Sherman Tibayan

I am a Filipino-American, the younger of two boys from a military family. I grew up in several different places. I was born in the Philippines on a naval base; my father was in the U.S. Navy for twenty-three years. When I was three years old we moved Virginia Beach, Virginia. Between the ages of 6 and 12 we lived in Sigonella, Sicily, and then moved to Norman, Oklahoma. For the last ten years I have lived in Norman, and a graduate of The University of Oklahoma.

Growing up my artistic nature gravitated towards cartoons, comic books and video games. I would constantly draw the Batman, Transformers, or the Mario Brothers with crayons or pencils on whatever was close at hand. The bold colors and hard lines were all I knew of art, until my family and I moved to Italy in 1991. In Italy my parents would take my brother and me on weekend trips to ancient ruins and museums. From there we learned about different artists and styles.

The graphic nature of comic books and cartoons still dominate my style with its clean lines and flat colors. However since studying the fine aspects of I have gained a better understanding of art theory. Some of my influences are James Jean, Aaron Noble, Jim Lee, Alphonse Mucha, Egon Schiele, Derek Hess, Alex Toth, Joe Kubert, Akira Kirosawa, and Hayao Miyazaki.