Illustration

Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/10177/40386

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 46

Eva Figueroa-Piercy 2026
(2026-04-17) Figueroa-Piercy, Eva Delia Therese
My installation, unofficially titled “Apothecary” or “Dead Last,” is a series of multimedia sculptures and props curated for a physical set of a roadside cannibal shop. Inspired by my cancer journey, I bring a new perspective on what cancer survivorship art looks like.
Jared Mendez 2026
(2026) Mendez, Jared
RETCH is a pitch for a skate brand which includes a collection of imagery all based around gross food puns, ie. Knuckle Sandwich, Brain Freeze, Snot-chos, etc. There are a selection of different deliverables all fitting in line with each of the concepts. Each design and pun/joke is represented by a skate deck, a shirt, and a sticker in order to offer options to consumers at different price points with the goal of making the brand accessible to everyone. The brand’s art style and bright colors were chosen with the intention of offsetting the traditional gross and gruesome body horror nature of the subject, usually filled with vomit, snot, and guts, with playful colors and style, in conjunction with a pun or play on words backing each image in order to offset the disturbing conceptual imagery and attempt to make the viewer both laugh, and go “ewww” at the same time.
Halle Westerlund 2026
(2026-04-10) Westerlund, Halle
New Roots is a 40-page, self-ended picture book dummy, exploring themes of environmental grief, specifically around the loss of old-growth forests. While New Roots is targeted to children ages six to eight, the book can be enjoyed by any person grappling with grief for the environment. The story follows a Nympe as she explores a modern world, comes to terms with the loss of her forest, and learns new hope in new beginnings.
Felix Helm 2026
(2026-04) Helm, Felix
“Panthera Pardus” is a 40-page nonfiction picture book for kids age 7-11. While the book is created to be educational content for children, it is my hope that anyone of any age might gain new insight from it. This book dummy, created over the course of 4 to 5 months, is filled to the brim with fun facts about leopards! From the wide range of habitats that the different subspecies inhabit, to the life cycle of a leopard, to the impact leopards have had on humans and vice versa, there is so much to learn about these amazing cats! Non-fiction picture books are such an underrated form of learning, for both kids and adults, and it is my desire to contribute to this genre in a bid to encourage others to retain and foster curiosity and empathy for the world around them.
Zoe Lewis 2026
(2026-04-15) Lewis, Zoe
Ride Like Hell is an action-fantasy comic about an aptly named Angel who competes in a no-holds barred race in hell. After a brutal accident takes the life of their human friend David, Angel decides to risk it all in order to bring back his soul and set things right. With vibrant colors and bold lineart, The comic aims to explore themes of friendship, platonic love, determination, redemption, and fighting for things that make you who you are. The comic is aimed towards a more teenage/young adult audience, something people as young as middle schoolers and as old as college students can enjoy. I was around 14 when I started to get into more “mature” graphic novels (Courtney Crumrin, Scott Pilgrim, E.M. Carroll, etc), so I want this to be something similar. I have been using the art program Procreate for drawing the actual comic itself. For concept art and world-building however, I’ve decided to go with a mix of both digital and traditional media, using hot press paper and watercolors, simply because it allows me to draw more freely. A lot of the primary pieces of inspiration have been shows and movies featuring cars in wild scenarios, such as Mad Max Fury Road, Redline, and the Disney XD show Motorcity. In all of these, the car feels like more than just a means to an end. They’re tools, extensions of the characters themselves and reflecting who they are. Comic wise, I’ve also taken inspiration from authors such as Jeff Smith and Bryan Lee O’Malley, who prefer to take their time with the characters and aren’t afraid to let some moments linger without immediately jumping to the next thing happening. While I will only have a few pages done for my thesis, around 5 or 6 finished, I plan on this eventually being a much longer graphic novel, roughly around 200 or so pages. I plan on using the finished thesis pages for portfolio pieces and applications to comic houses such as Dark Horse or Oni Press, as well as reference for pitching the actual novel itself.
