About Me

Hi there, I’m Dylan Lake (he/they/she)! I’m an artist, illustrator, character designer, and animator residing in Calgary, AB. I’m a recent graduate of Alberta University for the Arts, earning my Bachelor of Design majoring in Character Design and Illustration, and minoring in Animation. My professional career as an artist started long before university however. At just thirteen, I began vending my work at various art festivals, the most notable being the Edmonton Whyte Avenue Art Walk. After over five years of vending, it was clear my goal was to pursue a professional career as an artist. While attending AUArts, I have had several opportunities to display my work. I organized the group pop-up gallery “Son of a Pitch” in 2023, as well as co-organized and displayed my work in the pop-up galleries: “just some li’l guys”, and the following “just some more li’l guys” in 2023 and ‘24 respectively. My work was also featured in the 2023 zine anthology: “Fractured Fairy Tales”, by the Eat Paint Collective. I primarily work in digital illustration, with elements of digital collage, and have a style focused on bold line art and vibrant colours. I’m also proficient in vector design, and try my hand at digital painting here and there. My body of work largely revolves around a lifelong interest in mythology, folklore, magic, and overall fantasy. With a particular interest in monsters, cryptids, fey and the like. This, combined with a love for dramatic makeup and fashion, I find creates an interesting ‘look’, somewhere within the urban-fantasy genre. My work is heavily inspired by some of my favorite pastimes: board games and TTRPGs (especially D&D), comic books and graphics novels, cartoons and anime, and especially fantasy novels and movies.