About Me
I am a digital artist based in East Palo Alto, CA, with a background in 3D graphics who, much like my art style, draws inspiration from games, fine arts, and nature. Along the way I’ve worked with a glass caster to make portraits of classical composers, with a VR game studio to create beautifully optimized assets and environments, produced an intricately detailed wedding sculpture, spent a few months programming a plugin’s interface for Maya, and produced environments to support a neuroscience team.
Throughout my growth as an artist, I’ve held closely to my eye’s desire for accurate reproduction of detail. Whether I’m modeling, sculpting, texturing, sketching, programming, 3D printing, or designing gameplay, that same desire will be at the foundation of my work.
As I’ve drifted towards tech art, I’ve sought out the patterns preferred by my team’s engineers to ensure my intuition driven learning produces clean, extensible code to keep the team running smoothly.
More About Me
Rock Climbing
You’ll likely spot the chalk on my pants sooner or later, so I may as well admit it: I’m an avid rock climber. Indoor bouldering is my preference, though I’ve done some outdoor here and there. Climbing gyms are a place for me to relax, meet new people, and puzzle my way through physical riddles.
Nature Journaling
Shortly after moving to California, I started drawing the flowers and plants near where I lived. Time passed, notebooks filled, and I still haven’t even finished the driveway. Plants are forgiving subjects with rough, organic edges. They don’t mind if the likeness is lacking, allowing me to focus on the compositions and textures that really matter. In these sketches I’ve practiced shading with markers, taking notes for nature journaling, and recently using larger papers than I’d been comfortable with.
Wandering and Mapping
When I hike, I try to pick trails I’ve never been on before. For some odd reason, I’m intrigued by the ever spreading network of places my feet have touched. I collect my GPS trails, curate my next hikes, and continue experiencing new places along the way. Even on casual walks through nearby neighborhoods I’ll wander down every single road until my paths have copied the map itself. Perhaps it’s all been a way to ground myself in the world around me, to prove that everything really is just a walk away.
Games and their Design
An important part of gaming for me has been my ever-present interest in designing, improving, and experimenting with them. Like so many others, this fascination has left me with a broad set of interests and understandings stretching across the entire design pipeline. My decision to get into 3D art originated in my desire to be a part of that process and I intend to remain enthralled for my entire life.
Artistic Anatomy
I was never into anatomy growing up, strangely. I enjoyed figurative sculptures and paintings in art history, yet the study of medicine and anatomy felt somehow intimidating to me. It wasn’t until I neared graduation and picked up sculpting that I realized there was something in it for me. Almost immediately I fell into an obsession that has since taken over half of my bookshelf and desk.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks have been my constant companions since I was a little kid listening to the Redwall, Abhorsen, and His Dark Materials series. Nowadays I listen while I work, walk, drive, clean, cook, and even sometimes while I play. I prefer fiction as the stories seem crucial elements in holding my attention, yet this allows access to biographies and histories as I’ve learned more recently. I’ve been listening to audiobooks for so long that I’ll sometimes find myself listening to tv shows rather than watching. I’ve watched an entire episode of Star Trek on my phone without taking it out of my pocket.