Eleanor Topper 2026
(2026) Topper, Eleanor
Wildhart is a 20 page D&D adventure module with an original story, illustrations, and gameplay. The story begins in Farewood, a small town on the edge of Wildhart forest. Rumor has it that strange, unnatural creatures roam the forest, and too much time spent in the woods might turn you into a Beast yourself. Wildhart forest has recently begun to grow faster than it should, expanding around the town and threatening to swallow it and its people. The players, set against the clock by a game mechanic involving randomized cards that transform each player into a different whimsical creature, must find Lady Ada, the mysterious half-woman, half-deer who lives at the heart of the forest and is the only one with the power to break the curse. Along the way, players encounter the whimsical Beasts of Wildhart forest, who give players riddles or challenges in exchange for Fragments of the curse. The adventure ends when players battle the 13th Beast, a powerful ghostly stag. Players discover he is Lord Aldor, who created the curse because he wanted to protect his daughter Lady Ada from Farewood’s cruelty. Lady Ada breaks the curse and restores the forest and the players to their natural states. This project involved analogue and digital processes. The illustrations were done with brushes, ink, and illustration pens. Compositing and coloring were done in Procreate and Photoshop. The book design was done in InDesign. Wildhart came from a love of book design, medieval art history, and the urge to make classic fairy tale subjects fresh and fun. Though the goal is for it to be a complete game in the near future, it’s not quite there yet. This semester has been dedicated to making Wildhart a strong illustration and design project rather than perfecting gameplay.
Claire Weitz 2026
(2026-04) Weitz, Claire
The Beauty of the Mundane is a series of autobiographical still-life illustrative works by Claire Weitz. Fifteen paintings are used to depict three days of repeating actions, each respectively translated in three different mediums. Five mediums are used in total; oil paint, oil pastel, acrylic paint, gouache and watercolor. Arranged in a 3×5 grid, read left to right, are the following subjects: waking up, brushing my teeth, making food, doing the dishes, and the walk home.
Samantha Schenatzky 2026
(2026-04-14) Schenatzky, Samantha
Home is a 32-page picture book that narrates the journey of a little black cat in search of a home. As an orphan, he encounters a series of individuals and communities, each of whom rejects or marginalizes him in different ways. These encounters collectively illustrate the persistent stigma associated with black cats and, more broadly, the mechanisms through which exclusion is enacted. Drawing on documented disparities in the adoption rates of black-furred animals, Home uses the form of a children's picture book to examine themes of stigma, rejection, and acceptance. It explores the question: How can a story about whether a black cat finds a home cast light on experiences of family and belonging?
Buddy Skaggs 2026
(2026) Skaggs, Buddy
“What a Lovely Island” is an illustrated tabletop roleplaying game about lonely characters discovering the wonders of a dying Island. Through drawing onto a paper map, players will take turns exploring the Island and acting out scenes. There are only three months of summer to spend here before the characters leave and the Island dies. Players will spend the end of the game drawing back over the Locations they discovered in play, destroying them. This game explores themes of home and connection. Textured analog illustrations evoke the Island’s nostalgic feeling and inspire players to create and uncreate their own art.
Elena Leonor Olmos Guerrero 2026
(2026) Olmos Guerrero, Elena Leonor
Riso-printed and hand-bound with love: An accordion style booklet illustrating the story of my mother crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Composed in 20 pages, my project illustrates my mother crossing the border as a young girl. The story starts with her early life in Mexico, recalling the family and life she left behind when joining her father in the United States. The line work is drafted in Sumi Ink, scanned and taken to a digital format in order to prepare to be RISO printed. This booklet has two functions, to be read as a book from left to right or completely unfolded and seen in a panoramic view. Although this project relies heavily on the illustrations, there is text to help guide the reader and provide context. It is an illustrated narrative with picture book and comic influences without strongly leading into either or. The booklet will live inside a dust cover, encouraging the reader to take it out of the original format and engage with the accordion style folding techniques. I want the reader to empathize and connect with the content conveying how personal this story is to me and share that to the community. This project all started with an interview, I took that interview and illustrated it through my perspective.
Sean Semick 2026
(2026-04-13) Semick, Sean
Aqualumina is a concept for a 2D platformer metroidvania video game. The thesis is a collection of character and environment designs, animations, and assets. Aqualumina follows the protagonist, Tetra, a rebellious fish girl on a journey into the ocean to restore the balance of her world after the God of the Sea, Aphosa, steals the power of light from the God of the Stars, Gallea.
