menu. I've found the app an interesting tool to generate ideas, and explore artistic directions I might not have considered otherwise. Rather than letting the AI do all the work, though, I've been feeding it my own drawings to analyze how it interprets my style. That way, I can hone in on words and phrasing that direct the AI to create something similar to what I would (and could) do. Then I refine that new output further with my own digital strokes in Photoshop. This means expanding the canvas, retouching mistakes, adding details, refining colors and mood, etc. ... I can achieve in days what would take me weeks, if not months. It's both exhilarating and depressing. Please enjoy my synthetic collaboration.
ART DIRECTION
I direct the creative approach for multiple automotive brands, while leading diversified cross-team projects from an artistic standpoint. I brief artists on creative approaches for incoming projects, carrying the voice of the client back to the studio team. I also support cross-functional global teams on new business pitch assets.