Luck & Support
My parents gambled and adopted a boy from Korea without ever seeing a picture. My Mom had plenty of pretty names for her new son but my Dad saved the boy by giving me his.
I started pushing paint around and bullying pixels in high school, and later graduated from Rhode Island School of Design. Initially painting was my way to stand out from the crowd and avoid gym class. But in college where everybody was artistic and new, I made pictures to connect.
I’m currently making my way as an illustrator and graphic designer, sketching all that moves at the zoo, playing ice hockey and soccer, and finding new water to try my luck fishing.
I don’t get the chance to meet everyone who views my work now, but I love that people get to know me first through my pictures.
I believe some things are best left undiscovered, although sometimes I get too curious. Everything that I am stems from my family and friends, my parents Joe&Mimi Blake, my brother George Cortez, my love Rui Kawamura, Baaab, Kei Kawamura, Youji Noh, Jonathan Cho, Shane Zhao, Mark Twain, Andy Hill, Mike Croak, Jim Delise, Meghan&Matt Houck, Aileen Nguyen, Maxfield Parrish, Walt Disney, J.M. Barrie, Sean Ginty, Sam&Grace Min, Eugenie Clark, Marty Stouffer, Dan Gilligan, David Attenborough, Adam Carstens, Lisa Sobsynski, Mark Curtis, Joe Clinton, Nathan Orensten, Counting Crows, Adam Beach, Dave Mackey, Merchants of Beer Ice Hockey, Wolves Pond Hockey, Strong Hearts Ice Hockey, Ohio Gunners Soccer Club, Yoshi Ando, Soichi, Shinji & Kazuna Kawada, Nemo, Totoro, Zac Brown Band, the Notwist, Korbin Dallas, Jax Teller, Steven Rinella, Jocko Willink, Joe Rogan, Dustin Poirier, Cameron Crowe, Preston & Steve, the Flyers & Phillies (even when you're slumping), Lloyd Dobbler, Kevin Costner, Paul Newman, Lilo&Stitch, Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders, Brad Bird, Indiana Jones, Dave Holloway, Benjamin Franklin, Dick Winters, Justin&Keiko Petrich, Kenji Isomura, Marcus&Julie Krohner, John Singer Sargent, Maria&Beth&Fatih Myers, David Wiesner, Monet, Howard Pyle, and Thomas Eakins.
Send along a message with any illustration opportunities or if you just get bored and want to talk to someone new…
Take it easy,
Joe