Casper Mayberry 2026
(2026) Mayberry, Casper
Ghostlight is a graphic novel where Emily Woods, a girl haunted by spirits, searches for her missing father and reveals dark truths along with a danger that stalks her from beyond. This novel explores the intersections of horror, trans identity, and visual storytelling through a story about the experience of feeling “othered” as a trans person, and what happens when the past comes back to haunt the people left behind. My pitch includes 17 full-color pages created with analog ink and digital coloring, along with character, prop, and environment development to establish the visual language and narrative pacing for a full 300-page graphic novel.
Lily Seres 2026
(2026-04-17) Seres, Lily
The Keystones We Overlook Lily Seres This series of seven digitally collaged watercolor paintings visually illustrates the stories of how Pacific Northwest keystone species interconnect with their ecosystems. The pieces include the Banana Slug & coastal Redwood, Oregon White Oak & Acorn Woodpecker, Bufflehead & American Beaver & Scouler’s Willow, Mountain Goat, American Badger, Chinook Salmon, and Northern Sea Otter & Bull Kelp. My intention is to draw the viewer in by portraying the beauty that nature has to offer. Each piece feels unique while all having the same bright, playful, and colorful energy. Just like a real ecosystem, there’s always a detail you didn’t notice the first time, causing the viewer to linger in each piece. The diverse group of animals and plants are accompanied by title cards briefly explaining each scene and how the keystone species benefits its ecosystem. My explanation then teaches the viewer about the interactions in each piece, leading to a further understanding and appreciation for the environments. The reason I made the series specific to the PNW was to create a greater connection with my local audience. My goal is to share this series and, in turn, inspire ecological awareness.
Soren Joray 2026
(2026-04-13) Joray, Soren
Dejection is a 32-page black-and-white action graphic novel surrounding grief, trauma, loneliness, and suicidal ideation. The story takes place in NYC and follows Michael as he struggles with prolonged grief from a childhood friend who committed suicide. He works as a therapist and is interrupted mid-session by a teenager bursting through his window and stealing a memorial baseball Michael’s friend owned. Motivated by grief and anger Michael chases this stranger named Josh across the city in an attempt to regain the last living memory of his lost friend, but discovers how scared and lonely this teenager truly is. Soren created this comic from concept to print within the academic year and intended to test his professional skills as a comic writer, artist, and letterer. The comic was printed and shipped externally from Comic Impressions. Soren intends to use this comic as both a portfolio piece, and a product for selling at comic shops and conventions.
Fionna James 2025
(2025-12-21) James, Fionna
Memory Garden is a series of mixed media illustrations on watercolor paper that is inspired by my time spent during the summers at each of my grandparent’s houses. After my grandma Anne passed away in January I narrowed in on my relationships to my grandmothers and explored both their similarities and differences with one another. The concept of a garden ties them together literally because they were both amazing gardeners and they each studied landscape architecture. Throughout the summer I spent time working in my sketchbooks and doing creative research to find common threads between the two of them. The finished work encompasses this research and represents the symbols and narrative that I discovered over the summer. The process is an exploration of how the identities we hold of others are non-linear and ever-changing in nature. The finished work aims to recontextualize how memory shapes relationships, and hopefully will connect with others reflecting on their own personal histories. While developing this project I wanted to infiltrate the construct I had made up of where my art can exist in the world. I tried my best to depart from the black and white thinking I'd been doing of what is fine art vs what is illustration.
Guidian Owen 2025
(2025-11-20) Owen, Guidian
SOUNDCHECK is a series of four mixed media posters highlighting queer musicians. I wanted each illustration to feel unique to the style of music, attitudes, and aesthetics of each band. The artists I depicted are Um Jennifer, Glass Beach, Kevin Abstract, and Adrianne Lenker. I was interested in depicting queer musicians because I have always been interested in how queer musicians generally express their queerness through both visuals and lyrics. I also grew up listening to queer musicians, they made me feel more comfortable in my own queer identity and inspired me to express my queerness through my art.
Katherine Meighen 2025
(2025) Meighen, Katherine
My project, titled “Folke the Kyrkogrim”, is a children's picture book about a guard dog named Folke, who through his own death, becomes the legendary folk character; the kyrkogrim. The book is written in a memoir style, telling the story of Folke’s life and death from his own perspective. I felt this was important in order to make the story more intimate, like you are sitting down to listen to an old man tell his tales. The intimate nature of the book aims to provide a bit of comfort and aid in minimizing children's fears of the unknown; helping to answer the age-old question, “What happens when we die?”
