“Woodland Youth III is part of an ongoing series:
I redraw this character, and his pig companion, every
June. The first time was to commemorate going
vegetarian, and I had no plans to make it an annual
thing. But it felt right to redraw him each year, and by
the third time I went full vegan for a full year so I
wanted a larger illustration to reflect that.
My work is all about intuition. So if a process feels
right I’ll see where it takes me. In most cases I usually
have a rough outline of the concept and look for
shapes and areas of focus that I can push out further
with contrast or edging. For almost every piece
I prefer starting light with a higher H pencil, then
slowly build in my HB, 2B and 4B pencils.
You should also see the eraser as another
important tool at your disposal. I use a mono zero
eraser along with a kneaded eraser, and this helps
keep the values in check. From there patience is the
biggest tool I have to work with. I never rush an area
just to get it done. I try to treat each area with
respect and care. This makes the process take far
longer, but the results are worth it.
Near the end of a drawing, polishing consists of
one more pass to the entire drawing. This includes
using the eraser to sharpen the edges and a dark-
valued pencil to push the depth one step further.
And if there’s any area I believe feels unfinished or
disproportionate, I’ll erase hours of work to correct it.
I can’t call an image done if there is a glaring mistake
that I still see. It will be all I can focus on.
I found this statistic on how many animals are
eaten on average by an American each year: one
cow, one turkey, one pig, 27 chickens, 40 fish, and
130 shellfish. The image of all these animals flooded
my mind and became the composition seen in this
piece. I took extra time to do my best and avoid
tangents, with so many subjects in one piece, and I
feel so much pride for this drawing. It represents my
drawing career and of my personal life as well. Plus,
I found out I really enjoy drawing fish and chickens!”WOODLAND
YOUTH SERIES
Timothy reveals how – and why – he
draws the same image every yearInterview
I was different from other boys.
I wasn’t interested in football or girls and
definitely didn’t enjoy action movies
Moulin Rouge and The Rocky
Horror Picture Show. His parents
always encouraged him, but they
didn’t know much about art (much
later, when people would ask what her
son did for a living, Timothy’s mother
would say his job, 3D concept artist,
was to “do things like Shrek”).
“It was also apparent that I was
different from other boys. I wasn’t
interested in football or girls and
definitely didn’t enjoy action movies.
Instead, I delighted in writing my
own piano songs and cried at the
end of Digimon.
“I spent a lot of time by myself just
creating and making things up.
Hindsight would indicate that I drew
to be heard – in a visual language
that could be understood by others.
I wanted to connect and so I kept
on drawing.”
In 2008, after high school, Timothy
joined the three-year course in game
art and design at the Illinois Art
Institute. It was a good time for a
couple of reasons (“not because of
the quality of the education,” says
Timothy). First, he was surrounded by
like-minded people: he could
reference Studio Ghibli and they
would know what he was talking
about; he wouldn’t have to awkwardly
explain why the Kingdom Hearts
soundtrack made him cry. And,
second, these people were passionate,
talented artists. It was healthycompetition: “I give them a lot of
credit for empowering me to be better
and ‘get good’ quickly... I look back
on these years fondly as no longer
being the weird one who liked to draw,
but rather another art fiend in a
collection of misfits.”FROM PUPIL TO TEACHER
Timothy was 21 when he got a job with
CG Cookie – a website doing tutorials
for animation artists and game
developers. He started out makingBATTERED BUNNIES
“My unofficial mascots
are a black and white bun.
Contrast is in everything
I create and these kids
were another iteration!”
WOODLAND
YOUTH I
“Every June
I redraw my
Woodland Youth
character
alongside his
pig companion.”