A curiosity: I wrote the first version of this post on 22 November 2018 and rewrote it on 20 October 2026.
In 2018, this whole post was three sentences long:
I've always been interested in art. I'm particularly drawn to chiaroscuro in painting and comic art in drawing. I've spent a lot of time with traditional materials, but these days I work mostly in inks (linework) and digitally (colour).
Eight years on, I'm still drawn to light pushing its way out of the dark. Most of the rest has changed.
Where it started
My working life in art began as an apprentice in a tattoo parlour, drawing flash and learning that a line has to be confident, because skin doesn't come with an eraser. Then came animation at film school, a string of illustration and design jobs, and from 2009 I painted and illustrated full-time, selling original work through galleries in Gauteng.
The long detour
In 2012 I stepped back from painting for a full-time role in media. That turned into nearly 14 years at Menzies Media, working my way from graphic designer to art director to creative director. Good years, and I learnt a lot about ideas, clients and deadlines, but the brushes mostly stayed in the cupboard.
Coming back
Lockdown brought them out again. Stuck at home, I picked up the brushes, along with a camera, writing, video editing and even building apps. The comic-book ink has given way to paint: a slightly impressionist realism, with expressive brushstrokes I let show rather than polish away.
Now
These days I freelance, and art is one of three legs I stand on: people (clients and collaboration), art (painting, illustration, photography and design) and tech (AI-assisted apps and design). I'm also writing a book, Spark 2299.
The 2018 me was trying to find his lane. The 2026 me has made peace with not having one. I make things. Some of them are paintings.