Felix Hastings 2025
(2025) Hastings, Felix
Lambie: The Nostalgia Series is a series of four blind box figure designs, inspired by themes of nostalgia and childhood memories. This series focuses on my original character Lambie, a plush sheep who serves as both a mascot and persona for myself. My thesis project explores themes of nostalgia, memories, and vulnerability through a series of blind box toys designed to feel like fragments of a childhood scrapbook. I wanted to capture small but meaningful moments, both happy and bittersweet. These memories hold both comfort and a sense of fragility, which I aimed to reflect in my designs. My project also highlights how toys can be more than just objects—they are a representation of memories, comfort, and belonging. I designed 4 unique figures, including turnaround sheets, sculpted and painted prototypes, and illustrated insert cards. Each figure was inspired by my own childhood memories. Playhouse was inspired by my memories playing in my backyard, as well as the bittersweet feeling of outgrowing your childhood. Homework was inspired by the helplessness that comes along with being a child, and the stressful memories I have of doing math homework that often left me thinking I was dumb. Play Pretend was inspired by childhood imagination and the many hours I spent daydreaming and playing pretend as a child, often with my little sister following along after me. Lastly, Cozy Day was inspired by the safe and comforting memories I have of spending days at home during weekends, vacations, and snow days, just playing games and watching movies with my sister. The turnaround sheets of each figure feature information that would be important in a manufacturing scenario, such as sculpt notes, painted details, and color palettes. Creating sculpted and painted prototypes was an important aspect of this project for me, as a multi-media artist, and these were sculpted in a mix of polymer and epoxy clay and then painted with acrylics. Often, blind box figures include insert cards of each design in the series, so I created watercolor illustrations for each of these, as well as wrote flavor text to introduce more context and create a better sense of worldbuilding in the project.
Rachel Belfrom 2025
(2025-11-20) Belfrom, Rachel
Within O.U.R world, there lies a biopunk-inspired character, Nova. A hand painted, 18-inch tall Figurine. Through her, I explore three themes that matter deeply to me which is inclusivity, identity, and mental health, especially for people who often feel unseen or misunderstood. Nova is a humanoid whose body has been altered through forced technology. She lives in a society where her senses and perceptions are controlled, and certain parts of the world are hidden from her. But she begins experiencing glitches, brief moments where she sees more than she is allowed to. Instead of seeing these moments as insight or a gift, Nova believes she is the error. That feeling of people insisting that you are the problem or that you are broken simply for being yourself became the emotional core of my project.
Georgia Rector 2025
(2025-12) Rector, Georgia
“In 1970, two childhood friends with a shared passion met a misfit farmgirl with a knack for guitar while on a trip to Montpellier. What started as a self-titled collection of the pair’s musical tinkering was about to be, well, a thing-- a spacey, rocky, multilingual, God-knows-what sounding thing. A lucky break secured the trio a deal with Disques Vogue, sending them on a years-long enterprise as the cultish weird girls of the French music scene.” -Rock & Folk Magazine, 1976 from the Lavender Valley Archive: lavendervalley.neocities.org Lavender Valley was a band of three young women that started humbly in the Pacific Northwest, achieved cult status in mainland Europe in the mid-70s, and was eventually forgotten except for a single rudimentary website founded in 1998. Though Frances, Beth, and Corinne are not actually real, my goal is to make Lavender Valley feel as real as I can. This type of storytelling is called unfiction, or immersive fictional stories told through nonfictional means. By combining unfiction with colorful vintage visuals, the Internet, and inspirations from my favorite real bands, I’m able to create a personally fulfilling extended project that necessitates I take on multiple artistic roles and goes far beyond thesis. The thesis project is made up of Lavender Valley’s 6 albums, for a total of 11 fully illustrated images. Visual codes of the design, photography, and type of the 1970s insert the band directly into reality, making the audience question if what they’re seeing is authentic. The album covers live on the Lavender Valley Archive website, the heart of the project overall. The album artwork has also been fabricated into LP slipcases and installed among real vintage albums for the audience to search for as if they were actually shopping for records. All of these methods of delivering this unfiction narrative serve to explore just how real I can make this band feel.

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