Current Status: Student
Zodiac Sign: Aquarious
Favourite Photography Style: Macro
Camera Lenses & Accessories: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro, Canon 430EX Speedlight
Photo-Editing Applications: PhotoShop CS2, iPhoto, ImageBrowser
Digital Painting Tools: PhotoShop CS2, Wacom Intuos 4
When I got a new Apple desktop computer at 13, my parents also bought me PhotoShop Elements. I mostly had fun with the brushes that came with the program (grass, stars, etc.). At this age, in 2003, I also subscribed to a site called deviantART. I began to share my artwork with the world. Then, at fourteen, I took my first web design class at school. I already knew most of the material, but it still helped me to maintain my knowledge. Also that year, I upgraded to PhotoShop CS2, which is the program that I still use today.
I spent one or two years doing a lot of digital painting, usually with animals. Even as a child, I always preferred drawing animals over humans and because of it, I'm still terrible at human anatomy. At 16, I started playing more online games so my digital art began to dwindle. Most of my art during this period came in the form of doodles on school work.
In August of 2008, when I was 17 years old, I was browsing a woman's personal website and took a particular interest in her photography section. I have always loved photography, but up until this point, I had owned a cheap Canon "point and shoot" camera. But seeing her photos made me want to buy my own DSLR camera. A few months later, my parents bought me a Canon Rebel XSi DSLR camera. With it, I got two lenses: a cheap Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS and a more impressive EF 100mm f2.8 Macro lens. Thus began my journey into the "real" world of photography.
In 2009, at 18, I started picking up digital painting again. After getting into photography, I started using deviantART again. Because of this, I constantly stumbled across digital paintings so I fell in love with it again. I started sketching on paper to pick up my old art skills, and transferred a few of those drawings onto the computer so I could paint them on PhotoShop. A few months after picking up my passion for digital painting, I purchased my first professional Drawing Tablet - a Wacom Intuos 4.
Games have always been a big part of my life. It began when I was little and my parents bought me games like Putt Putt Saves the Zoo or educational games that would help me with math and spelling. I then moved onto The Sims and its various expansions. The biggest turning point came in 2004 when I began playing RuneScape. I played this game off and on for five years, became involved in a RuneScape fan site called Tip.it and even created a blog to document my goals and achievements. When I decided to move onto another game, I turned to Lord of the Rings Online and briefly World of Warcraft. I now have my eye on Star Wars: The Old Republic, which I believe is due for release in late 2010.
Because of my combined love for art and gaming, I am hoping to pursue a career in computer game concept art and/or graphics. A close second career choice would be a concept artist for movies.
I am currently studying Art at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
