Art

Where the habits came from.

I hold a BFA in Illustration and Animation from San Jose State University, and I worked as an illustrator and concept artist before I designed software. The subjects changed completely. The working method did not.

Thumbnails before rendering. Silhouettes before detail. The same subject painted three times under three different constraints, because the constraint is what tells you which parts actually matter. Every one of those is something I still do, just with interfaces now instead of paint.

Architectural studies

Graphite, drawn from observation. Slow, and useful for exactly that reason.

Two detailed graphite drawings, one of a Gothic rose window and facade, one of a Romanesque church with a spire seen from below — Notre Dame Cathedral and a historic church Two approaches to the same subject. The left drawing crops in tight on the rose window and lets the tracery carry it. The right pulls back and uses the tree to frame the mass. Both are patience more than technique.

Still life under constraint

The same setup painted three times, each under a different palette restriction, with progress states kept alongside. This is the series I think about most in product work. The constraint is not a limitation to work around, it is what forces a decision about what actually matters in the image.

Acrylic still life of glassware, a metal bowl and a bottle against a dark ground, with three progress states beside it — Still life, master palette Glass and reflective metal against near-black. With the full palette available, the problem is restraint: knowing which highlights to keep and which to let go.

Acrylic still life of a blue toy figure, watch, sunglasses and a paintbrush, with six progress states beside it — Still life, Van Gogh palette The same objects under a historically restricted palette. Six progress states, because the interesting part is watching where the constraint forces a different choice than instinct would.

The same still life rendered almost entirely in blues, with six progress states — Still life, limited palette Nearly monochrome. Once hue is removed as a tool, everything has to be carried by value, and the composition either holds up or it does not. This one taught me more than the other two.

Character development

Three characters from Browning's My Last Duchess and two from Bradbury's The Veldt. Each sheet works the same way: silhouettes first to test whether the character reads at a glance, then structure, then one rendered pass. The silhouette row is the real work. If the shape does not read in black, no amount of rendering saves it.

Character sheet for Lucrezia Di Cosimo De'Medici with a rendered figure in a green gown holding a fan, a gesture drawing, and fifteen silhouette variations — Lucrezia Di Cosimo De'Medici Fifteen silhouettes to find one gesture. The fan and the turned shoulder carry the whole character, which is why they survive into the final and most of the variations do not.

Character sheet for Fra Pandolf, a seated monk in a red robe and brown cloak reading, with structural studies and a silhouette row — Fra Pandolf The painter in the poem, seated and absorbed. Three rendered passes at different fidelities, kept side by side so the loose version stays available as a reference for what the tight one is trying to preserve.

Character sheet for David McClean showing expression studies, seated structure drawings, a rendered figure in a patterned jacket and bow tie, and a silhouette row — David McClean Expression studies first, because the psychologist's whole function is reading other people. The patterned jacket and bow tie arrived last, once the face was settled.

Character sheet for George Hadley with five head studies, costume drawings, and a rendered figure lit against black with smoke — George Hadley Five heads to find the smile. Same features throughout, but the expression shifts from open to unsettling, which is the arc the character actually needs.

Environment concepts

Environments for A Day in the Life of Beethoven. Every sheet runs the same sequence: ten thumbnails to find the composition, four color keys to find the mood, then one resolved painting. Cheap exploration first, expensive rendering last, and only after the decision is already made.

Environment concept of a figure walking through bare winter trees in fog, with four color key variants and ten compositional thumbnails below — Nature Walk, exterior The figure is almost incidental, which is the point. Ten thumbnails to establish that the trees should crowd the frame, then four keys to choose fog over autumn, dusk or green.

Environment concept of a figure standing between trees overlooking a purple mountain valley at dusk, with four color keys and thumbnails — Nature Walk, vista Same character, same day, opposite feeling. The keys carry the argument: teal reads as cold, purple as elegiac, and the composition works either way, which is what makes it a good composition.

Night street scene in Heiligenstadt with two cloaked figures, lamplight and buildings receding, plus four color keys and perspective thumbnails — Heiligenstadt at night Two figures, one lamp-lit street, and the whole mood resting on how much blue sits in the shadow. The thumbnails here are perspective problems rather than composition problems.

Cathedral ruins interior with light entering through a high window onto a seated figure, with four color keys and structural thumbnails — Cathedral ruins A single figure under a shaft of light in a collapsed nave. The keys test whether the space should feel warm and consoling or cold and abandoned. Warm won.

Observational drawing

Animals from life. No composition to hide behind, no rendering to fall back on. Just whether the structure underneath is right, drawn enough times that the shapes become known rather than copied.

Six pencil studies of cows from multiple angles, with one rendered in black and white paint — Cows Six angles, one rendered. The construction lines stay visible on purpose, because they are the part worth keeping.

Six pencil studies of deer including a leaping buck, a doe standing, and studies of antlers and hindquarters — Deer Weight and balance, mostly. The leaping figure at the top is the only one that needed to be dynamic, and it is the loosest drawing on the page.

Five pencil studies of elephants including a front-on view and two small thumbnails — Elephants, structure Working out how the mass sits on the legs. The front-facing study is the hardest angle and the reason the sheet exists.

Four looser pencil studies of elephants focused on head and trunk gesture — Elephants, gesture Faster and looser than the first sheet. Fewer marks, more information about how the trunk actually moves.

Five studies of a ring-tailed lemur including a large central figure and a study of the head and hands — Ring-tailed lemur The hands were the problem. Everything else on this sheet is in service of the two studies where they are worked out.

Additional ring-tailed lemur studies in pencil — Ring-tailed lemur, continued A second pass on the same animal. Drawing something twice is how you find out what you assumed the first time.

Where it meets the product work

One artifact that belongs to both practices.

Technical illustration sheet documenting one, two and three finger tap and swipe gestures with directional arrows for left, up, down and right — iOS gesture library Drawn as a reference set for documenting touch interactions. Same discipline as the character silhouettes, just applied to interface behavior: strip it to line, make each state distinguishable at a glance, and define the whole matrix rather than the one case you happen to need today.

Cheap exploration first. Expensive rendering last. Never the other way around.

See the product work