About

Hello there!I'm a freelance artist by night and a computer scientist by day. Always hoping to expand and improve my work, I want to attend as many conventions as possible this year.I really hope you enjoy my art!

• see Works

Contact: For business inquiries

Social Media

I am most active on Twitter where I go by @frog_well_On Instagram I also go by @frog_well_Or just follow the links below! You can probably find me by some variation of "frog", "well" or even "frogoutofwater".

Gallery

• Illustrated Work
• Stickers & Charms

Illustrated Works

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Stickers & Charms

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Katsucon 2023

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After attending Katsucon as a local fan, I had the opportunity to have my first double table here! Katsucon is one of the best conventions for cosplay which my friends and I took full advantage of, running a Genshin Impact Yae Miko Publish House themed table in full cosplay.

table setup

Katsucon 2023 was my first double table spread and I wanted to take full advantage.Art prints and posters were displayed on photoshoot curtains in the back. In the front, one table was reserved for postcards, stickers, and flipbooks. The other table displayed keychains and wooden pins. This made it easier for customer transactions since we could take customers on both sides.The Ms Hina carboard cutout was absolutely mandatory of course.

New addition: keychains & pins

At this convention, I was able to add a new type of product: acrylic keychain charms and wooden pins. Both were sourced from Vograce and I was quite happy with the result. We sold out of nearly half the keychain designs and a good amount of the wooden pins.In the future, I want to bolster my stock and look into getting wooden keychains due to the vibrancy of the color and light weight of the material.

The first image displays my friend gracefully bowing in supplication. She was glad sales that day were good. Her mother and younger sister came by that day to marvel at us. I am not sure what her mother thought about the degeneracy of the convention, but I made sure to impress her little sister.

The second image displays another friend trying to bow but failing. It would have been even worse if she was wearing her tail.She is like a clumsy cute anime girl. Would she be considered a genki girl or dojikko? I contemplated sending the video to her father, but decided not to since she is also a violent girl.

Anime NYC 2023

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Anime NYC 2023 is one of the biggest conventions I've attended and a big dream of mine. I recently moved to NYC to pursue my studies and being able to attend this convention was exhilarating.I was initially put on the waitlist, but got the notification that I got in! I had 2.5 weeks to prepare~ thank goodness I still had some stock!

A PARTICULARLY MUSCULAR BINGPUP

PRAYERS TO OUR MS HINA STANDEE

MAGFEST 2024

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Magfest 2024 is not technically an anime convention but a Music & Gaming Festival. Not to worry -- there was definitely plenty of anime!This was the first time I attended a 24 hr convention and I could feel it in my bones at the end. When not at artist alley, I was playing DDR and MaiMai.... maybe at 4 AM. Even if I don't get into artist alley next year, I would LOVE to attend again!Despite global warming, it snowed VERY heavily and I was snowed in on Friday. Spent an entire morning shoveling. The Gaylord National Harbor Resort had some real overpriced pizza...

snowed in...but with my dog

I GOT A PHOTO WITH SUPEREYEPATCH WOLF!!! (he bought a yuyu hakusho poster and i just about fainted)

FanExpo Chicago 2023

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FanExpo Chicago at the Donald E Stephens Convention center was the first convention I had to fly to! It was super fun meeting new artists and fellow nerds in the Midwest.What was less fun was dragging my two gigantic suitcases (weighing exactly 50 lbs each to get through the airport!) in full cosplay through public transport.

new Wooden charms

A new product I debuted at this convention were my mini wooden charms! Compared to my 3" acrylic keychains and 3" wooden pins, these charms offered a more subtle touch of weebery. Perfect to add to the house keys!That's what my mother did with her Lao Gan Ma charm at least. It was very validating and only slightly offset by the fact that my dad lost his not five minutes after I gifted it to him.

Anime usa 2022

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Anime USA 2022 was my very first convention. It was quite the learning experience and also great fun.
At the convention, I printed all my own prints which I quickly learned was not very sustainable.

table setup

Since it was my first convention, I neglected to take good table setup photos. However, the general table layout can still be seen thanks to the plethora of cosplay photos! Lots of Genshin Impact cosplayers stopped by (due to us being in Yae MIko and Ms Hina cosplay) to take photos. Thus, the fact we have a table setup photo at all is courtesy of this wonderful Venti cosplayer.We have a standard photoshoot poster setup in the back with postcards on wiregrids in the front.

Momocon 2024

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A poor first attempt (no room for me!)

Flying to Georgia was more harrowing than going to Chicago. Not only did I not have friends or family in the area, I also had a new setup. Due to weight limits, I experimented with using shower rings to hold up a taped together print wall.This was very finicky. The shower rings I chose for this first iteration did not have any clips to hold the prints with so I had to tape the prints to the shower rings themselves. As you can imagine, the whole scotch tape concoction was rather unstable.After switching to metal rings with attached clips, it got a lot better for future cons!

