I was born in 1992 in Durban, South Africa. I never intended to be an artist. I drew a lot as a kid, but my teen years were spent mostly outside with dogs and horses. I didn’t have the time or desire to be inside drawing. However, while being snowed in, I picked up an old sketchbook in an effort to relieve some boredom. Drawing didn’t come easily, but I quickly became addicted to creating and seeing my skills progress. Since then, more days have gone by that I have drawn than days that I haven’t.

My focus on digital art began at the end of 2016. At this point in my life, I was traveling a lot and living outside of the US for most of each year. I was attracted to this medium as a way to create from anywhere and offer commissions to people anywhere in the world.

Quite a few people have had questions about how I work and whether my paintings are actually paintings or just manipulated photographs. Here’s a process video of me working on Kaiya the Malamute’s portrait. My approach varies slightly from piece to piece, but generally I work the same way on digital as I do with acrylic paints. I  start with a blank canvas and use my pen and tablet to draw and paint just as I would on a real canvas. I use reference photos like any other artist, but no photographs are included in my paintings and I don’t paint over pictures.

Are there faster ways of doing this? Yes, perhaps. But often clients want a portrait that is the result of a combination of (sometimes bad) photos. If I chose to paint directly over the photograph, the result would not meet the client’s expectations. Also, often the references I’m given have a filter or are poorly lit. Using colors directly from the photo would not give my paintings the vibrant, realistic light that I enjoy. Therefore, I choose to approach my digital paintings in a more traditional manner, so that I’m never tied to a photograph. I love that this method helps me to build my skills with each piece I do.

If you’re interested in learning more, here’s an article I wrote for Oi Magazine about working as an artist in Vietnam, and an interview with the folks over at Scriba about my work and inspirations.

If you want to stay in touch, I’m the most active on Instagram! Feel free to send me a message to say hello or ask a question.