By Grant Terwilliger
Sophomore art major Max Alexander draws character designs for clients, creates original video games with their friends and creates manga inspired art.
Alexander’s path to Plattsburgh’s art program was untraditional. Alexander applied to the BFA program at SUNY Plattsburgh, but the program was removed. They originally thought about majoring in English, but on a whim decided to instead major in Art. Alexander’s love for art and drawing started when they were seven years old, copying from their sister and from anime cartoons on television.
“My sister was an artist, and I was super jealous of her, so I started tracing everything she was doing when I was a kid. That was kind of fun, so I just kept doing it,” Alexander said. “I was really into the anime ‘Fruits Basket,’ and I used to trace the characters all the time. I was like, ‘Well, I’m good at it.’ Even though I was tracing I was enjoying doing it, so I kept doing it. After that I stopped tracing everything, and then I kept drawing on my own.”
Alexander kept drawing throughout their life and in high school took a computer programming class. This allowed Alexander to make their characters and stories come to life. Alexander has been working on a game with a couple of friends since freshman year of high school. The project caused Alexander to realize that they are passionate about story building and character building, and making a game with others allows them to combine their love for these practices.
“It’s a kind of psychological horror rpg. It’s a two part game. So we’re about three quarters the way done with the first half of the game,” Alexander said.
Alexander is inspired by a lot of RPGs that they played as a kid for game design including ‘Omori’ and ‘Undertale.’
Alexander also has a freelance job creating drawings of characters for games such as “Dungeons & Dragons.”
One of Alexander’s biggest inspirations for their art is Akira Toriyama, the creator of the anime series “Dragon Ball Z.”
“He cares so much about his art and it inspires something in me to want to care about my art the way he cared about his art and his stories. I’ve been a lot more productive since discovering him, and I looked up to him a lot as an artist and as a creator in general,” Alexander said.
Alexander’s artistic process starts off with ideas of what they could do a week before the project begins. After that, they begin sketching and the process continues until the piece is complete.
“I usually start with a crap ton of thumbnail sketches — I make 50 or 60 — It’s insane,” Alexander said. “Then, I pick the best one, make it a little bigger, and then I usually draw it digitally before I transfer it to paper, so that way I can block out the colors and everything. I am more of a digital artist than I am a traditional artist.”
Alexander not only looks up to anime artists and games for inspiration, but also their friend and fellow Plattsburgh student Virginia Lucchetti.
“I look up to her a lot because me and her work on similar stuff, and we have pretty similar passions. She’s just awesome. I love her art, and I think that I want to do the things that she does, because it’s really cool. And the way she works too is motivating,” Alexander said.
Alexander is looking forward to focusing on their art and allowing themself to be represented more in their artwork and develop a more distinct artistic style.
“I’m really excited to focus a lot more on how I can be more passionate about what I’m doing, and put myself more into my work, because I feel like I’ve struggled with that a lot,” Alexander said.
