It all began with this digital self-portrait I did in 2019. It’s inspired by Philip Pullman’s book trilogy “His Dark Materials”, where people in an alternate universe have a dæmon accompanying them throughout their life - their soul, taking the form of an animal. Mine would probably be a european goldfinch.

As the concept of dæmons took hold of me, I started wondering what my family members’ would look like, matching their personality. My mum’s ended up manifesting as a white kangaroo. The portraits, done in Procreate, - cartoony at first - turned more realistic with each one I completed, while holding on to a certain style.

For my initial portrait series I used digital gouache brushes in Procreate, trying to create a feeling of texture usually only found in traditional art. At the same time I aimed to keep it graphic and experiment with shapes.

Painting all my closest family members and an animal to represent them taught me a lot; e.g. that reference photos can be helpful, but drawing from life is even better if you’re looking to truly capture the essence of a person. This piece is based on a sketch of my sister that I did sitting across the table from her.

My first commission after finishing the family portrait series, this piece was an attempt at more intense shading and different digital background effects in order to create mysterious and dramatic lighting.

Before I go in with the digital gouache brushes and paint the lines as well as flat shapes in color, I usually sketch out the composition very carefully - like this. I then lower the opacity of the sketch and draw underneath it, until all lines & shapes are filled or recreated.

A couple’s halfbody portrait commission done in Procreate, fully shaded and detailed with background. Sent out as an A3 sized print.