Hello there!

Most know me as AJ, I’m an illustrator with a passion for nature, wildlife, and creatures both real and fantastical. I prefer to focus on a more realistic style, taking into account real anatomy and features that are accurate and precise, but I also have the ability to work in a variety of styles as needed. When it comes to creature design I often continue to pull inspiration from real world wildlife, whether that be animals, plants, or a combination of both. A majority of my work these days is purely digital (in Procreate or Photoshop), but occasionally I enjoy going back to my roots with various traditional mediums and occasionally trying to keep up with my sketchbook where I do many of my own personal studies on wildlife.

I’m an avid outdoors woman and multiple pet owner, which inspires and influences a majority of my work. Currently I reside near Kentucky Lake, where in my free time I spend a lot of it in the outdoors. I thoroughly enjoy fishing (both competitively and recreationally), kayaking, photographing, off-roading, hiking, and camping. In addition to my hobbies, I also volunteer with a local search and rescue organization, where I experience the outdoors typically in a much more serious, yet still enjoyable manner, and get to serve and be more involved with my community. We respond to ground, aerial (drone), and water-based search operations within our local area, as well as assisting other counties as needed. This has also further led to a passion of becoming a K9 handler and training my own K9, for search and rescue, in human remains/cadaver detection with hope for a successful future.

I’m willing to consider all types of work opportunities, including freelance, remote, or potential relocation to be in office. Thank you for taking the time to visit my site and for taking a look at my work, if you have any inquiries or potential opportunities please feel free to reach out to my email listed below!

Experience

Freelance Illustrator

  • Illustration pets as traditional portraits, digital cartoons, and sketches from November 2024-Present.

  • Made a coloring book page for Marshall County Rescue Squad as a handout for children at public events in November 2024.

  • Designed a logo for the West KY K9 Training Center to be utilized for signage, print, and advertising in September 2024.

  • Created illustrations for the Kentucky Classic HRD Spring Seminar hosted by the Marshall County Rescue Squad in May 2024. Artwork was utilized for t-shirts, advertising, and signage.

Pebble Creek Kennels, Illustrator

  • Group dog training graduation class t-shirt design. Made in March 2024.

  • Dock diving design used for stickers. Made in June 2024.

  • Reworked, edited, and finished a bite work design based off of a previous old sketch by another artist, for stickers and t-shirts. Made in August 2024.

  • Halloween doberman-bat hybrid design for stickers and t-shirts. Made in September 2024.

  • K9 and drone team design, currently unused, but intended for t-shirts. Made in September 2024.

Jade Summer Coloring Books, Illustrator & Social Media Manager

Illustrated animal, fantasy, patterns and mandala based designs for Jade Summer’s adult coloring books from March 2024 to Present. Sold in paperback on Amazon, digital format on Lulu, and gallery view on the Jade Summer website.

Titles:

  • Amazing Dogs (Published June 2023)

  • Elegant Patterns (Published July 2023, Republished in June 2024 as another version)

  • Flower Crown Animals (Published October 2023)

  • Stained Glass Animals / Color By Number Animals (Published December 2023)

  • Simple / Simple Color By Number (Published January 2024)

  • 100 Mini Mandalas (Published March 2024)

  • Color By Number Cats (Published November 2024)

As a social media manager, assisted with managing and completing social media posts, answering questions, and responding to comments, while trying to maintain and improve engagement and follower levels.

Missouri Department of Conservation, Wildlife Artist

Completed illustrations focused on wildlife native to Missouri for feature articles, posters, and cartoons in the Missouri Conservationist and Xplor magazines from September 2020 to January 2023.


Education

2016-2020 Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

B.F.A. with Honors in Illustration for Concept Design, Minor in Drawing

Honors: magna cum laude


Contact/Social Media

Email: ajwildlifeart@gmail.com