Portfolio

The cover for my tabletop roleplaying game, Cabinet of Curiosities.

You can find this game for free here: https://skylarkswift.itch.io/cabinet-of-curiosities

//i made myself this shape on purpose//

Digital Limited Color, April 2023

Directly riffing off Leonardo DaVinci’s Vitruvian Man and the now-retired cover of Abigail Shrier’s violently transphobic text “Irreversible Damage,” this piece is a statement of bodily autonomy and the right to alter one’s own form to suit them. This is my design, not yours.

July 2023.

Digital greyscale, April 2023. i like to draw water a lot.

The cover for my tabletop roleplaying game, Godling.

You can find this game for free here: https://skylarkswift.itch.io/godling

Digital black and white, March 2023. Dedicated to the real self-made men: transgender men. Originally designed for prints and t-shirts, this has since been tattooed on two people. Quite proud of that.

Digital full color, March 2023. I think I just really wanted to paint mother of pearl.

“Hunter’s Taunts.” Rings containing the embedded teeth of vampires; both a trophy to signify hunting prowess and a clear declaration of intent to passing vampires and other creatures in the hunter’s jurisdiction. A small collection from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Digital full color, March 2023. Inspired by Victorian era deer tooth rings. A lot of people on Twitter thought this was a photograph, which really surprised me.

Digital full color, March 2023. I love Devonian age creatures.

Did a little fanart/character design self-challenge with my players’ characters from our Court of Blades game.

Digital black and white, March 2023. Inspired by the transmasculine relationship to Saint Sebastian and the defiant, euphoric suffering of being openly transgender in our current political climate.

“Known as the “Lady of Ill Fortune,” this untitled piece from the estate of the late Emilio Lambrusco has since been passed from dealer, to purchaser, to dealer again. While little is known about the painting in actuality, murky rumors around the piece suggest it portrays Lambrusco’s wife, allegedly in the middle of predicting his death. 1905-1915.”

Digital full color, June 2023.

Digital black and white, February 2023. Inspired by an orchid exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden.

Digital grayscale and spot color, April 2023. I’ve always viewed the story of Pygmalion as a horror story from the perspective of the statue.

Commissioned by Gender Unbound for their August 2020 gallery exhibition.

Detail shot of Venus as a Boy.

Detail shot of Venus as a Boy.

Detail shot of Venus as Boy.

July 2021

July 2021

For the Natural Wonders Zine project. Finished June 2021

Produced for the Adobe (yes, that Adobe!!) Love Project in January 2021. The Love Project was a celebration of LGBT+ art and artists, and I am honored to have contributed with my love letter to transition.

Produced for the Adobe (yes, that Adobe!!) Love Project in January 2021. The Love Project was a celebration of LGBT+ art and artists, and I am honored to have contributed with my love letter to transition.

Produced for The Masculinity Project gallery cohort by the Artists Theater of Boston.

The full virtual gallery for the cohort can be found here: https://artiststheater.org/tmp/

“The Newly-Crowned King of Mars” I and II, Skylar Swift Kardon, 11×14” digital print, Masculinity Project Collective, December 2020.

This diptych of pieces explores the beauty of new and freshly grown masculinity, combining a transmasculine figure with the motifs of spring, royalty, and finding life in unexpected places. Coming from an upbringing where I never thought of masculinity as anything but destructive, and then realizing my trans masculinity as an adolescent, I created these pieces to envision masculinity as new life and creation rather than destruction. It may be a lonely and isolated form of beauty, but it is hopeful, not hopeless.

Produced for The Masculinity Project gallery cohort by the Artists Theater of Boston.

The full virtual gallery for the cohort can be found here: https://artiststheater.org/tmp/

“The Newly-Crowned King of Mars” I and II, Skylar Swift Kardon, 11×14” digital print, Masculinity Project Collective, December 2020.

This diptych of pieces explores the beauty of new and freshly grown masculinity, combining a transmasculine figure with the motifs of spring, royalty, and finding life in unexpected places. Coming from an upbringing where I never thought of masculinity as anything but destructive, and then realizing my trans masculinity as an adolescent, I created these pieces to envision masculinity as new life and creation rather than destruction. It may be a lonely and isolated form of beauty, but it is hopeful, not hopeless.

Illustration for Subvrt Magazine article, “How Grey’s Anatomy Helps Me Cope With Gender Dysphoria” by Jam Bridgett.

https://www.subvrtmag.com/how-greys-anatomy-helps-me-cope-with-gender-dysphoria/

Be not afraid! :3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3

August 2020

In August of 2020, I had the honor of writing and illustrating an article for Subvrt Magazine, a QPoC focused online magazine, entitled “10 Books by Trans Authors That Will Change Your Life.” You can read this article by following this link!

An in-house piece for my job at Liquid Dreams. You can find the full piece for sale on the Liquid Dreams website.

A piece for Willamette Week about DudeCon, a Big Lebowski fan event. This piece featured prominently in the Get Busy section of the paper’s September 26th issue.

A fun piece of fanart I did for the manga Dungeon Meshi, which is a manga about cooking and eating the monsters found in your common, everyday dungeon. This piece debuted as a print at Sakuracon 2018 and completely sold out, but may have more print runs in the future!

Fanart of a pivotal scene from the very first season of Friends at the table, an actual play tabletop game podcast. I like doing podcast fanart because the characters and environments don't have canon visual designs, so I get to largely design what I think they look like based on the verbal prompts given within the audio.

September 2017

Personal work. I love all dogs, but sighthounds are particularly inspiring to me.

December 2016

Drawn based off the podcast "Mabel!" I love thoughtful, well-crafted horror and endless, tangled labyrinths under hills.

"I also have someone dear to me."

Fanart of the manga/anime Houseki no Kuni. Debuted as a limited run print for sale at Newcon in January 2018.

Fanart of ...Signet... from the most recent season of Friends at the table, an actual play tabletop game podcast. I like doing podcast fanart because the characters don't have canon visual designs, so I get to largely design what I think they look like based on the verbal prompts given within the audio.

August 2017

Ink and gouache. Borzoi are generally pretty timid animals in actuality- I made this piece after playing a video game in which borzoi were used as guard dog characters, which I found pretty funny.

Personal project. At the time I was working on it, I was thinking a lot about winter and the creation of fairy tales.

January 2017

A portrait icon commission from a client who liked the look of my crowquill work. He kindly gave me permission to post it to my portfolio and social media sites.

August 2021