About

Hello, my name is Kirstin Cook. I have always been fascinated by the creative process of making the visuals for movies and shows. Growing up in a scientific family in Grosse Ile, Michigan, I was not overly exposed to the world of art and creativity, but I always had a love for it, often fueled by the crafts my mother would make when I was a child. I at first thought I was going to be a veterinarian, like both of my parents. I built my whole education around that assumption during grade school. Looking back, I should have listened to apparent love for art (and hatred of math) and pursued it a little more. After going to undergrad for Pre-vet for 2 years, and discovering that I was not happy, I finally listened to my real passions and switched to fine arts. There I learned skills with drawing in graphite and charcoal, oil painting, earthenware clay, wheel throwing, sculpture with multiple other materials, and photography. I was much more successful than before, and started to enjoy my education. When I was in undergrad, I wanted to create creatures and characters, but there was no specific program for it, so I had to focus on more abstract concepts. I threw myself into exploring my though process and created works based on how I experienced the world. I graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s in Fine arts and a focus in painting and sculpting, but my journey was not done. After a couple of gap years, I applied to the Academy of Art University when I found the right program for what I wanted to do with my life. There I studied Visual Development and built my skill set to include Photoshop, Procreate, and Maya. I learned what is needed to design characters, props, and environments in multiple different avenues of the entertainment industry. After graduating I plan to continue creating characters and creatures for shows, games, and movies. I would prefer to focus on fantasy and sci-fi productions, but one can never be too picky when starting out.