Joshua Harris

I never thought I’d be a competent digital artist, and yet here I am! I’ve always wanted to draw high-quality pieces of artwork since at least when I was thirteen. I was motivated by my appreciation of highly stylized works; I remember taking a particular interest in the cartoonish art style from the video game The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Although I had not played the game myself, I watched many play-throughs of the game on YouTube and scoured the internet for fan art in its unique style. My sister is also artistically adept and I wanted to follow in her footsteps; I picked up a small hand-me-down pen tablet she used to use and got to work!

Unfortunately, I lacked the skill, and the competence to build skill, to create the works of art I desired to create; I ignored improving my skills and instead jumped directly into making as much art as possible. I posted these attempts on the internet, and they gained no traction. Eventually, I was burnt out, and put down the tablet pen for quite some time.

Learning from my mistakes, and filled with a new passion to develop my digital art skills, I re-embarked on the learning journey I previously strayed away from. In 2021, I instead started with a pencil and studied still life poses. The following year, for my 17th birthday, I was gifted a larger drawing tablet; after that day, my drawing skills exponentially improved in a medium I loved.

Despite my hobby seemingly becoming increasingly obsolete with innovations in generative artificial intelligence, I still love doing it, and I do not believe I am going to stop any time soon. My art skills have given me opportunities to insert my work into other hobbies and applications, and I am proud to finally satisfy my years-old dream.