One Step at A Time - Portfolio 2023

NAMAKA

Namaka is my personal IP that is still currently a work-in-progress. This worldbuilding project takes inspiration from the Philippine Cordilleran Peoples more commonly known as the “Igorots” who've successfully fought back against the Spanish colonizer's influence and invasion for three centuries.

Namaka means “head-taker” as the Igorots are a warrior-like tribe feared for their headhunting practices.

In my world building project, the native peoples are called the Chaklag, who are terrifying as much as they are brave, fiercely defending their land from invaders.

TARA-KI

Tara-Ki is the protagonist in the story. She is one of the Chaklag but is orphaned at a very young age, when her whole village is slaughtered by mercenaries belonging to an organization called the Trident. Instead of suffering the same fate as her people, she is taken in and raised by Trident’s militant leader, Holland.

Unfortunately, Tara-Ki had also suffered major injuries on her left side during the night of the raid. A grenade explosion had rendered her deaf in one ear and a mostly-dead arm. This is immediately attended to and Tara-Ki is granted a technologically advanced prosthetic arm and hearing aid.

Tara-Ki grows up to be called “Tara”. In the years that follow, she is groomed by Trident to become one of its most elite soldiers to later aid in the invasion of the high mountains where the Chaklag reside.

Tara-Ki later uncovers the truth about her past, learning that Holland and Trident had been lying to her her whole life. She abandons Trident and returns to her people.

Tara-Ki tears out any remaining emblems that identify her as Trident but keeps most of her tactical uniform for practicality’s sake. She dons Chaklag clothes and jewelry to solidify her loyalty to her people.

[A  lot of the problems I encounter is getting overwhelmed by all research material I find and making decisions as to what designs I should stick with. There were so many promising outfits for Tara, but I had to commit to one eventually. Still though, even with a polished piece, I'd spotted errors and have to fix it.]

OLIVIA HOLLAND

Olivia Holland is Trident’s militant leader in charge of the invasion of the surrounding lands and is solely responsible for the complete obliteration of Tara-Ki’s entire village. She’d adopted Tara-Ki and raised her as her own in the interest of using her one day to infiltrate the Chaklag stronghold and conquer them once and for all.

THE FAITHLESS

"The Faithless" is another personal worldbuilding project that is currently a work-in-progress. In this post-apocalyptic world, the Infected are viewed as gods and deities, brought into the world "to humble humans and remind them of their own mortality."

Moldy, rotting infected corpses are treated like idols and devout followers of the cult build altars to honor and worship them.

MALT

MALT is the protagonist in the game. Their features and outfit reflect the harsh reality that everyday is a battle for survival.

Skitch-Sketch: Environments

This is a mini project of photobashed "sketches" of environments that I do in-between major projects to keep refining my skills in Photoshop.

Standalone Pieces

[Another thing I've learned is that there is always ways to push a piece further but also making sure not to overwork it.]

Thank you!

A shoutout to my past mentor Brian Huang who has given a lot of feedback on my work and helped me better understand the way the industry works.

Thank you for checking out my portfolio. Have a good day!