Tag: Illustration

For drawings that are not comics

Online Zine: Unconventional Self Portraits (August 2026)

Cover image above courtesy of Veronika Vilkas. You can find her stellar textile art over at https://www.veronikavilkas.com/.

Over the course of a couple months, I managed a personal zine project that involved 11 artists (including myself). We each created 1-2 pieces of art centered around the theme of unconventional self-portraits. The main guideline was to make a written or visual piece depicting oneself without being literal. Some participants elected to create portraits showing how they perceive themselves, how they wish they could appear, nicknames and aliases, and even how the external world seems to perceive them. The varieties in style, media, and even meaning were exciting to see, and everyone put a lot of time and though into their pieces. I’m really pleased by how the project came out.

I managed the participants and project, formatted the zine, and created small page illustrations to go with some of the entries. Below is my entry, which I though would be fitting to share on the scuba blog:

TITLE: The Aquarium Life
MEDIUM: Traditional (Collage)
NOTES: If you had told me I would grow up and earn a professional scuba certification, I don’t think anyone would have been surprised. As a baby, my parents would put on aquarium videos for me to watch and I’d be practically hypnotized. The same went for visiting aquariums in person: I could probably be entertained for the whole day. I have a lot of fond memories of going to the beach, swimming, kicking around in tide pools, and generally enjoying being around water throughout my life. 

Collaging used to be one of my favorite ways to make art, so I wanted to incorporate it into the portrait. I used an old baby photo, cut up some scuba and travel magazines for the background, then applied holographic film to certain animals to make the composition pop.

These days all my photos are digital and taken on my phone, and it’s getting harder to find specialty magazines that are still in print. Though the world is rapidly changing, the ocean will always feel like a great escape from the hustle and bustle on land. It feels like I’m returning to my roots when I get my head under the waves. I have seen all the animals and corals present in this collage in real life!

Unfortunately none of the holographic sparkle came through in the final image. I’ve included a couple close up shots to show off the shimmer:

If you want to see the full zine, it’s currently being hosted on itch.io : https://fineartistsgallery.itch.io/unconventional-self-portraits-zine.

You can also vote on the next zine theme here: 2027 Theme Poll if you’re interested in participating.

Enjoy!

Mermay 2026

Every year during May, an internet-wide, informal art event is held. The basic idea is to draw a mermaid every day in May! The event is cleverly called Mer-May, or just Mermay.

This year I got very busy so I didn’t draw something every day, but you can see my pieces below. I made it partially interactive– I asked friends and acquaintances if they’d like to be drawn as sea monsters, and to decide the direction of the “story.”

People tend to draw beautiful, elegant mermaids… but not me! Heheheh! I embraced the weird this year.

My friends & acquaintances below! They decided on how they’d look as monsters:

Divemaster: Thank You Notes

I finished my Divemaster course and made thank you notes for the dive shop staff. They ended up putting them on their respective tip boxes on the front desk, which was a lot of fun for me to see.

From top left going clockwise:

Hawksbill Sea Turtle

Spotted Garden Eels ft. Flounder & Conch

Moray Eel & Lionfish ft. Lobster & Harlequin Shrimp

Bulll Sharks & Remoras

Zine Submission: Polar Lights (Page Submission)

This is an illustration I submitted for a for-charity zine, Polar Lights. The publication focused on Arctic and Antarctic flora and fauna, and proceeds are donated to an Arctic environmental charity. The stuff everyone produced is so gorgeous, it should be in a museum. It made me want to rise to the occasion and make something equally amazing.

Each participant submitted plants or animals for consideration; I was approved for the Giant Phantom Jellyfish.

I am not usually frightened by sea animals, but to be perfectly honest, this thing freaks me out haha! I think it’s because it’s just SO BIG. The Giant Phantom Jellyfish can get as long as 33 ft/10m…

That’s just too big, especially when it looks like a UFO. Happily I will never see it, because it’s only been spotted about 100 times, in the last 100 years. I haven’t seen proof that it’s ever been sighted near the surface either– all sources describe it around the 5,000 ft/m depth. I’m safe!

Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore (Monterey Bay Aquarium)

I initially had a papercraft idea for this piece, which I eventually scrapped. I think it could have worked as a standalone piece, but not against the other submissions in this particular publication. I need more practice with this style before it’s ready for human consumption!

If you want to see all the gorgeous art and see your purchase go towards a good cause, you can download the full zine Here for $2USD. Enjoy!

Zine Submission: Polar Lights (Spot Pieces)

I joined a charity zine in December ’25 called Polar Lights. It’s focused on Arctic and Antarctic life, and participants can submit written and visual works based on an appropriate animal.

Someone wrote a very cool piece about Spotted Seals, and last minute asked if anyone in the group would be able to create some spot pieces for their story.

Spot pieces are small works of art that accompany text. They’re placed on the pages with the text, rather than being a separate illustration on a separate page.

I whipped these up and submitted them for consideration. I adore seals and sea lions so this was very fun for me!

Polar Lights was published on April 6th, 2026 and you’ll be able to see my full art piece I made for it, plus my spot pieces accompanying a wonderful written work! You can:

Find the publication [here] for a cool $2 USD

Find past issues [here]

That $2 goes to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition , so in addition to viewing some amazing art you’ll be donating to a good cause. Neat!