@/LEINAALA.ART

Freelance 2D Character Illustrator
^{commissions available!}

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All artworks produced under "LEINAALA.ART" and "KEMAKI.ART" have their copyrights protected by Leinā’ala Silen. Unauthorized downloading, copying, linking to, or editing in any manner is strictly prohibited. You may not use these images for any purpose online, in print, or any other means without express written permission from this artist.© 2024 Leinā’ala Silen

Last Updated: 02-05-2025

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ABOUT

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Hellōha~! I'm Leināʻala, the artist behind @LEINAALA.ART and @KEMAKI.ART. I am born and raised on the island of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, and I'm learning to embrace my Kānaka Maoli heritage and learning to kūʻē with my lāhui. Aside from that, my interests are gardening, fish keeping, lei making, playing games, world building and creating OCs (original characters).I've been drawing for over 20 years; I started with mimicking the style of the late Rumiko Takahashi (Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha, etc.), Pokemon, and later Naruto—but the true original inspiration for drawing were my dad's sketches of local reef fish. I had taken all the art electives I could from 7th grade into college, including ceramics and graphic communications. I eventually dived completely into digital media—mostly self-taught for the most of these past 14 years, but I had recently joined a private community after taking a course with Angel Ganev which leveled up my skills exponentially.Today, I mostly use an iPad to draw with Procreate purely out of convenience, but I also have an XP-PEN Artist 13.3 Pro and use Clip Studio Paint or Krita when I want to draw seriously and/or stream on Facebook.Mental health has become a large part of my life after I was diagnosed by a handful of doctors and behavior specialists with severe anxiety (GAD—General Anxiety Disorder and Agoraphobia) back in 2020. I've come a long way with routine sessions with mental health specialists and the support of my partner, family, friends, and community without needing to rely on medication—which was a stubborn choice of mine, but it probably would have been easier in hindsight knowing the trusted support I had up to this point. I've made leaps and bounds, yet I still have much work to do with my agoraphobia (fear of being in public spaces), and with improving my relationship with my art. I'm hoping 2025 I will continue progressing endlessly towards being my better self. For now, I am strong enough to hold space for the version of me over five years ago who had no idea that she had unchecked trauma, anxiety, and depression yet cried herself to sleep every night. I am strong enough to hold space for her, and for the people I interact with everyday from family to internet stranger.

How Do You Say Your Name?
LEI • NĀ • ʻA • LA:
LEI like lake
NUH like nut, but with a slight emphasis on this letter
UH like you're droppin' a beat, but with a noticeable stop like somebody pinched you at this part
LUH like londonFeel free to practice saying it altogether until it sounds smooth and natural, then feel free to call me Lei :)

What Do You Draw?
I prefer characters; humanoids, monsters, D&D. I am open to the challenge of drawing most things outside that scope, like plants, creatures, weapons, etc. The things I will not draw are other styles, full mecha (simple prosthetics ok), hateful themes, anything with detailed/excessive gore or eyestrain.

What Are Your Biggest Accomplishments as an Artist?
My biggest, most proudest accomplishments are Pacific Islander Collaborations. I provided interior illustrations for characters and a few other things with Kryssa Stevenson's novel "Shadowed By Moonlight", and I recently contributed to a Hawaiian Language & Art Calendar for 2025 by @TawshLav on instagram.

Do You Sell Artwork for NFTs?
It's a non-negotiable no from me. I don't want to become somebody's NFT factory, I don't want myself nor my artwork to be associated with it, and Hawai'i State laws make it difficult to benefit from cryptocurrency. Not to mention that its rise to popularity was built on unregulated theft—people helped themselves to whatever they could, copyrighted works included.

What is Your Stance on A.I. Art?
My answer to the public: AI should be a tool that improves daily life so that we can focus on creative outlets; telling stories and painting pictures. It had the potential to be a beneficial tool for artists to assist in the creative process—especially from an industry standpoint—but derailed into misuse. At best, generative AI in its current form should be used as no more than a prompt for inspiration, but absolutely should not be used as a reference, or worse yet, a final product. The quality might be attractive at a glance or to the untrained eye, but there's almost always mistakes of inhuman intent.What people seem to dismiss about generative AI is that it had been developed on a foundation of theft and copyright infringement. Lawsuits and cyberbullying of artists soon followed its public release.The general public has made it abundantly clear they want the art but not the artist—not realizing the artist IS the art, because without them the art would not exist. Meaningful conversation cannot be had because people lack accountability for their ignorance, willful or not, and happily oblige to the constant division between "We the People". Generative AI in its current form is not a good thing.

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