I spent four years in college under the delusion that my life's goal was to do concept art for video games. By the time I graduated, I had a children's book illustration portfolio and a distinctive new style which was much more fun. Now I haunt Portland creating art featuring female monsters, lonely ghosts, fairytale scenes, and charming vermin. Not able to devote myself to only one style, I'm currently trying to market myself as a children's book illustrator under my own name, and wildly different work for horror and fantasy magazines under another, but I'm interested in all applications for illustration including décor and apparel. Everything's better if it tells a little story, especially if it's about ghosts and monsters, whales and giant squid, or steampunk fashionistas and lesbian robots!

Naturally, my chaboo had to be a scene—something epic! Dramatic! Possibly apocryphal! Sperm whales and giant squid are either titanic natural enemies, or a big misunderstanding. Either way it's a great story. My challenge was to translate my digital style to physical materials. I was excited to feature the natural grain of the bamboo, since my digital style involves simple silhouettes and painted figures on top of richly textured backgrounds. I cut stencils and spray-painted waves for a water patterns, and hand-painted the figures in acrylic, approximating the effect of my digital work.