About me
Hi I’m Destiny!
I’m a Deaf artist, cartoonist and animator. I split my time between Pittsburgh, PA and Portland, OR.
I make comics, animations and illustrations that tell stories with pictures first. Most of them star my own characters. Some of them star my geckos.
I’ve freelanced for nearly two decades. When the industry doors weren’t open to me, I built my own. So I know how to plan a project, keep it organized, and keep the art clear.
Yo, I’m Destiny, I’m a gecko-obsessed Deaf gal who draws, makes comics, & animates :3
Visual description of the video
Yo, I’m Destiny: a moving collage of my work. A 15 second looping collage of my drawings: geckos, comics, characters and me waving hello. It has no sound.
Timeline
Nobody handed me a map, so I drew my own.
Early 2000s
animal cracker doodle Sonic inspired me to draw
It started with animal crackers. As a toddler, I traced around them with a pencil on coloured paper. Several years later I found Neopets, Sonic the Hedgehog and a whole internet full of fan art, and I wanted to draw all of it.
2007
my first DeviantArt drawing I started posting my art online
At 11, I made my very first character of my own: me, as a Sonic fan character. I made a DeviantArt account (I was technically too young for it, shh) and posted my first drawing: her, holding a Shadow plushie. For the first time, strangers could see my art.
2008–2010
me, Scranton years One year of home
I grew up in a small town whose schools wanted Deaf kids to speak and lipread, not sign. My mainstream public school had very little Deaf support. Audism was all around me: hearing was treated as better, and ASL as a problem to fix. I lived with language deprivation, and I went without support that every growing kid needs. They knew I needed it, and they chose not to give it. They even pushed back when I tried to go to a school for the Deaf. The only Deaf people I knew of were Helen Keller and TV punchlines. Then I moved to the Scranton State School for the Deaf, and for the first time, everyone around me signed. It was a culture shock in the best way. I won an art contest there, too. The state cut the school that same year, and that one year in full ASL is still the one I miss most.
2009
my first commission My first “sale”
I was fourteen, armed with MS Paint and a very old Photoshop, and I opened commissions on DeviantArt without telling my family. Someone paid me with a one-month DeviantArt subscription, worth $5, for a flat-colour drawing of their character. It felt like I’d been handed a key.
2014
presenting on stage 
holding the award 
the artwork The Big Read Art Award
In my senior year, my AP English class joined The Big Read in Pittsburgh with the Community College of Allegheny County. We read The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, and my piece about the Vietnam experience won the Art award. I presented it on a stage.
2015
The year I almost quit art
All through high school, from 2010 to 2015, I was told by many school adults that art wasn’t a real path for me. I kept at it anyway, and earned two NOCTI certifications: Advertising Design in 2014 and Multimedia Design in 2015. Nearly a year of my design work ended up in the trash, and my first job left me so shaken that I stopped doing graphic design for money. So I made a choice: if I was going to fight for art, it would be the art I loved most. I applied to animation school, and that December, my first animation played in class.
2016
a still from The Sky Goddess The year I almost left art college
My mom had a stroke while I was in the middle of my biggest project yet, an After Effects short called The Sky Goddess. I almost had to leave school, and it wasn’t my choice. Instead, the people there understood that this was a major, life-changing hardship, and they bent their rules so I could stay and finish. I’m still grateful.
2017
a still from Piece of Wagon! Directing sound I don’t fully hear
For my animatic class, I directed two voice actors for the first time. An ASL interpreter helped me feel each voice, sound effect and piece of music, and I mixed it all with one cochlear implant. I added captions, too. It got the top grade in the class, ahead of my hearing classmates, on audio.
2018
I AM LAVA GOD (GIF) 
the opioid overdose explainer ASL animation & Courtroom Project
The Office of the District Attorney of Allegheny County asked my school for an animated explainer on opioid overdose, to show a jury. I led the team, pitched it to their office and made the 2D assets. To get the anatomy right, I watched a real autopsy. That same spring, I reached a big milestone: I animated ASL for the first time, with a gecko signing, “I AM LAVA GOD.” For years, my own language had been treated as something to fix. Now it was moving in my own animation.
2018
holding the award 
my portfolio show table Losing the map
At our graduation portfolio show, I won the Best of Show Employer’s Choice Award. No animation student had won it in over a decade. Three months later, the school suddenly closed its doors for good. Layoffs before the closure had already left no career counselors to help us, before graduation or after. I stepped out with no one to guide me and no map. It is all on my own.
