Curator’s Statement:

When I’m looking at a t-shirt design, one thing I try to analyze is “how wearable is this without knowing anything about it?” Is it title reliant? If there’s a reference, what is the chance someone would care about it without “getting” it? For this piece, the well-executed style brings the concept into a totally different context, and the image captures the imagination, not just the memory. It passes my test with flightless-but-fast-running colors!

Tell us a little bit about what got you into the shirt world.

I have to thank/blame shirt.woot for getting me into shirt design, though now I am branching out to other sites as well (HI TILTEED!). For years I was trying to better my 3D skills and let the 2D work fall to the wayside. After stumbling onto these secret underground tshirt communities I thought it would be an excellent way to bring back my 2D art in a more focused way. Now I draw almost daily at home and enjoy it.

This shirt isn’t the only video game designing you do, is it?

You’re right. I’m an environmental artists on several video games out there (Summoner 2, Punisher, Red Faction 2, Red Faction Guerrilla). That takes up a lot of my art braincells. But tshirt design is so different than my day to day work that it’s very refreshing.

You’ve taken this design expertly into the past. Is there a game you’d love to modernize for the 21st century?

Remember those good old fashion RPGs of the past? King’s quest, space quests, etc. Ya, I miss those. I’m done with twitchy games and I want a fun loving good RPG. Gritty realism is so overdone but it’s what people pay for right now. They brought back Monkey Island recently and that was a hoot. Keep em coming guys.

When you’re not doing art of some sort, what are you doing?

Sleeping J (a little).

I also really enjoy cooking and finding tasty ways to eat healthy. My boyfriend is becoming a master at the grill. I’m usually in the prep station and feeding station.

I’m also getting a lot out of a Thai Boxing class. Nothing like getting pushed to your physical limits every week. It helps lessen the guilt I get from sitting hours a day in front of a PC. Though I’ve learned it’s not a good idea to think about a tshirt design while training . . . it’s far too distracting and you walk out of class with a busted lip.

If you could cite a few influences that helped inspire your style, who would they be?

Wow, this is kinda hard. I see art in everything. Naturally, I am influenced by many of my fellow tshirt creators. I mentally file away a lovely color combo from one person, a shading technique from another, the zaniness of a third, etc. I try not to outright copy any one style. That would be no fun. After all these years I’m still struggling to find my own style though so I experiment a lot.

If I wanted to stay updated on your work, where should I go?

Well I DO have a site. http://www.polysoup.com

As far as how updated it will be that’s hard to tell. I have every desire to keep up with it but I’m no wordsmith (can’t you tell)

Anything else you’d like to add?

YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF ME!!