Taylor J. F. Payton
It all started when…
I was but a wee lad. My dad got me a bunch of art supplies when I was around 8 years old…
We proceeded to draw Poke’mon together from all the cards and magazines I had collected at the time. I remember being envious that my dad could copy them so well, and mine weren’t turning out as good.
He laughed it off, and simply encouraged me to continue. I accepted my father’s quest, and started drawing a bunch during my spare time. By the age of 9, I was copying Dragon Ball Z characters, Gundam mechs, and even random characters from the shoe box of video game booklets I had lying around.
I proceeded to practice and practice, drawing both from memory and from folders full of images I had acquired. By the age of 14, I was making animations, and sold my first flash games at the age of 17.
A self portrait I drew at age 17.
My drawing still wasn’t that great though. All very stylized, and reliant upon sheer mileage. I had built many bad habits, but when you were making very cartooned figures and sketches, those habits mattered less.
It wasn’t until college that I discovered concept art, and that changed my life forever.
I knew that the amazing art I was seeing on Magic: The Gathering cards and populating my favorite video game art books was the kind of art I was destined to make.
In order to ascend artistically, I had to dig for all the fundamentals I could find. I scoured and read through many art books, copying the images and transposing those art fundamentals back to my own work. By the time I graduated in 2013 I was able to freelance and even teach a little.
A piece I made early 2014 - shortly after graduating.
Fast forward to 2019, and I’ve been working steadily for clients for over 6 years. Mostly in game start-ups and private commissions. I’m always studying as often as I can to keep ascending in skill and expression. The other purpose is to be able to help others avoid wallowing in the same art mistakes that I made for decades.
A recently completed illustration tutorial for my advanced students.
A video I recently made detailing my journey when learning to draw, and fighting for years to get to this point.
The ability to create art, music, animations, games, stories…It’s a beautiful gift of being human, and a deeply profound part of the inextricable consciousness we all share.
So I invite you to join me on this quest of ongoing creative evolution. I share new posts, lessons, and courses through my GROWING ARTISTS mailing list, which you can sign up for below:
Happy creating! I’ll see you on the other side.