A better second attempt (still under constant iteration)

learning to travel better

After Fan Expo Chicago 2023 (my first con I flew for), I realized the importance of weight. Southwest takes two 50 lb suitcases, one carry on (no weight limit), and one personal item.The first weight reduction were the majority of my wire grids -- there was no need to bring the whole setup if I was only going to use a couple. The second weight reduction was my black backdrop tarp. Cloth is surprisingly heavy.After getting some advice, I found the current convention meta was to use shower rings to hang a taped together print wall. This sacrifices more than a couple prints (their backs get inevitably ripped up unlike the magnet setup) but makes setup and take dwon much faster.

Anime nyc 2024

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Round Two!

The last time at Anime NYC, I was taken off the waitlist and given only a few weeks to prepare. This time, I'm happy to say that I was accepted directly! No need to tentatively hope for admittance or steel myself for rejection.Unfortunately, because of the new Anime NYC schedule moving from Fall to Summer, there were more than a few competing events going on at the time (including my summer internship). Regardless, I was much better prepared in terms of stock this time! My friends were also able to help me out which made things a lot easier. It also had the effect of making me buy a lot more merch since I was able to leave my booth for once.

dealing with thick tables

My usual set up, at that time, involved clamping a photostand to the table itself. Compared to a photostand in the back, the prints are closer to the congoers and thus, easier to see (and buy!).However, the tables given by the Javits Convention Center turned out too thick for my clamp stand to clamp to. This put me into a bit of a pickle. Being New York, I was able to run to BNH nearby and grab another table clamp photo stand. However, that also didn't work so I fell back back to my trusty tripod.In the future, I would like to invest in one of those really tall flatfoot photo stands or build some side-arm contraption that would allow a freestanding backdrop to clamp to a table.

Anime magic 2024

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Anime Magic 2024 Table Setup

Anime Magic 2024 was a convention on the smaller side but I absolutely enjoyed my time here! Quite a few of my products were running low after Anime NYC 2024 and there was limited time to restock but it was a good opportunity to test out my travel setup in a low stakes environment. I also got to visit family.At the convention, I did unexpectedly well and sold out more than a few items. I also was placed in view of the voice actors and could get a good glimpse of their going-ons. Emi Lo and Patrick Pedraza both stopped by!

A lighter pin setup!

Anime Weekend Atlanta 2024

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Record speed setting up!

Not so record speed taking down!

Getting used to travel

AWA 2024 was held in the same convention center as Momocon which was very helpful for me since I already knew the layout and location.Unlike my rather arduous and laborious setup during Momocon, I had finetuned my travel exhibit to be much easier. Swapping out my shower rings without clips for ones with clips meant much tape was saved. I also experimented with sidearms using a combination of tape, zip ties, clamps, and wire easels. They were serviceable but could use improvement.

Nitrogen ice cream - it tasted like normal ice cream but normal ice cream tastes good so I wasn't complaining. I don't think the ice cream shop workers knew a convention was happening in the area though.

time crunch and ice cream

The main difficulties during AWA 2024 wasn't the convention itself. At this point, I had gone through enough conventions (travelling and alone) to have a good idea of what to expect and the confidence to handle troublesome events.Unfortunately, I was both working part time and attending classes.
I was able to call off work meetings (except those in the morning before convention start) but classes were a bit more tricky to handle. Being held in December, AWA 2024 coincided with final exam season. I was able to finish all exams and projects before the convention except for one final group presentation (HPML: Optimizing LLM Inference Latency on Chain of Thought Tasks) which could not be moved.After hurrying back from a day of convention sales, I presented in cosplay. Luckily I was able to position the camera so they could only see my head.Much self-rewarded ice cream was consumed.

kamicon 2025

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Looking neater than ever :D

it's all coming together

After AWA 2024, I knew I had to figure out something about the sidearms for print display. At this point, there were just simply too many designs. Even after I had discontinued a couple of the poor performers, my print wall could not feasibly display everything. My travel photostand also couldn't stretch taller -- I was also hesitant to build too high (the higher you go, the harder the visibility. Depending on the lighting, sometimes glare gets really bad. This causes people to have to stand far back to see everything which 1) blocks traffic and 2) discourages people from coming up close).Thus the booth acquired new additional sections in the form of two panel boxes that stand on the table. I used magnets to adhere side prints to them and it worked out quite nicely. I would bring more panels in the future to go taller!I also invested in some wooden card stands for my postcard display. I'm mostly a print artist as I enjoy complex and intricate design but I think I'll focus on making more stickers or charms next. With the little bit of remaining space, maybe a small flipbook or menu could be a good idea.

