NEAL D. ANDERSON - Detroit Area, MI
Illustrator, Designer, Adjunct Professor at College for Creative Studies.
2015 Illustration Graduate from College for Creative Studies. High Honors.
Strong Suits: Caricaturing/Likeness, drawing the human figure, drawing quickly and efficiently, range of styles, bold color choices, and conveying atmosphere.
I work freelance for illustration, concept illustrations, comics and graphic novels, storyboarding, character and mascot design, graphic design, promotional art, and brand design. I also tutor and teach, whether it be 2d fundamentals of drawing, anatomy or digital techniques.
I am an illustrator specializing in the fields of concept artwork, in addition to storyboarding and comics. I strive to create interesting and memorable character and creature designs, which I will be able to achieve though using innovative solutions to solve common problems. Creatures don’t always need glowing red eyes and sharp fangs to be considered frightening. Sometimes, the solution can be as simple as starting from a base design inspired by nature, and then all you might need to do is remove just one familiar feature, and it suddenly becomes disturbing. A sense of blandness can also be seen with human characters, as most protagonists always seem to be attractive and perfect. I’m of the opinion that a flawed, average or even ugly looking character would be more interesting and memorable.
My sense of design and artistic style is inspired by many sources that include European comics and graphic novels, conceptual films, and different types of animation, all for their bold uses of color, graphic design, and unconventional characters. I wish to bring new vision to the field of concept art and rid the industry of bland designs that use clichéd design choices to solve common problems. I want to strive to create character and creature designs across a broad range of design simplicity or complexity that take risks and aren’t afraid of disturbing, unsettling, or challenging the viewer, Films like Ridley Scott’s Alien took this into account and have become engrained so deeply into our pop culture, all thanks to this design ethic. But perhaps the value I prioritize as well as appreciate above any other is to act and behave in a professional mature manner. This means stressing deadlines, performing with rigor and care, and the ability to act with integrity and consistency, both as an individual as well as when collaborating with others.