"My friends always tell me that I walk, looking down at my feet, as if I've lost something or I'm waiting for my legs to grow..."

... my parents gambled two and a half decades ago and adopted a boy from Korea without ever seeing a picture. My mom had plenty of pretty names that she wanted to give her new son, but my father saved the boy by giving me his.

I started pushing paint around in high school, and later graduated from Rhode Island School of Design. At first, painting was my way to stand out from my peers and avoid gym. But in college, where everybody was new, I made pictures to connect.

Back in Philadelphia, I produced pifor local publications and small businesses, but mostly I illustrated my own stories and sold the original works in art shows around my hometown of Philadelphia, because it made the most sense to me at the time.

I started showing my pictures in Philadelphia and for a year before finding an amazing space shows took place around Philadelphia for a year before finding , and found When I returned home, my childhood friends' stories were more colorful, my parent's familiar rituals were funnier, and my room never felt smaller. I saw potential characters and stories in every waking moment. This was also the first time that I really felt like I was observing and using a sketchbook. I wanted to entertain others with the little things I experienced.

And in those moments I found another purpose for making pictures... storytelling. I'm currently making my way as an illustrator in Philadelphia, while learning storyboarding and traditional animation. 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.

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I believe some things are best left undiscovered although sometimes I get so curious. Everything that I am stemmed from Jonathon Cho, Shane Zhao, Mark Twain, Andy Hill, Mike Croak, Walt Disney, Meghan Kraynak, Aileen Nguyen, Maxfield Parrish, J.M. Barrie, Sean Ginty, my brother George Cortez, Cameron Crowe, the Notwist, Korbin Dallas, Nemo, Lloyd Dobbler, Lilo&Stitch, Youji Noh, and my parents, Joe and Mimi Blake