I’ve been drawing for nearly as long as I can remember. As a kid, I would draw Snoopy, Woodstock, and a few other Peanuts characters often. I absolutely loved the work of Charles Schulz, and the television specials were no exception, either. Once I played my first Mario game around 2008 or 2009, my work quickly went from Peanuts-themed to Mario-themed. My entire world revolved around Mario at one point – and it was great! Whenever I had the chance, I loved making comic strips, and I constantly doodled all over my work at school. I was definitely happy with my art as a kid, and even though it doesn’t really hold up today, I still have a lot of fond memories from that time. When I wasn’t drawing or playing outside, I would also watch all kinds of cartoons on television (including “Family Guy” and “South Park”, as long as I wouldn’t imitate what I saw), and I would listen to a lot of classic rock that my parents had on CD. I developed a great fascination with AC/DC, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, and Ozzy Osbourne. I’d say that I really had a great thing going on as a kid!

However, it wasn’t until I got my own laptop that I realized my true potential. I got it for Christmas 2011 – I was 10 at the time. Within a year, I had already taught myself video editing using Windows Movie Maker, audio editing using Audacity, and I could even make simple animated cartoons using Macromedia Flash 8. (I also used Flash to draw digitally, along with MS Paint.) As the years went on, I naturally got better at everything after I practiced each skill – I learned how to make better videos, I worked more closely with audio and kept making edits, and I kept animating and drawing. Last year, my friend Nick gave me a drawing tablet he no longer needed and this opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me! In the nearly 10 years since I got that first laptop, I’ve grown so much as an artist, an animator, an editor, and even as a writer – having my own laptop meant that for the first time, I could work on crafting stories and creating all sorts of worlds that I would have otherwise had only been able to write down on paper (which I’m not against, but a keyboard certainly makes life a little bit easier!) and probably would have forgotten about in some notebook that, knowing me, I’d misplace.

Additionally, ever since I originally created a comic strip character that I named “John Mcfars” back in June 2011, I’ve been working to build a world for him and have created an animated series starring him and his friends that is simply titled – what else? – “John Mcfars”. I’m very proud of the work I’ve put into the series so far, but I’m nowhere close to having a full pitch ready, even given the 10 years I’ve had to work with. After all, I’ve had to go though elementary school, middle school, high school and college at the same time! Still, if you’d like to learn more about the series and see some of the things I’ve done regarding it, then click the “John Mcfars” tab above.

And if you’d like to check out some of my work as an animator, artist, editor, or otherwise, then feel free to click the “Animation” or “Illustration” tabs above. Thank you!