ART & ILLUSTRATION
BY DAKOTA DRAKE

I am a freelance artist and woodland creature living in the desert of Arizona. I used mixed media, acrylic paint, and digital tools to design and illustrate. I am an adaptable and intuitive artist who plays with style and genres. 

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The story up until now:

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I went to school for international business and entrepreneurship and spent the first decade of my career working in small companies. In 2021 (with a nudge from Covid and subsequent unemployment) I decided to move away from the business world and commit to being a full time artist.

I’ve spent this time building my skills and a portfolio of commissioned works. Lately I’ve been teaching art to students of all ages. There's a 100 year age gap between my youngest and oldest students: I've taught classes 2 year old toddlers, and classes to senior citizens, including a 102 year old life-long learner.

 
My work: 

My work often uses local environments and nature to explain very personal feelings as well as wider issues. I tend to make art that seeks to bring awareness of the importance of wildlife and untouched wilderness to the public. I want to create things to enrich the lives of viewers, by making them imagine a wilder, stranger, more natural existence within our daily lives.

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All of this has the end goal of continuing to do what I love - which is telling beautiful, weird, loving, strange stories through art.

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Me:

When I'm not creating art or comics, I'm outside in the sunshine doing AcroYoga, hiking, camping, gardening, trying to make friends with a wild animal, attempting to forage wild plants without dying, or getting lost while exploring someplace I probably shouldn't be. 

I'm available for commissions, design work, and illustrations! Please feel free to reach out at any time with questions or available artistic and creative opportunities.