
About the Artist

Ian Tilley
Senior at CU Boulder studying Environmental Product Design
I grew up in Larkspur, California and first delved into art when I was five, in the form of Music. This continued to be my main form of artistic expression all the way through high school where I primarily played Jazz as a drummer. Music was an amazing start into the world or art for me, and to this day I marvel at music's ability to directly and powerfully covey thought and emotion in a way that can surpass all language barriers.
Since beginning as an Environmental Product Design Major at CU three years ago, my avenue of artistic expression has pivoted towards design. All my immediate family members are engineers and I wanted to pursue a career closer related to art that would allow me to express myself creatively. Through my work I am regularly sketching, modeling(both physically and through 3D modeling software), and discovering new ways to present my ideas in novel and interesting ways. I've found that although my workflow typically starts out as a physical medium such as pen/paper sketching, or cardboard models it has moved to being much more digital in the past year or so.
As an artist/designer/person, I always find inspiration in nature, and attempt to emulate and integrate natural forms into my designs. My love of the outdoors is also reflected in my design interests, as my dream post-graduation is to get involved in the outdoor goods industry. Although I have some limited experience with digital art, I would love to deepen my knowledge to be a more effective visual communicator, designer, and artist.
