My Story

pixelmandan-ironmanThe love for graphic communication started when I was a child. My mom would draw regularly and I wished that I could draw like her. For many years all I could ever muster up were stick figures. I was a kid, but I wanted to draw like an artist.

Flash forward decades later and I found myself in college, at Arizona State University, and changing majors from the very technical and science heavy field of Aerospace Engineering to Interactive Computer Graphics. Along the way I had to draw for class assignments. My skills then were still very basic. The feedback (to put it nicely) from some of my instructors made me ashamed of my attempts to communicate with visual art. Fortunately, I was able to move past my limitations and got a job as a graphic designer (artist) for a very large company. I had to learn the tools quickly, as I didn’t really know anything about the software the company was using. I learned pretty quickly and started developing my own style. However, I was still very unsure about my skills. I saw the work that so many others did and felt discouraged. I kept telling myself, “You’re a technical / logical guy too, that’s why you like programming as well as design.”

Needless to say many years in the industry have passed since my first graphic design job and I have found my own stride. I truly believe social media helped me to finally be confident in my style of digital art. I appreciate creating fan art for sports teams and athletes. If you follow me at all, you already know what subject I love to create fan art for most.

I hope you enjoy my work. If you feel compelled, buy a piece you can wear.

FORKS UP!

Dan