Marshall Griffin, or better known as Likram on the internet is a digital artist who hails from Vermont, a beautiful state in the US. Having developed his artistic skills at a young age, Marshall’s passion for illustration grows greater from collecting ideas and finding inspiration from other artists.
His initial creation process involves visualizing his ideas clearly before turning it into well defined sketches and drawings. Adding colors is the final completion process to his artworks.
There is an interesting level of uniqueness in his work. We noticed a series of very moving stories being expressed in his illustrations. So we asked Marshall in greater details about his inspiration, his outlook for the future and what he hopes others will experience from his work.
I would like to start by asking you about when your interest for illustration and art started?
My interest for art started in 2013 when I was only ten. It was the year I attended an art class in school for the very first time, and I loved everything about it ever since.
Who is your source of inspiration?
My source of inspiration is a person named Josiah Brooks. A digital artist and an animator himself, Josiah dedicates most of his time educating other artists through his YouTube channel.
He’s been my favorite artist for quite some time and really someone whom I would like to think is the person that really motivated and started me with art.
What is the creative process you normally adopt when creating a piece of art?
The creative process I normally adopt when creating a piece of art is to start off with asking myself a question, I usually ask myself “what type of art do I want to create today?”. Then I will make a sketch of something that I want to draw, if I don’t like it I will make another sketch until I like the idea.
After the sketch, I will go over it with the line art then straight to the coloring. If I don’t want to use line art I will just color after the sketch.
Which project you have done that you are most proud of and why?
The project that I am most proud of has to be a piece I made called Fyre. It was the first time I made a picture without remaking the sketch 50 times before I liked it.
This is a piece i named Fyre because of her fiery red hair she is a character that has a very mean family that does not support her and she ran away to go free and live life how she wants to live it.
What excites you most about art?
What excites me most about art is how calming it can be and how much time you can spend on it without realizing and how you can express so much through illustration.
What are the tools you normally use for your projects?
In addition to pencil and paper, the other tools that I use for my art are the Huion 420, Adobe Photoshop CC and Paint Tool Sai V2. These tools allows me to be efficient.
How do you see yourself in 10 years time?
I see myself getting better and better with my craft, creating even more artwork and making a living off from it in ten years time.
More of Marshall’s projects
This is a piece I made for one of my favorite rappers. His name is Patrick Jørgensen the person in the background is his mother who had died from cancer.
This is a picture I mostly made to sell my merchandise. I named her Merch Girl.
This is Venom, he is my favorite anti-hero/super villain. I wanted to make a sketchy type of drawing and I thought that he would fit in with it.
This one I call Headache because I drew this with a headache.
Her name is Green Eyes and she just got home from a hard day from working in the FBI.
Marshall Griffin is on the constant look out for commissioned work. When it comes to applying his artistic skills, he knows how to use his visual language well. Feel free to connect with Marshall Griffin, a.k.a Likram and send a request to him on his website or Instagram page.
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We are a group of writers, editors, artists and designers. On the YDJ Blog, we curate and showcase art & design projects, resources and interview stories of creatives we’ve connected with from all over the world. We’ll also review and recommend products that our readers may want.