I’m Mason Mooney (he/him) and I’m a Cleveland based illustrator and designer. I graduated from Cleveland Institute of Art in 2023 with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration. I’m currently a small business owner and a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. 

I love drawing cute animals! Some of my favorite to illustrate are little animals like cats, rabbits, and hamsters (frequently using my own pet hamsters and cats as reference), which is what I tend to focus my personal work on. I’m a huge animal lover and in addition to making cute animal art, I like to raise awareness surrounding proper animal care, rescues, and charities. From time to time, I will do charity drives where proceeds from my artwork go towards a charity I feel is crucial to the wellbeing of animals. Mythical creatures are not excluded from this cute art style! Jackalopes are a personal favorite of mine, and I use one as my personal shop mascot. 

While I complete most of my artwork digitally, it’s important for me to utilize traditional media and material in my art. I love being able to scan in textures and lace that I can use within my digital work to give it a bit more dimension. I also often replicate paper cut through digital methods, as well as use vintage Valentine’s Day cards as style inspiration for my work.

My small business, “Inkalope,” focuses on my artwork that I sell as keychains, stickers, plush toys, prints, and more. I sell both on Etsy and Shopify online, as well as selling in person at multiple comic, anime, and crafting conventions throughout each year, such as Fan Expo, Oddmall, and Nyancon, to name a few. While drawing is obviously a passion of mine, I also really love the more technical aspect of business as well. Organizing, financing, planning, marketing, and collaborating with manufacturers is something I’ve really excelled with. Honestly, any chance I get to make a spreadsheet for something I get a little excited— I know it’s a bit nerdy but I love organizing and planning like that.

Throughout college, I was able to work with a handful of clients including Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, American Greetings, Cleveland Botanical Gardens, and many other local Cleveland businesses. I have also worked an internship with Grog Shop, a local band venue, where I illustrated and designed both digital and print promotional material, such as band posters and social media announcements. 

Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community as both a gay and transgender man, I believe representation is something that’s highly important in all fields of work, and being able to include queer themes in my artwork, even if just subtle themes at times, is something very important to me. 

Humor is also something that is important to me, and I try to find ways to include it whenever possible. At the end of the day, making people smile is what I thrive to do most of all, and I’ve found humor is one of the best ways to get that smile! Situational humor is my favorite— I love turning everyday typical situations into something everyone can relate to and laugh along with. 

When it comes to less “cutesy”  illustrations, I take on a more gothic blackwork art style. Examples of this style can be found separately on my instagram as well as my tattoo portfolio. Common themes I am drawn to include cryptids, monsters, folklore, and in general, horror. The juxtaposition of my two styles can be a bit jarring, but I like to be able to express both my interest in the cute as well as the creepy!