2020
the Ta-Da Studios crew 
Art That Zine, issue 1 
Art That Zine, the holiday issue Making my own map
Nobody showed me how to get noticed by the animation world, so I made my own way, freelancing for anyone who needed a story drawn. In June 2020, I started working with my friend Eric on IDEAF (Inclusive Deaf Ecosystem and Advancement of the Future). That December, Ta-Da Studios branched out from it as its own studio. I started by drawing assets, and grew into helping plan and shape the studio. For nearly a year, I also worked with almost a dozen Deaf artists on Art That Zine, a monthly zine.
2020–2022
my Deaf Queer Art piece My community said yes
In 2020, the RIT/NTID Dyer Arts Center chose my art for its Deaf Queer Art exhibit: two people signing "I love you" and "rainbow", their rainbow becoming the bi pride flag. In 2021, the Deaf Visual Arts Festival named me Best Emerging Artist. After years of contests going the other way, my own community said yes. In 2021 and 2022, I pitched my first feature-length animated film.
2023
the Race Against Tempium one-pager 
Night Facets Race Against Tempium
With Signing Animation, I finally sat in real pitch sessions. I pitched Race Against Tempium, a cyberpunk racing story starring a Deaf racer named Renila, as "the first-ever Deaf-led animation with an empowering Deaf main protagonist." I also brought back Night Facets, a world I had kept since high school.
2024
Change Change, showcase video Change
Deaf Spotlight showed my painting Change at its Summer Solstice exhibit in Seattle: a little blue creature looking up at a swirling sun while hands around it sign CHANGE. It’s back home now, and it’s for sale on my Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/s/502b3ab8a8
2025–2026
me and my sketchbook Coming full circle
I design for 58 Creativity, I draw through Hourly Comic Day every year, and How Lovely!~, the manga I dreamed of making in middle school, is finally coming to life as a webcomic. Next, I want to bring a Deaf animator’s eye to big studios, and one day build a studio of my own for all my worlds.
Select awards & recognition
Talks
- Deaf Business Owners
The real stars of the show. Meet my geckos.
(And my cat. She insists.)
Female leopard geckoAtom
Likes
- Attention from me
- Being hand-fed
- Claiming every corner she can find
Dislikes
- Vet visits
- Toes being touched
- Being misted
Female leopard geckoScooter
Likes
- Perching up high to survey her kingdom
- Eating absolutely anything (even my fingers!)
- A good digging session
Dislikes
- Hello Kitty (yes, really)
- Accidentally gulping water
- Sudden loud noises
Male African fat-tailed geckoLava
Likes
- Using his peanut-shaped hide as his personal restroom
- Eating one at a time
- Peaceful solitude
Dislikes
- Being picked up
- Anything involving heights
- Too many moving things at once
CatDot
Likes
- The massive projector in the living room (to fight the crickets living in it)
- Rides in the rolling chair
- Her tree stick branch
Dislikes
- Anyone pretending to bite her ears
- New people who aren’t me, my mom or my dad
- New food
When I’m not drawing
I’m hanging out with my cat and my three silly geckos, sipping matcha, or listening to music (metal or electronic, please) with my one cochlear implant.
I collect cute things, raw crystals and bugs (moths especially!!). I take photos while I frolic around in nature. And yes, I will always eat the store samples, just like my Nana would have. :P
FAQ
Questions people ask me
Short answers, plain words. If yours isn’t here, just ask. Stand-in questions until Destiny sends hers.
Do you work with hearing people and brands?
Yep!! I’ve worked with both Deaf and hearing people. I’m clear about expectations from the start, and I make sure accessibility is in place, so we can focus on the work.
I’m nervous about communicating with you!
I get it, and your nervousness is a good sign. It tells me you care. Don’t overthink it. I’ll guide you through the whole process, by email, text, or a video call with an ASL interpreter.
How do I know how big my project is?
Read my “How big is my project?” guide on the Work with me page. It shows what goes into a project and how to lower the price.
When do you work?
Monday to Friday. Please plan your deadline around that.
Can I use your art for something else, or to train AI?
My art may not be reproduced or used in any way to train AI without my permission. If you'd like to license my work, email me.
How can I support you?
Follow and share my posts, follow me for free on Patreon or Ko-fi, tip me or order a commission on Ko-fi, or leave a nice review.
Resources
Lists I keep for the Deaf art community
Free to use and share. Tell me if someone is missing from them.
Want to keep up with me, or work together?
If you like what you see, follow me for free. If you have a project, I’d love to hear about it.