About
about
I make flat-color illustrations built from harsh light, simple contrasts, and the quiet discipline of leaving things out. Most of the work begins with real places, real structures, or real objects, then gets reduced until only the necessary shapes remain. I am interested in what survives that reduction: form, shadow, color, and the small decisions that let an image hold together.
What I’m after
I grew up in Alaska, Washington, Palm Springs, Jackson Hole, and Columbia, Missouri, which is probably one reason I notice light before I notice almost anything else. Harsh western light, long shadows, dry air, and the way distance simplifies a scene have been doing quiet work on my eye for a long time.
The subjects vary, but the interest is consistent. I am usually looking for the point where a place or object stops being descriptive and starts becoming structural: shape against shape, shadow against light, one color doing more work than seems entirely reasonable.
A lot of the process is subtraction. I simplify the scene down to its essential forms and keep reducing until the image says what it needs to say without extra explanation. The fewer colors the better, provided the piece can still tell the truth.
Working Method
Medium: Digital illustration
Style: Minimalism, geometric forms, limited color palettes
Inspired by: National parks, deserts, mountains, modern architecture, roadside Americana
Influences: Mid-century graphic design, travel posters, screen printing, bold landscape photography
Why It Ends Up This Spare
I am not especially interested in adding more than an image needs. What I like are strong shapes, clean edges, and the kind of contrast that makes a scene legible almost all at once. That usually means fewer colors, less detail, and a certain amount of refusal.
A lot of contemporary illustration leans ornamental or atmospheric. Mine tends to go the other direction. I want the image to work because the relationships inside it are right, not because it has been sweetened or fussed over.
So the style is really a process of reduction: less noise, clearer form, harder light, and only enough detail to keep the thing honest.