Check Out Leighton Buxman’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leighton Buxman.

Hi Leighton, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Thanks so much for having me!

I’m an illustrator/concept artist local to Northern Colorado. My current focus has been on selling prints through Etsy and conventions while freelancing as a cover artist. I’ve also worked with some indie game studios doing concept art and hope to find more work in a studio environment. I particularly enjoy dark fantasy, horror, and creature design, with a long-term goal of creating an illustrated novel.

I grew up on a dairy farm surrounded by my dad’s artwork. He did a lot of ceramics and sculptures that were fantasy and horror themed. My dad encouraged my creativity from a young age. I was always an ‘art kid’, but my passion for art really took off when I got my first drawing tablet at 13 and joined DeviantART. Digital became my primary medium from then on and drawing was how I spent most of my free time.

Due to some learning disabilities, school was a constant battle and a source of anxiety. Art was an escape from that. To the frustration of my teachers, my assignments frequently had more doodles than completed work. Due to these school struggles, I felt that college wasn’t the right choice for me, and instead chose to self-study art using books and resources online. I joined forums and made many friends in the online art communities, most of whom I am still friends with today.

The ‘studying’ phase hasn’t ended, and I don’t expect it ever will, but as of 2022, I’ve been able to turn art into my full-time job.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been a bit of a rough road, as I think it is for most people. Mental health has always been a struggle. In recent years my physical health has become the main roadblock in pursuing art.

After getting Covid in 2020, I developed a condition that affects my autonomic nervous system, particularly my heart rate and blood pressure. Art had to take a backseat for a while. It took several months of physical therapy before I could stand without my heart rate spiking to 160-180 bpm. I still have rough days where fatigue can make functioning difficult and I struggle to get out of bed. Despite this, I’ve been steadily learning to have self-compassion and manage these challenges while progressing with art.

I definitely wouldn’t have been able to without my wonderful friends and family who have done so much to support me through everything!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work primarily as a cover artist while selling prints in person at conventions, or through my online Etsy shop.

My specialties include dark fantasy/horror illustration, pinups, figurative work, and creature design. I also do concept art for games.

My art ranges from painterly realism to stylized fantasy, and I’m probably best known for my rendering style and darker-themed paintings. ‘Ethereal’ and ‘subtly creepy’ are the more frequent terms I’ve heard to describe my work.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I’m fortunate in that my favorite childhood memory is tough to pick.

Most likely one of the days I spent running around barefoot collecting stickers in my feet, stealing handfuls of berries from my grandma’s garden, roasting marshmallows over fires (that I may or may not have made with supervision…), playing in the irrigation ditch, collecting buckets of toads and dandelions, waging war with the ants (sorry ants), sitting in the crab apple tree surrounded by pink blossoms and fluffy honey bees, etc. Any of these could be considered a favorite.

I had several beautiful years on that farm and those memories are something I will always cherish.

Contact Info:

• Website: mozdeys.art
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mozdeys/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leighton.buxman/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leightonbuxman/
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mozdeys