Illustration
Drawing
Sketch Book
Isabel Lauren Loewe
'Untitled', 2026
In second grade, Ryan Pallett and a friend would divide a sheet of paper and fill opposite sides with their armies of fantastical creatures, then argue about who would win. Years later, he still draws with that logic. The creatures in his sketchbooks have researched biologies, deliberate silhouettes, and color systems he can articulate precisely, but he hasn’t lost the quality of looking exactly like what a ten-year-old would declare the coolest thing ever.
His reference points have expanded well past childhood cartoons and manga, but he's deliberate about keeping the thread back to them. The early influences are where the joy lives, he says. He treats that as something worth protecting.
What's interesting about where Pallett has landed professionally is that the path there ran directly through the personal work. Six years as a concept artist, currently at Riot, and most of it traceable back to posting sketchbook pages online. He says he tells everyone to post their work, which sounds like generic advice until you hear that he means it as a direct report of how his own career happened.
Take us back to the beginning. When did you start drawing, and what were the first things you were making?
I would say I’ve been drawing since I was a little kid, sketching monsters and robots to fight each other on pieces of paper. I have distinct memories of being in second grade and drawing my fantastical army on one page, my friend drawing his on the other, and us arguing about who would win.
How do you define yourself? Character artist, fantasy artist, doodler? What word actually fits?
I usually just say artist, but when someone asks for a title more specific, I say concept artist, though I mostly just make characters and not so much environments or other things.
What were your early inspirations? The stuff you were looking at when you were first figuring out how to draw the things in your head.
Lots of comics and manga, games, and TV. Stuff like Digimon, Ben 10, One Piece; really fun and interesting designs and concepts.
What do you gravitate toward now that's different from those early influences? Has your taste moved somewhere your younger self wouldn't have expected?
I would say my taste has changed in that it’s just become more diverse, and I’m taking inspiration more from life, nature, the old master painters, commercial art of the 1900s, and more writing/games/film. I definitely think it’s important to take the early inspirations from childhood seriously, though, and keep a close connection to them because that is usually where the joy of creating comes from. I always tell people I draw the things my ten-year-old self would have thought were cool!
How did you develop your style? Because it's very specific. The shapes, the proportions, the way you build a character from silhouette outward. Where did that visual language come from?
I think it just came from doing a lot of study and thinking about what you like from the artists that inspire you. As artists, all of us are subconsciously creating our own styles all the time; it’s just a matter of really thinking about that process.
How has your relationship with your art changed over the years? Specifically, what was it like when you were younger, and what are the concrete differences between then and today?
When I was younger, art was just something I did for fun. There were many years where art was stressful, those years when you’re dedicating yourself to it and developing your eye can be tough, but there were certainly moments of fun. Now I think I’m really lucky to be in a place where I’m able to find good work doing art, and also having so much fun making art for myself. I think art has become more and more meaningful to me over the years, the more I dedicated myself to it. Pl, us developing my skills for so many years has made it feel so much more effortless to explore ideas and just have fun making cool things that I can be proud of.
Do you have a traditional background or a digital one? You seem to move between both constantly.
I started doing art traditionally, took all kinds of classes in high school, including fine arts classes with hundreds of hours of figure drawing. I started learning to paint digitally in high school, which was terrible; it wasn’t until community college that I learned more. In recent years, though, I split my work mostly doing digital for work and traditional is for fun!
'Untitled', 2026
The sketchbook is clearly central to your practice. How many are you going through in a year, and what does the sketchbook do for you that a screen doesn't?
Sketchbooks are just a collection of memories and ideas that feel so much more meaningful than a digital file. I also think there is a novel element to seeing traditional pieces that digital paintings just don’t capture.
What markers are you using? You've mentioned Arrtx acrylic markers. How did you land on those, and what do they let you do that other tools don't?
I use these acrylic markers from Arrtx. A friend had told me about them and let me try them out, so I decided to buy some, then a bunch more for myself. Eventually, I just asked them to send me more markers,s and they did!! But I really like them because, unlike other acrylic markers, I think they’re pretty well priced, and they’re very vibrant!
