What I do

Koi Snow by ~bakrsa on deviantART

As I said on my profile I'm currently an unemployed Graphic Designer, I started doing vector illustration about 2 years ago I think and since I first started my work has evolved and become more complex, detailed and whimsical. I use Adobe Illustrator to do all my illustrations, some start from sketches and others start directly on the computer screen.

In college I only ever had ONE course in Illustrator and even then I wasn't taught exactly how to draw in it, it was more of a typography class ... I'm not sure why we didn't have a course in Quark if they meant to teach us typography but whatever LOL. I think back then InDesign didn't even exist but I digress. I learned more about Illustrator when I did an internship in college and did really bad drawings in it, but I've come a long way since.


Koi Girl Tattoo by ~bakrsa on deviantART

These days my main inspiration is Japanese Tattoo style, in the past I used to look at a lot of other graphic designers and illustrators for inspiration, but their work seemed to run together and everyone was doing that cutesy style or the graffiti influenced style and I didn't find that particularly interesting after a while.

Tattoo imagery has always fascinated me and I like the centuries, decades and years of tradition behind the different styles. I find it a bit more pure and not driven by trends as most contemporary illustration seems to be.

The koi fish and black motion lines in the Koi Snow piece were actually hand drawn at first and then scanned it and redrawn in illustrator with the pen tool. The thing I like about studying Japanese tattoo style is that it forces you to actually drawn on a page and learn to be a good hand drawn illustrator and not just one on the screen.

Currently I'm working towards putting together a minimum of 10 stationary designs and another 2 koi themed illustrations. I eventually want to have a theme of illustrations that I can take to coffee shops and see if they would like to display them on their walls. Its a great way to get exposure because you never know who is walking into these coffee shops. Hopefully someone who can offer me a job LOL!

You can see more of my work on my professional online portfolio: http://coroflot.com/bakrsa