Tell us about your background! How did you get into art/ design?

I got into art in high school. My school was really competitive, and I didn’t really do sports and wasn’t super into academia, so I found myself drawing a lot and gravitating towards that as an outlet instead. I picked art school kind of on a whim, and am really glad that it was the right fit.

How long have you been illustrating/ designing? Did you know art was your “thing” early on?

It’s hard to call what I was doing in high school, or even early college, illustration or design. I was kind of fumbling around and drawing a bunch. I liked doing it, but it didn’t really feel like my “thing” truly until junior year of college, where I kind of “unlocked” my style and way of working.

How would you describe your style to someone who’s never checked out your work?

I’d say I mostly do “silly little guys” style.

If someone was looking at your portfolio for the first time, what’s the one piece they absolutely have to look at?

Tough question! Probably this one.

But honestly, I feel like I work in a lot of different ways so each piece feels special in a different way.

You’ve done a variety of works beyond general illustrations from comics to zines to animations. What’s been your favorite medium to work with?

I think this changes often depending on where I am at as a person. I’ve loved painting in oils and gouache in the past, working in ink, drawing on the computer, and sculpting as well. Recently, I’ve been exploring tattooing, which has been a beautiful and empowering medium to experience along with other people.

Do you have a favorite project that stands out to you?

There are two projects from my school days that I remember fondly. I don’t think they’re my best work, but I really like where my head was at with each of them. One is a 10 foot long drawing you can see here. The other is a comic you can read on my site here.

If you could describe your artistic style as a flavor of ice cream what would it be?

Birthday cake probably. Not a flavor I particularly like, but it’s colorful, sweet, and bizarre that it even exists.

What’s the most bizarre piece you’ve ever created?

I think this piece I made for Dropbox was pretty strange. It’s an exploration of a style I started fussing with when I would commute home with my laptop. I’d just open up Photoshop and try drawing with the mousepad and a default hard brush. In school, they always told us not to make our work look too digital, so I really wanted to push what digital art looked like and lean into the things we were supposed to avoid. It was pretty fun, I would love to revisit it.

Okay, you can invite any character from Trover Saves the Universe to dinner, who you takin'?

Probably Pink Trover. He seemed cool, and was dealt a rough hand.

You’ve created some awesome artwork for Squanch this season, where did the idea come from?

I sketched around a bunch to try to figure out a good way to bring the Trover universe together with some holiday imagery. There were a couple of other ideas around including more holiday characters, dressing the Trover characters in Santa hats, etc; but I felt like taking them all out of the Trover universe and putting them in a winter wonderland would be the best and most unique.

Do you have a favorite element from the piece? We’re definitely loving that reindeer sniper and those Glorkon trees.

I think the Glorkon trees were a real “a-ha!” moment, but I think my favorite thing to draw in this piece was probably Voodoo Person. I just really love that character design!

Do you have any favorite videogames that come to mind?

My number one favorite game is Breath of the Wild. I’m also a big fan of the Spiderman games from Insomniac and have been a longtime fan of Assassins Creed. I played Trover with a controller, and it’s really been making me want to pick up a VR set to try again!

When you’re not making art, what are you doing?

I like hanging out with pals, going to shows, riding my bike, and playing video games!

Drop your links (or anything else you’d want people to check out) here!

Instagram and Twitter! Also my website here.

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