A3 Original • 11.7 x 16.5 inches (29.7 x 42 cm), Watercolor, Ink, Acrylic on Paper

This commission is special in that it is the first art piece I made based solely on a haiku, written by the client and his daughter.

We sail on the sea.

To get to our location,

We live on the sea.

It should be evident from my past works that I have a longstanding fascination with all things marine. With this piece, I sought to elevate that appreciation to the Sea itself, its awesome immensity, its fractious temperment, its serene beauty, and its mysterious abyss. In the unbroken center, free from the tumult of the prismatic waves seemingly crashing down all around, lies the peaceful horizon at dusk - an allusion to the safety of the loving bond that inspired the poem.

The 15 print edition consists of four designs inspired by the piece. Two monochrome renditions offer a calming view of shadowed waves at dawn and dusk, while the original submarine design is complimented by its inversion (The Sun), a tunnel view to the water on a hot summer’s day. Both Sea and Sun prints come with a hand-drawn metallic silver outline, adding a similar sheen as the illustration’s gold and an element of uniqueness to each print.

Experience Monochrome Dawn, Monochrome Dusk, The Sea, and The Sun prints in your space using Augmented Reality before purchase.

These designs are available for offline use as Augmented Reality overlays to all artwork owners after purchase.

For more information on process, orders, and fulfillment, please visit my FAQ page.

Digital Design, 2021

This commissioned artwork is a digitally made commemorative design meant to be worn as a tattoo. Per the client’s request, the design is inspired by a specific scene in the movie adaptation of Dances With Wolves, wherein Union Army officer Dunbar successfully communicates with Lakota tribesman Kicking Bird by emulating a buffalo, or “Tatanka”. I chose to build the frame of the buffalo’s head around the hand positions of each of these two characters’ impersonation as they make first contact.

Since this design not only serves to honor a family member, but also integrates elements of the Lakota people’s belief system, I did my best to tread as carefully and respectfully as possible in choosing (and staying as true to form to) the symbols that give this piece its spiritual meaning - namely, that of “Kapemni” (“twisting”), the inverted triangle symbolizing Sun and Earth around which the Lakota people base their relationship with the Heavens.

For more information on process, orders, and fulfillment, please visit my FAQ page.

A3 Original • 11.7 x 16.5 inches (29.7 x 42 cm), Ink on Paper

The Fox, Kitsune, is revered in Japanese folklore as the servant of Inari, a shapeshifter, and a being of great wisdom and intelligence, who may grow up to nine tails over a thousand years before reaching enlightenment. Crossing paths with a black fox in particular is considered to be good luck!

This piece is one of two artworks commissioned for my own young cousins. The Fox’s fur is formed from a pattern of hundreds of tiny droplets of fire emanating outward from its heart, while its face is reminiscent of a Kabuki mask. But my favorite part is the ears, which kind of remind me of avocados. 🥑

For more information on process, orders, and fulfillment, please visit my FAQ page.

A3 Original • 11.7 x 16.5 inches (29.7 x 42 cm), Ink on Paper

A Haiku -

Petal by petal,

A sakura tree loses

Its fight with the wind.

As one of my first commissions, this piece holds special weight among all my artworks for how much I simply enjoyed seeing it come together. The design of Sakura Versus Storm was greatly inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, a beautiful style of naturalistic impressions that I have always found to be a great source of inspiration.

The cherry blossom tree and bolts of lighting stand as starkly opposed yet complimentary figures, like personifications of the elements fixed in the balance of nature’s rage. The use of negative space to differentiate and embolden every form, while the colorized print edition adds a vibrant prismatic effect to the tree’s foliage and texturization to its bark.

For more information on process, orders, and fulfillment, please visit my FAQ page.

A3 Original • 11.7 x 16.5 inches (29.7 x 42 cm), Ink and Acrylic on Paper • Single Unit available

The story Tsuki no Usagi - The Rabbit in the Moon - tells of a fox, a monkey, and a rabbit who wish to practice charity. When an old beggar appears on the day of the full moon, the first two gather their own food for him. But the rabbit, who eats only grass, offers himself to the beggar. So moved by the rabbit‘s selflessness is the beggar that he reveals himself to be Sakra, Lord of the Devas, and casts the rabbit’s likeness upon the moon for all to see.

Some iterations of the tale even say that the rabbit is forever pounding rice cakes to make mochi (the craters of the moon). What none of them tell you, though, is that when the rabbit’s foot in the moon meets the ground, one may walk into the kingdom of the moon and eat all that mochi. So during the next full moon, if you have a sugar craving, you should know what to do!

This piece is one of two artworks commissioned for my own young cousins. The rabbit and its mochi, like shadows on the linear lunar surface, are made of lines and shapes delineated by negative space. Having a mountain landscape on which to rest the moon not only gives the rabbit a sense of scale, but also helps to convey the story by relativizing its movement, creating a sense of time.

For more information on process, orders, and fulfillment, please visit my FAQ page.

A3 Original • 11.7 x 16.5 inches (29.7 x 42 cm), Ink on Paper

The largest toothed predator, at least on paper..

This illustration was my first ever commission artwork. It depicts a sperm whale commencing its dive to hunt, with a subtle sense of depth and movement conveyed through negative space by delineating the creature’s main anatomical features and giving a cohesive flow to the striations of time along its body. The colorized print edition adds a subtle glow against the dark abyss and texturizes the whale’s body with a boatload of floral-esque barnacles.

For more information on process, orders, and fulfillment, please visit my FAQ page.