FURFUZZIA (2023)

A Collaborative Book Project

Furfuzzia is a fantasy/speculative world that explores a setting where anthropomorphized animals of the order Carnivora replace humans.
Below are drawings that I've made for the project.

Discord Link

Projects: Portfolio

"BOUNDARY BLIND" (2021)

Link to Video
Duration: 2:24

Made using FireAlpaca and iMovie

For my senior art project, I made a 2 minute-long, digitally hand-drawn storyboard. The video is made for general audiences and the art is done in a style reminiscent of western cartoons. The premise of the story is: a vampire loses access to her sustenance and grows conflicted between her morals and her needs. I aim to tell a comprehensive story through expressive drawings.
I used FireAlpaca, a free digital painting software, to illustrate the story, iMovie to composite the images and audio, and mp3 files of video game tracks for the music. FireAlpaca is not an animation tool, but it has an onion skin mode and allows me to view my layers in a sequence, so it is adequate for me. Everything that I use is obtainable for free because I prefer to find cheaper, alternative ways to build creative projects. I believe in using cheap, but accessible tools to create professional products, and it is cheap accessible tools that have defined much of my personal art process.
For this project, I draw from my personal interests with interpersonal relations, especially expectations, communication (or lack thereof), bias, blame- the human tendency to deflect responsibility for hurting someone or denounce another for dissimilar opinions- most importantly, the concept of being in the wrong- the one wholly responsible for a conflict. As a person who tries to remember that I don’t know the experiences or situations of other people, I often question the appropriateness of reactions, especially when they can leave damage on relationships or someone’s outlook on people. But this also comes from personal bias, which stems from personal experiences of feeling out of control, helpless, and invalidated because of feeling that others judge me too hastily. This project is actually less of a personal expression and more of a hypothetical situation that I want to present for people to react to. I want to gauge my viewers’ values by whether they portray empathy, disdain, or other, towards one or more characters, or even towards me as the presenter of this story.

Projects: Case Studies

DAYDREAMS AND YOU (2021)

A Book Project

I believe in the power of children's media to stick with a person throughout their lives, myself being an adult who has been influenced and inspired by kid-targeted media. I think that to be able to portray varied issues/topics in a way that can be consumed together by a family ('family' referring to at least one parent/guardian and child) can open crucial conversations between parent and child audiences.
Here I simply made something that I wanted to see. If there's anything I've learned recently, it's that emotions like anxiety, sadness, etc. are more common than one might initially realize, and no matter the circumstances that cause them, I think most everyone can relate to those feelings. And for me, knowing that I'm not alone in my struggles, it helps.