Pat Nee

2021 Senior Exhibition Artists

Pat Nee

Art + Design: Illustration

About Pat Nee

Pat Nee is an illustrator based in Weymouth, Massachusetts. He found drawing to be an outlet at an early age, mesmerized by Saturday morning cartoons. Animated programs like Pokémon and Code Lyoko sparked his young imagination to run wild. Over time, Pat chose to keep his illustration work to himself until midway through high school, when he made his art account on the social media forum, Instagram. From there, things took off gradually as his first gig was making promotional work for his high school theater company’s production of Little Shop of Horrors.

He finds passion in the research and development of a new idea, starting with rough sketches and adding a mood board for organization. For Pat, an idea can come from anywhere as he trains himself to be an observer of the world around him. Listening to music and watching films and television also strengthen these ideas. He exemplifies his adoration of fashion design by sketching what his characters would wear to saturate their personality, seeing it as such an important component of their makeup.

“Wardrobe is probably the most important element in storytelling outside of actually writing, because we, as people say so much about who we are, and what we believe in, and what we want, and what we think of ourselves by the way that we dress.” - Dan Levy, Best Wishes, Warmest Regards: A Schitt’s Creek Farewell

Pat Nee will be graduating from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with a Bachelor’s in illustration and minor in art history. He wants to break barriers in the future, aspiring to be apart of a collaborative workspace in the industry. Above all, he hopes to make people happy with his work.

Lineup, 2021, digital illustration, 16x7 inches

Statement

Syndicate

The center of my project is character design with a focus on representation. In the beginning of the year, I figured out what layout would convey my characters the most. There needed to be a turnaround, a set of emotions, outfit variations and hairstyles. I also made a board for each character compiling outfit inspirations, aesthetic imagery, and preexisting characters in media. Inspirationally speaking, I looked into cyberpunk culture, the divide between the nobility and the rabble classes, as well as certain video games.

As an additive element to strengthen Syndicate, my eyes were set on chess. The hierarchical abilities defining each piece - that the Queen has the most power but the King is the most important - could be implemented to fit specific personas.

The representational element of Syndicate came to me after giving a presentation on whitewashing, blackface, yellow face, and other inaccurate castings in film and television. Making it my mission, I plan to spotlight different walks of life correctly with Syndicate and projects to come. I believe it's important to see yourself on screen in terms of gender, sexuality, clinical disability, or bodily proportions. I look forward to continuing Syndicate in the future, aspiring to have it become the animated action-adventure I dream it to be.