Despite the fact that since early middle school, I was able to discover my artistic inclination due to my innate ability, training this particular muscle did not turn out to be my first priority since my mind was set on another possible path back then. My only grandfather played a major role in my life, and through him I was able to discover sports and my love for hockey. Ever since I had started playing the sport I had identified myself as an athlete rather than an artist, and although I continued taking art classes throughout high school, most of me never wanted that to change. 

 

It wasn’t until seven years later when the unruly hand of fate had decided to strike me with the most frustrating of circumstances. I had been diagnosed with a malignant tumor in my left knee. Despite a successful procedure to remove it, the aftermath has left me in no condition to participate in competitive sports indefinitely. Now having felt as if I had lost half my identity, I  strive to hone my artistic prowess to its full potential as an aspiring visual and game artist. It was now my own responsibility to make my identity whole again. 

 

Video games have had a major presence throughout my life so far, and as time progressed, I found myself fixated on the environments I would come across and interact with. The most impressive of which I’ve seen is Ghost of Tsushima, possibly the most beautiful game I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. The stunning terrains of both the latest Star Wars Battlefront games, both Destiny games, and For Honor have also caught my eye as well. Through time the unknowns of the game-making process intrigued me enough to learn more about the 3D and technical art medium, and how to produce physically-based-rendered landscapes and environments.   Throughout high school, I have stuck to the traditional medium of pencil and paper when drawing, and it was only after I had graduated when I started to deviate away from this, and solely create my artwork digitally with most of the content pertaining to the human figure, character design, as well as characters from video games that I frequently played. Since I had taken a year off of academics, this gave me the head-start I needed when studying fundamental artistic principles in my first year of college. 

 

I say with no reluctance that I am constantly learning and striving to improve my skill set, and the purpose I want my creations to serve in the future is to simply inspire others. I constantly remind myself that the effort I had dedicated to training in sports will ultimately not be in vain, and I can use this same work ethic in order to further myself in the artistic field. If it means that even one person, who even possibly had a similar scenario befall them, is convinced that the pursuit of and success in an artistic career is a valid prospect, and propels them to dedicate themselves to striving toward that ideal and keep pushing forward, then I have fulfilled that purpose.