How do you choose your colors? Do you use overlay layers digitally, or is a lot of it off the dome when you're working in the sketchbook?
It’s going to sound dumb, but usually I just think about whatever colors I think feel best with each other. Usually, there’s a main color that isn’t super saturated, a medium color that's more saturated, and a super vibrant accent color. Also, thinking about iconic color combinations and either following them or thinking of ways to subvert them.
The Hindu deity designs, Brahma and Parvati, you said you wanted to explore both the beauty and the terror those designs could involve. What drew you to that subject, and how do you approach something with that kind of cultural weight?
I’ve always had a fascination with deities of all kinds. I do love the extravagance of the Hindu gods, especially, and the way that their designs are almost abstract. I think as a character designer, it’s important to actually study the cultures that you’re trying to draw or reference, because it just makes a more well-informed design. I also am always just drawing from a place of love and admiration for whatever the subject matter is, and I think people can feel that.
Your creatures feel like they have full biologies. The corrupted glorps, the yak mount with the tapestry and sci-fi elements. How much backstory exists for these characters before you start drawing them?
Usually, I just think about the concept and try to design the creature or character to support that idea visually, and I think this is an instance where studying and learning biology and how things survive is really important, so you know what to use for each design.
Do the characters come with stories in your head, or do the stories develop after the drawing exists?
Sometimes they start with a story, and I simply bring them out of my head; other times I put them down on paper, and the story creates itself as they are being drawn. Other times it’s a marriage of the two, and the story comes out of problem-solving the design.
The Slay the Spire 2 fan art, you said you'd love to make an illustration for them. What is it about that game's visual world that connects with what you do?
I love this game, and the designs are very cool and different, like each character comes from their own world with its own context. Also, I’m a big fan of grand story concepts like ascending a spire to fight god, aka the “Architect.”
Gaming clearly feeds your work. How much of your character design vocabulary comes from games versus other sources?
I would say it’s 60 percent from movies and TV and 40 percent from games. I watch so many countless hours of TV and movies!!
You just had your first solo gallery show at Wynd in April 2026. You called it "an absolutely magical, surreal experience." Walk me through what that was like, from the moment you saw the work on the walls to the moment people started showing up.
It truly was surreal. It was just a great feeling to have been asked by Clare Sim (Wynd owner), who is also such a great artist, and to be trusted with such a cool space. Getting to chat with everyone who came by was very fulfilling for the soul!
Both volumes of your art book are now at Gallery Nucleus. You said this was a dream come true. When did the idea of making books of your work first enter your head?
I had been filling up sketchbooks for a few years and started wanting to make at least some kind of digital sketchbook for people to download, but I never felt courageous enough or like I had enough of a reason to make one. When I got accepted into the Lightbox Expo in 2024, I decided I needed to finally do it!!
Each copy comes with a signed page and an original drawing. What made you want to include that, and how do you decide what to draw in each one?
I think, as many of us were and are, I was greatly inspired by Kim Jung Gi and how freely he was able to draw and design. I know he used to sign every book people would bring to his live drawing events, and I wanted to try to live up to that by drawing in all of mine. Also, for Lightbox 2024 and 25, I wanted everyone to be able to pick out their favorite drawings from my book, which was a fun little thing. Usually, I would just draw stuff that was in all of the books. I think from those 2 years, I ended up doing about 150ish drawings!
'Owl RPG Character', 2025
The risograph print of the Survivalist was your first attempt at riso. What about that medium interested you, and what surprised you about the process?
The Risograph just seems really cool and feels very traditional-adjacent to me, also the colors and effects are just gorgeous, and honestly, I think if I had the time, I would make all of my prints riso!
You mentioned selling misprints alongside the finished prints and calling them "silly but cool." How do you feel about the accidents that happen in printmaking?
Like with drawing, accidents are just part of the process, and I think you just have to roll with the punches. Some of the fun misprints were test sheets to save paper, and they just ended up feeling more like a collage than a print.
