David Kunisch

Penn State Student Artist
Digital and Traditional Media

Chicano | LGBTQ | he/him | 22Please click on any images you would like to see to enlargen them.

I am a first-generation American, as my mother was born in Monterrey, Mexico. I have seen both ends of privilege and marginalization and champion a better tomorrow every day.I was born in Denver, Colorado. During my entire childhood and academic career, I have always had the visual arts and natural sciences as major roles in my life. I like to work from dark to light and use bold colors. My favorite subjects are animals, dynamic figures, medical anatomy, and expressive portraits. I use a variety of mediums and keep my work experimentalI attend college at Pennsylvania State University, where I am currently pursuing a BFA in New Media Art. I am a full-time student as of this current moment with the intent to graduate in 2024.

David Kunisch

Anatomy Studies

The form and anatomy of living beings are one of the most inspiring things in my artistic process. I both enjoy creating aesthetic and anatomically correct art. I study from photos, diagrams, and best of all, life.

David Kunisch

Character Design

I put emphasis on shape language and color in my work. Regardless of the conditions of set design requirements, I push for diverse and inclusive designs. I love to work with anthropomorphized animal characters the most.Every character here has a story. I love to build their story and design cotangent so they build off each other.

David Kunisch

Digital Illustration

I have been drawing and rendering digitally for almost a decade alongside my traditional media. I work in Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, and Rebelle 5.Anthropomorphized animals are the foundation of my internet following, and they are what I prefer to do the most. I try to mix both fun elements of fantasy and sensible elements of biology within these art pieces.

David Kunisch

Models & Environments

In recent years, I have gone out of my way to learn how to render landscapes and nonorganic objects. I have come to enjoy rendering landscapes in traditional and digital painting. I also have experience in Blender and enjoy creating objects like vehicles in 3D.

David Kunisch

Storyboards

Please click on the furthest top left image to enlarge and click through these galleries!The first storyboard, Polaroid, is a final pass and my first-ever complete set! This story is for school and is a scriptless feature as there was no planned audio for it. The class I made this for was DART 204 with Leanna Rosas at Penn State. I will leave the story up for viewer interpretation.The second storyboard, Besties MAP (Multi-Animator Project), is for a collaborative animation between myself and two friends. Since we have immediate context with each other, there is no need for test or arrow direction. The movements are meant to be snappy and repetitive to fit the audio for this animation, the Linda & Heather Theme Song. The style here would be equivalent to a rough pass.The third set is more of a comic script than a storyboard, but I do want to complete it into a full storyboard, then a complete animation. This is a display of how I plan my major scenes. The lyrics are from angel by Kacey Musgraves. The characters are Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, copyrighted by Hasbro.

David Kunisch

Tattoos

I am very inspired by and interested in tattoo art. I have a growing collection of tattoos on myself- all of which I have designed. I want to continue creating designs for myself and others. I am seriously considering tattooing as a career.

David Kunisch

Traditional Illustration

Most of my traditional media is adjacent to my academic work, but I still sincerely enjoy every minute of it. Throughout high school and college, I have pushed myself to have a very diverse breadth of abilities.In the past year, I have come to realize that pastel and charcoal are my strongest dry media. I have also come to embrace wet media, including oil, watercolor, acrylic, and gouache.

DAVID KUNISCH

erkunisch@gmail.com | 713-538-6077

EDUCATION

Pennsylvania State University
Spring 2024 (Estimated) || GPA: 3.52 || B.Des Digital Arts & Media Design

SKILLS

Python || Javascript || CSS || HTML || Data Visualization || Clip Studio Paint || Entrepreneurship || Medical Illustration || Character Design || Spanish (Intermediate) || Storyboarding
Painting: Oil, Watercolor, Gouache, Acrylic
Adobe Suite Experienced: After Effects, Animate, Illustrator, Photoshop

EXPERIENCE

oSTEM - Out In Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Treasurer || 2021-2022
As treasurer, I oversaw and handled the finances of the club. I worked with the other officers to create a welcoming space for LGBTQ students in the STEM majors at Penn State.ALLY House Jr. - University Art Gallery for LGBTQ+ Students
Communications Officer & Founder || 2021-2022
As communications officer, I worked to help build the organization by negotiating with school officials. I helped organize the program’s first drag show, which is an annual occurrence to raise money for gender-affirming surgeries. We raised approximately $2000.Digital & Traditional Media
Freelance Artist || 2016-present
I take art commissions through social media. My work includes mainly digital art, website design, and occasionally traditional media. I have sold work through my Etsy, Redbubble, and in-person art sales. More information about this exists on my commissions website.Centre County PAWS
Feline Foster || 2022-present
As a feline foster, I work with Centre County PAWS to act as a temporary home for shelter cats before they get adopted. This arrangement helps socialize them and prepare them for their forever home.

AWARDS/ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

- National Hispanic Recognition Program
- Presented in Zoller Gallery at Penn State
- Published Artist through Fort Bend Independent School District
- Daedalian Award
- United States Daughters of 1812 National Society Award
- George C Marshall Foundation Leadership and Academic JROTC Award
- Texas VASE State Finalist

REFERENCE CONTACTS

Kimberly Lyle - kvl5680@psu.edu
Captain Michael Carambas, USN - pepemrcg@gmail.com
Kimberly Flick - kdf2@psu.edu
Christina Lyman - Christina.Lyman@fortbendisd.com
Ty Sornberger - ty.a.sornberger@vanderbilt.edu
Jess Cornaggia, PhD - jnc29@psu.edu