Blake Tupman is an illustrator, sculptor, and fashion designer with a simple mission: to put more joy and compassion into the world. While his work often tackles difficult topics such as depression and anxiety, his use of pastel colors, soft edges, and fun characters evoke feelings of comfort, joy, and approachability. “I’ve always found it important to share feelings and talk more about mental health. As a kid, I never shared my feelings with anyone and now I know how important that is. I want to make sure younger people know how important it is to share how you’re feeling, because it doesn’t only help you, it helps others,” Blake mentioned.
Blake found illustration by chance during his freshman year in college. “When you’re a freshman, you have to take classes in every single major. I took an illustration class and I fell in love with it. I thought, ‘Oh, this is so cool, telling stories with one image.’”
This love of illustration, and a desire to extract emotions from his audience, led Blake to explore designing clothes as well — specifically a line of jumpsuits. “Each jumpsuit has a different aspect of emotional growth that I feel is important to really just grow as a person,” Blake mentioned. One jumpsuit in particular is called Embracing Emotion, and is about being comfortable with yourself and welcoming your feelings even when they’re uncomfortable. According to Blake, “It’s like being able to sit in sadness and not just push it away, but process all of your emotions.”
“One of my main goals in life is just to spread joy and make people smile.”
Blake recently graduated with a BFA and is currently making us smile from his home in Portland, OR.