I am a painter and visual storyteller working in traditional and digital media. My sketchbook is where I study reference images to develop new ideas and devour the artworks that I admire, knowing that something about the image I've painted will stay behind and become my own.
As an illustrator, I allow story to drive my design decision making process. Whether working in traditional or digital media, I’m driven to create vast landscapes and the characters who make these worlds worth exploring. Dynamic cinematography and the visual language of film, along with my study of Western painting, serve as a context for my ideas when creating new works. I embrace technology including 3D modeling, photo reference, and VR as incredible tools for creating images, however I believe the artist’s interpretation of a three dimensional scene onto a two dimensional surface and the inevitable expression that occurs on the surface as a result of the mark-making, shape design, and overall observation recorded through an artwork is really the compelling visual communication that I respond to in a painting. I try to hold onto that expression and read it as the measure of whether a piece is working for me. I’m currently an illustrator and teaching Digital Painting at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. I began studying painting and drawing at Bennington College in Bennington, VT where I earned my BA in Visual Art in 2005, and continued on to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA and earned my MFA in 2012. |