Cultural influences

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I try to take inspiration from as many sources as possible outside of current media and animation. This includes various classical works and artists. Since I often draw with a documentary playing in the background, this bleeds into my work.The piece to the right is heavily inspired by the artist Francis Bacon and his seminal triptych "Three Studies for a Crucifixion". I thought the body horror and reproductive imagery the piece evokes are very similar to themes found in Made in Abyss. Thus comes about the distorted bodies of our three protagonists, Riko, Reg, and Nanachi accordingly. The reduction of humanity in the descent into an all-knowing nothingness were very resonant.

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of the Abyss (Made in Abyss x Francis Bacon)

Lofi Alchemist - beats to relax and crystallize to (Albedo, Genshin Impact)

In my opinion, there are two ways to have a piece resonate with the viewer: composition or concept. Either the viewer can be overwhelmed by technical skill and artistic beauty (composition) or they can be touched by something they find relateable to their own lives (concept). A mixture of both would be ideal.Listening to the "lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to" on YouTube while doing homework is a unifying experience for students everywhere. I wanted to combine the bright mugginess of studying on a beautiful day with a more fantastical feel. As a fan of Victorian fairy painter Richard Dadd, I tried to evoke a slightly otherworldly atmosphere through small detailing in the otherwise familiar setting of a study room.

Storytelling

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Heritage

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My favorite character in the Chinese game Genshin Impact is Tartaglia. His name is "达达利亚" when written in Chinese。 Since "亚" is a homophone for "鸭“ or "duck" in English, the character is often depicted as a duck or goose in the community. Taken gratuitously further, "达达利亚" can also be heard as "打打力鸭" which translates to "fight fight power duck". The character's canonically bloodthirsty personality finds a kindred spirit in a bloodthirsty mean-spirited goose.The poem ”Ode to Goose" is a Chinese Tang poem written by Luo Binwang that every Mandarin speaking preschooler knows. When given some creative license, its peaceful verses can be misconstrued as something else entirely.*Even with no knowledge of Chinese, the pun still works in English. Tartaglia's boss battle in the game involves a transformation into something known as "Foul Legacy". Tweak a single letter and he becomes something much more avian. *A "Fowl Legacy" indeed. Truly, a goose's temperament is something to be feared.

Goose Goose Goosetaglia (Childe/Tartaglia, Genshin Impact x Luo Binwang)

Remnant Lotus Listens to the Rain (Jiang Cheng, Mo Dao Zu Shi)

“Leave the remnant lotus to listen to the rain.”
- Lin DaiyuThe quote comes from the poem “Suluo's Pavilion Sending Love to Cui Yong and Cui Yong” by Li Shangyin. There are famously two versions of this line:“留得残荷听雨声” - leave the remnant lotus to listen to rain“留得枯荷听雨声“ - leave the withered lotus to listen to rain“Withered lotus” is the original, but “remnant lotus” came into being when the poem was misquoted by Lin Daiyu, one of the principle characters of “Dream of the Red Chamber” or 紅樓夢 (one of the four great Chinese classics). The meaning behind this discrepancy is to reflect hope in love (an interpretation). A withered lotus is swept away but, despite the uncertainties in her relationship, Lin Daiyu’s love still has hope. It is waiting for reciprocation but has not withered. Hence the misquote.When applied to the story of MDZS, the line is reflective of Jiang Cheng being left alone at Lotus Pier, not withered but waiting. For what, who knows?

SKETch & WIP Gallery (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

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Three Day lotus (ONGOING WORK)

Three Day Lotus (title subject to change) is my current attempt at storytelling. It's very loosely inspired by Dream of the Red Chamber and its themes of conformity as well as its portrayal of Confucian vs Taoist vs Buddhist thought.I've always been interested in wuxia or xianxia stories and have wanted to try my hand at one myself. The genres are the definition of self improvement -- where betterment is reflected in both spiritual and physical growth.Yet, there is a certain irony to these tales. Despite almost all these classical tales extolling personal independence and virtue, they also praise rigid principles and philosophical structures than cannot be undermined nor doubted. We delight in the "lone hero" but only if that hero does not change the status quo.Sun Wukong might have challenged the heavens but, in the end, he also became one of them. The audience love his daringness, but if nothing is truly changed, what use is it? Behind the curtain, one hero switches out for another, each story becomes interchangeable.For a genre about self improvement and challenging both fate and society, the literature itself sure is stagnant.This applies to the secondary characters themselves too. You would think that superpowers would the ultimate equalizer. If everyone can cultivate an immortal undying strong body, then inborn physicality shouldn't be as much of an issue. And yet, women are often relegated to the "jade beauty" or damsel roles. Rather than making any logical sense, I suspect this is another symptom of the built-in expectations of the setting and its structure. They have a role to play after all.Dream of the Red Chamber - of all the four great Chinese novels -- is unique in that it actually has significant female characters. The influences of Journey to the West, Three Kingdoms, and Water Margin influences are seen in every wuxia but Dream of the Red Chamber needs more recognition.In Three Day Lotus, I want to explore a xianxia setting from a different perspective.