Shelby Roberto

2023 Senior Exhibition Artists

Shelby Roberto

Art + Design: Illustration

About Shelby Roberto

Shelby Roberto is an illustrator with a passion for character design and storytelling. They grew up in Athol Massachusetts and went to Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School where they graduated with a vocational degree in Graphic Communications. With their skills in the graphic design field, Shelby came to Umass Dartmouth to fulfill their lifelong passion, to be an artist. Growing up, Shelby loved to draw original characters for their favorite TV shows and write about how they would fit in to the current story. Eventually, they started making their own worlds and characters, and it was love at first creation.

Shelby’s passion comes from their love of all cute and colorful things. They enjoy unicorns, the color pink, and franchises like Sanrio, Littlest Pet Shop, Squishmallows, Tokidoki, Gloomy Bear, and Sonic. Shelby is a fan of video games, cartoons, and Dungeons & Dragons, which fuels their love for character creation and world building.

Shelby would like to thank their family for helping them pursue their dream, their roommates for being the best friends ever, and their partner for always loving and supporting them.

Statement

Welcome to the world of Mythicritters! My world of anthropomorphic animals and mythological creatures that live out everyday life, with a bit of a fantastical twist. There are the critters, based off of real-world animals, and the mythicals, magic beings inspired by mythology around the world. They all live in Mythic Valley, a vast land with biomes for every type of creature, from the cool and calm Nocturne Forest, the explosive and fiery Hotlands Volcano, and the hustling and bustling epicenter, Critter City! There is no telling what you’ll find or who you’ll meet.

I wanted to make a fun world where anything is possible, and where I can share my love for animals, mythology, and different types of fashion. I want Mythicritters to be a fun franchise with unique characters with their own interests, friends, and stories along with merchandise for them all and illustrations showing off their personalities and how they interact with one another. This is wave one of the series, and there will be many more to come. I hope you come along for the ride!