Files
Download Thumbnail Sheet (43.5 MB)
Download Digital illustration of two girls sitting on a rooftop, watching the sunset hit a city landscape. (38.9 MB)
Download Charcoal drawing from life of various objects from daily life, as well as a text message conversation. (10.6 MB)
Download Charcoal and colored pencil drawing of a colorful, imaginative scene appearing inside an otherwise colorless eyeball. (13.4 MB)
Download Intaglio print self portrait, with cracks sprouting across the figure's face. (22.2 MB)
Download Intaglio print self portrait, with the figure solemnly cuddling a stuffed animal that is too small for her to properly use. (20.9 MB)
Download Charcoal and marker drawing of a naturalistic young girl running next to two childishly drawn figures. (2.0 MB)
Download Charcoal drawing from life of several exam grades, pens, and pencils, including a crumpled exam in the center and one broken pencil. (1.6 MB)
Download Charcoal self portrait featuring a stuffed animal lingering on the figure's shoulder. (1.5 MB)
Download Digital illustration and design featuring bright colors and round shapes to attract children to education at the zoo. (689 KB)
Download Digital design practice using typography as shapes. (1.2 MB)
Download Digitally designed logo on a mockup coffee cup. (3.2 MB)
Download Digitally designed logo on a mockup food bag. (1.1 MB)
Download Digitally designed logo on a mockup shopping bag. (15.1 MB)
Download Digitally designed title page for a branding style guide. (185 KB)
Download Digital design, featuring playful typography introducing the feeling of the brand. (211 KB)
Download Digital design, featuring the general grid of the style guide. (156 KB)
Download Two-color silkscreen poster for Coco Chanel with an illustration of a mermaid and a perfume bottle. (8.9 MB)
Download Illustrative silkscreen poster for the play "Cinderella." (300 KB)
Download Silkscreen poster using halftones to create a photo-like image to raise awareness for autism diagnosis. (10.4 MB)
Download Digital illustration of a page out of the story "The Lion and the Mouse," featuring round, expressive characters and playful typography. (891 KB)
Download Painterly digital illustration of various food items that might appear at a breakfast table. (14.8 MB)
Download Illustrated Sun surrounded by multicolored planets and greeting a lone astronaut. (12.1 MB)
Download Graphite self portraits. Modular work made of various timed, sketch-like drawings of the figure in various laying poses. (11.4 MB)
Download Digital illustration of two brightly colored characters with joyful expressions. (2.2 MB)
Academic Level at Time of Creation
Junior
Date of Creation
Spring 5-4-2025
Artist Statement
Every person has to grow up, but that doesn’t mean we have to let go of our childlike wonder. Our imaginations can be an escape, letting us temporarily run away from reality to something refreshing and healing. My work embraces my love of everything soft, round, and whimsical to create art that embodies the safety, joy, and adventure of childhood.
By working digitally, I create works with bright colors and larger-than-life characters that have a sense of whimsy, separated from the physical world. When working in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, I begin by sketching layouts and characters on paper or on a tablet. I then transfer those sketches into the programs and build designs underneath them, starting either with simple shapes or varied lines. The Harbor Seals flyer uses curved shapes to build a soft seal character who, though believable, also seems to have a friendly smile. The flyer’s rounded, legible typography in various weights feels both exciting and safe. Distorting the proportions of characters can allow them to be more expressive and relatable, like the characters in my illustration, The Lion and The Mouse. Their facial expressions are exaggerated to connect their emotions with the audience, and their bodies are rounded like the world around them, making them seem more playful. Even in my brand designs such as Cozies Café, using bubbly, rounded typography can make the brand feel more inviting and entertaining, and creating dynamic type lockups adds movement and excitement.
My use of bright, saturated colors and playful proportions are inspired by Devin Elle Kurtz and Sam Yang, who use these elements to create larger-than-life scenes that draw the viewer into another world. Kiana Khansmith also uses these lively proportions along with strong expressions and movement to create characters that feel exciting and relatable. These three artists challenge my use of color and proportion, pushing it further so that I can make a world that sweeps a viewer back to younger, safer, happier times.
Advisor/Mentor
Professor T. Michael Martin; Professor Scott Cook; Professor Jim Bryant; Professor Antje Gamble; Professor Katie Knoeringer
Description
This project captures a variety of my best work throughout my college career, starting in the Fall of 2022. Through these works, I explore my own struggles with becoming a new adult. I also address my longing to remain a child and preserve my youthful imagination even as I age.
This portfolio exemplifies how my focus has shifted over time from physical to digital work and from naturalistic to more abstracted styles. The works in this portfolio include a variety of mediums: charcoal drawings, intaglio prints, silkscreen prints, and digital designs and illustrations. The works also range in size from over 48" in length to 6" x 8". Charcoal drawings such as Being an Adult are drawn from life and are naturalistically rendered in black and white. The lack of color and the wide value range emphasize a feeling of exhaustion with reality and with expectations. In contrast, bright illustrations such as The Lion and the Mouse contain vibrant colors, flat shapes, and larger than life expressions that draw the viewer into an imaginative world. Through my works, viewers can explore their own struggles with adulthood and find a reason to take a few steps backwards. Sometimes, being a kid again can give us the healing we've been looking for.
Photo Credit
All Photos by Bryce R. Drake.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Drake, Bryce R., "Bryce Drake ART399 Portfolio" (2025). Professional Practices (ART 399). 174.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art399/174