Featured Artist #9: Mattibee (He/Him)

Bluesky - Tumblr - Ko-Fi

I am some sort of bug that learned how to draw other weird bugs of all sorts of shapes and sizes. I currently work as a freelance creature designer and game asset artist- and I also have a little shop and open commissions on occasion!

I am greatly inspired by monster and creature designs from video games and horror media. Some of my biggest inspirations are Pokemon, the Legend of Zelda series (Twilight Princess and Wind Waker especially!), Junji Ito, Francis Coulombe (frankiepixel), and generally any folkloric or "lovecraftian" beasts! Most of my work features cuter friends like Pokemon, but I can definitely whip up some weird and scary little guys when the whimsy hits!

My favorite aspect of creature design is taking inspiration from real life animals and folklore- there are so many weird and wonderful creatures out there! I don't hope to meet them all because some can be quite scary, but I will twist them into a soft friend or a scarier freak for their troubles.

I am currently working on expanding my clay sculpture and textile art skills! I want to create lots of cute and colorful little guys you can hold in your hands and/or stick on the fridge. I am also building up my online shop for selling these little guys as well as other manufactured and digital goods! One of my favorite items I'm hoping to add this year is a tiny sticker gacha featuring over 40 possible little guys!

I am also in charge of designing and creating models of creepy and gross monster designs for a secret project! 👀

Content Warning: The image below contains stylized gore. Click to reveal.

I have lots of favorite little guys! Most of them are from Pokémon (Espurr, Whimsicott, Yveltal, Poliwag, Venonat...) but I am also very charmed by indie plush designs such as LittleSofts and Snughouls (and almost every plush project that shows up on Backerkit 😆) I also of course am charmed greatly by the bug. 🐛