Artist Statement
As an artist, I have strived to refine my skills by drawing from those who have inspired me. Cartoonists such as Gerald Scarfe and the old flash cartoons shown during the earlier internet years have greatly influenced my work. I have drawn from these by blending academic art fundamentals with pop culture icons and used these to create humour. One would describe my style as a blend of pop art and satire.
Cartoonists such as Gerald Scarfe and the old flash cartoons greatly shaped my creative humour as an artist and how I approach and see art. My main aim as an artist is to entertain and engage the viewer in having fun. Some examples of my work include blending iconic characters with unrelated ideas or concepts such creating a dinosaur with chainsaws for hands using 2d concept and 3d render. I like creating characters which are whimsical in nature, imaginative and quirky.
In addition, animation, comic books, the hip hop culture, film and fine art have influenced my ideas, style and work. Although I like creating humorous characters, I take pride in creating a statement when working with human anatomy. Here I aim to capture the complexity and ingenuity of the human form. Being a character artist brings with it what I feel is the responsibility to understand human anatomy but not only this; but to respect it as well. These are my key objectives; appreciation of the human form is something I aim to convey in my work using both 3d and 2d mediums.
My work in this area is greatly influenced by animators such as Glen Keane and old masters such as Peter Paul Rueben’s. I aim to convey the power and beauty of the human form by exaggeration yet produce grounded illustrations and models. To achieve this, processes such as life drawing has afforded me the opportunity to analyse and recreate dynamic human form.
My skill set includes working in 3d Modelling software such as 3ds max and specialising in Z brush. I also have skills in using traditional mediums such as acrylic paint, watercolour and gouache. I am proficient in digital painting. Although I have experience in using traditional mediums, digital painting is my main form of output when it comes to the production of work. Digital mediums use of duplication and editing software have greatly allowed my iterative process to be much more efficient and productive. I find that Digital painting offers me more freedom when it comes to iterative concepting. In a similar way I find traditional painting very useful because it allows me to achieve a sense of polish and rich texture that I personally feel cannot be replicated in the digital medium.
To sum as an artist I set out to convey two ideals in my work. Firstly using all that has influenced me in pop culture and childhood experiences to create entertaining and sometimes satirical artworks and finally communicate the beauty of the human form to my viewers.
