Drawing by Naliel Jenkins

Hopes and desires to elevate my work professionally

Hello! I’m a self-taught freelance artist originally from BC, Canada. I’ve been drawing for most of my life, with major influences from comic and manga works and hope to one day get my own comic drawn and published.

Art is a very important part in my life and allows me to tell the stories and ideas in my head to other people through illustration. I originally started drawing when I was little by copying the drawings on the back of my chalkboard boxes, drawing the cartoons I watched, or drawing animals for my friends in grade school. The major thing that compelled me to get better was the frustration when I couldn’t translate my ideas to paper. Because my art style was more manga influenced and I shied away from expressionism, I had a poor experience with my high school art teachers and it pushed me to not pursue formal training and use book and online resources as a means of training myself.

Recently I’ve been diagnosed with chronic tendonitis in my arms and hands, and I’ve been struggling with it for the past couple years. I’ve had to put my dreams of being a comic artist and work professionally on hold, with the struggle of thinking I might not be able to keep up in a competitive field. It’s been a bit world shattering, and since then I’ve been really trying to re-assess how I’ve been dedicating my time with the little stamina I have while I work on managing my condition.

I’ve been looking for good traditional art resources for bettering my knowledge and mastery of anatomy, and I found this website while searching for self-paced resources. Being able to work with a class based system learning traditional anatomy and techniques and receive feedback from instructors on my work, all while working at my own pace because of my chronic condition, would be the greatest boon I could hope for. I’d be able to maximize my learning potential to rehabilitate my drawing hand, work at my own pace, and get proper feedback on my development to pinpoint and work on my flaws with a wealth of information.

Thank-you for taking the time to look at my page.