Are you a working artist, or is this a personal passion project? In the sense of, are you taking commissions, are you working for studios?
I’ve been working in games and animation as a concept artist for about 6 years! I’m currently working freelance on something really cool at Riot, helping to design cool characters. Pretty much everything I post online is stuff that I do for fun, though.
What role does social media play in your work? Has it shaped what you make, or is it purely a distribution channel for things you'd be making anyway?
Social media has been my means of getting eyes on my work, and is what actually landed me pretty much all of my jobs! I always tell people to post their work!!!
Your comment sections are full of people asking how you come up with this stuff. What's your honest answer to that question?
Usually, I am thinking of a vibe or specific idea that I am trying to capture, and sometimes I execute it just like that, or there’s some exploration that comes out along the way in the process.
The shapes in your work are very deliberate. The silhouettes are always readable, even when the detail is dense. How much of that comes from thinking about shape language, and how much is intuitive at this point?
I think there’s a lot of consideration about shape that has become intuitive for me, but I definitely deliberate when it comes to organizing the negative space and overlaps of shapes on a silhouette.
You draw characters that feel ancient and futuristic at the same time. The yak creature has tapestry patterns, an antenna, and a diving helmet. Where does that instinct to mix time periods come from?
I personally love stories and worlds that feel old and cultured, but also have little bits of technology woven into things that make you wonder what time or place in the universe this might be. I think it gives you room to explore ideas within that context that are more unexpected!
The harpy design for the DTIYS challenge, you said you made yours "a little spooky." When you're responding to someone else's prompt, how do you find the version of it that's yours?
I treat it like drawing fan art or doing designs based on deities, taking the elements that you think are important, and finding things you can add that feel interesting to you and also, make it your own.
Do you plan on ever making a comic series? Because the characters feel like they're waiting for a narrative.
I love love love comics, but I fear I am too lazy to learn how to panel currently!!!!
If you were to make a comic or a longer form project, what would it be about?
I do want to make a comic eventually, I have one about my candle world I could make, and another two that have more space opera vibes…
Who's your favorite client that you've worked with?
Probably my current client Riot!
Is there a dream project, a game studio, an animation house, a publisher, that you'd want to work with if they called tomorrow?
I would love to work on an animated movie of some kind, developing the look and vibe for it!! I think it would be fun to get to explore a style for something like that!
You host drawing meetups and seem to actively build a community around your practice. Why is that important to you?
I think especially where I live, there are so many art students and people who just love to make art, and with anything, I think it’s really important to foster community and build friendships with people you can share passions with.
What does your daily drawing practice actually look like? Is there a routine, or does it happen in bursts?
I usually just work a full day on client work, and then when that’s finished, I try to get sketching in! And on the weekend, it's a sketchbook only at the moment.
'NeoTokyo: Character Design Challenge', 2025
Is there a character or creature you've drawn that you keep coming back to, one that feels unfinished or as if it has further to go?
There are a few characters like that at the moment. I posted a demon lady that I need to redraw and want to explore more deities with more sketches!
You said you're hoping for more time for personal work this year. What does personal work give you that client work doesn't?
Personal work gives me the ability to be my own director and make all of the decisions without having to change things or please anyone but myself!
Where does this go from here? You've got books, a gallery show, prints, and a growing audience. What's the version of your career in five years that would feel right?
Hopefully, some more shows, movie credits, and more books!!!! Evolving my craft further than I could currently imagine, hopefully, continuing to get to do what I love as my livelihood.
Both volumes of his art book are at Gallery Nucleus, each one signed and drawn by hand, roughly 150 original drawings across two years of tabling. His first solo show just came down at Wynd. There are three comics he wants to make eventually, a candle world, and two space operas that exist for now only in his head and probably a sketchbook somewhere. All of it, the client work, the personal work, the creatures with full biologies and mixed-up timelines, lives on Instagram. The sketchbooks are still filling up, and the army is still growing. Go look at the creatures and let us know if you think Ryan’s ten-year-old self was right.
