Age 15

Still Life
Charcoal on paper

My art teacher set up a still life in the classroom for us all to work on from different angles. When I think of skates, I think of the wind whizzing past me and the feeling of speed, and instead of drawing them as stationary I drew the wind moving around them. To me, it was unnatural for them to not be in motion.

Fantasy Still Life
Chalk pastel on paper

The assignment was to draw a still life with chalk pastel, but add something that wasn't really there to the drawing. I imagined the mushrooms as alive, as if there were fae creatures within this small pile of things.

Self Portrait
Oil pastel on paper

This was a drawing of my own eye, with as much shading and detail as I could get at the time using oil pastels. Because the pastels were so thick, I couldn't get thin, defined eyelashes, so I smudged them instead for more of a blurred look.

"Inuyasha"
Graphite on paper

I know this image doesn't look like graphite, and that's just because of the way I took the photo. My camera had some kind of "increase contrast" setting on. If I ever find this drawing again, I'll get a better scan of it.

Self Portrait
Charcoal on paper

I was learning to use complex brushes in Photoshop at the time, and loved incorporating patterns in my drawings as well as digital media. I also had just started getting the hang of charcoal. As you can see, I was still mostly using the darkest darks, but it was a fun learning process.

Still Life
Graphite on paper

Self Portrait
Graphite on paper

My self portraits varied wildly from one to the other, because really, I was trying to figure out who I was. How I would want to see myself. What I was feeling. There was a lot going on at the time, and I was often up staring holes into a mirror at 4AM, drawing frantically, having all kinds of thoughts. This one was rather angsty, but I wanted to portray the idea of piercing eyes.

Commission
Graphite on paper

Still Life
Graphite on paper

This was the interior of my mom's van. Her keychain always had something large on it (and still does) because she loses her keys easily since the accident. Whenever I was waiting in the car, this is what I was looking at.

Character Design
Ink on paper

I was experimenting with patterned fabrics and unconventional clothing/accessories/hairstyles at this point. I got really into anime and gaming around this time

"Sasuke"
Graphite on paper

I had been taking Japanese in school for a couple years, so I started practicing using it in my sketchbook as well. It reads "(Sunday) 9/11/2005 Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto (signed) -Yuna"

Untitled
Graphite on paper

My thumb is covering the name of this drawing, and until I find another copy of this image or the sketchbook itself, I won't have the name. I don't know if it was destroyed in one of the many floods at my old house or not.

"Hikaru"
Graphite and colored pencil on paper

"Hikaru"
Graphite on paper

I was really getting into making eyes look expressive at this point. You'll see a lot of different ways to draw eyes in the upcoming sketches. I was trying to decide which ways I enjoyed doing this by trying all of them.

"Toshuu"
Graphite and face powder on paper

Experimenting with using powders in sketches, and starting to play around with wind blown fabrics.

Comic
Graphite and marker on paper

This may have been one of the comics I made with my friends in class. We had silly little inside jokes that we would illustrate for fun. Most of them would send us into giggling fits.

"Daisuke Niwa"
Graphite and marker on paper

My uncle got me a set of Prismacolor markers for Christmas that year, so I was happy to try them out on literally everything I could think of. I hadn't quite gotten the hang of layering colors yet, but I was enjoying the process.

"Sousuke"
Graphite and marker on paper

"Haru"
Graphite and ink on paper

I was starting to mix ink into my pencil drawings to make the dark parts feel even darker. Playing with contrast.

"Kyo"
Graphite and ink on paper

One of the first manga style drawings I ever did without STRICTLY adhering to the way the hair was already drawn in the original material. I was learning to draw hair in a more organic way.

"Kin"
Graphite and ink on paper

"Why"
Graphite, ink, and marker on paper

My very first attempt at layering colors! It isn't perfect, but it shows growth!

"Kill Me Kiss Me"
Graphite and ink on paper

"Jing, King of Bandits"
Graphite, ink, acrylic paint, and marker on paper

I was trying to capture the feeling of hair being 3D and spiky, because I met a boy who had cool spiky hair and didn't have the courage to ask if he could sit for a sketch.

Character Design
Graphite on paper

I was starting to experiment more with lighter graphite drawings rather than the starkly shaded ones I had been accustomed to making. The feel of a melancholy breeze and the uncertainty of life was what was on my mind here.

Self Portrait
Graphite on paper

I used to wear a headscarf, and after switching to public school decided to switch to hats instead. I was just really tired of people commenting and being really rude about it, and I didn't want the negative attention.

Hairstyles
Graphite on paper

Hairstyles
Graphite on paper

Self Portrai
Colored pencil on paper

I was experimenting with layering different colors, and didn't have an amazing opinion of myself at the time.

Untitled
Colored pencil on paper

"Coffee"
Graphite on paper

I was doing my best to emulate my dad's art style. Somehow, even in his sculptures, this type of movement and line weight comes across. It's really beautiful.

"Twilight's Euphoria"
Charcoal on paper

I named this when I was 15, and it shows. I was really into Evanescence, HIM, Panic! At the Disco, and Fallout Boy. This was my first drawing where I made very detailed lips, and the first time I drew a nose from below. It was really challenging!

Self Portrait
Graphite on paper + digital ink

I originally drew this image in my sketchbook, scanned it, and then colored it in Photoshop.

"Sesshoumaru"
Graphite and pen on paper.

This image has the same contrast issue as the sketch I did of Inuyasha, and once I find the original I'll update it here.

Naruto
Graphite and colored pencil on paper

Sasuke
Graphite and colored pencil on paper

Yes, I know Sasuke was cringe, but he's pretty though.

Ed
Graphite and marker on paper

Ed
Graphite on paper

Kyo
Graphite and marker on paper

Band Logo 1
Graphite on paper

I was helping a friend design a logo for his band. These are all the rough sketches we came up with while talking about what he was looking for.

Band Logo 2
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite and pen on paper

Comic
Graphite and pen on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

There was this girl in our history class who was always making fun of my friends, smart remarks, whatever. So she was always doing her makeup in class and we made a stupid comic to vent our frustrations.

Comic
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

Our history teacher was notorious for quizzing you on things she never covered in the lesson, so of course we hated her. Even when we brought it up she just didn't care. I don't know that she actually wanted to be a teacher.

Comic
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

Count Crapula was one of our recurring characters, and he wants to suck your crap. So of course he'd be into sewage.

Comic
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

Comic
Graphite on paper

For context, these characters are supposed to be my first boyfriend and I. I made him comics to cheer him up because we weren't ever allowed to hang out.