JOHN
PACHKOWSKY

they/he

@SALT.THE.EARTH

JP@SALTTHE.EARTH

SALTTHE.EARTH

Earnest dedication to craft meets good-natured irreverence is JP’s illustration jam, always searching for that perfect mix of careful technique and knowing wink. When not professionally engaged in wild creative work, you’ll find this comfortably weird visual wizard furiously scrawling all over the art dungeon with ink-smudged nose and a meticulous mountain of notes for that next big idea.

Profile photo of John Pachkowsky and 2 pieces of sample work.

ILLSTRN

Illustration & Design
A figure in blackened spiked armor looms over the viewer with a burning sword, while the Midnight Sun hangs overhead. A mock-up of the final page layout and spot illustrations sit in the lower right. Spot illustrations depict a skeletal knight with shattered links of chain, and a boss room icon set into a dungeon map. Illustration and icons for the titular villain of LORD OF CHAINS, an apocalyptically blackened-artpunk adventure for the MÖRK BORG RPG system.
Two spot illustrations of a towering gothic palace and a smoking black fortress, with a large accompanying illustration of the fortress gate and towers leering overhead. Map icons for the adventure’s outset, the Palace of the Shadow King, and the harrowing endpoint: the Iron Bastion, dread fortress of the Lord of Chains.
Two draft sketches of the mural composition, depicting a swirling young star emerging from a floral cocoon with dozens of fantastic creatures large and small converging excitedly. Below are four work-in-progress shots of the artist drawing freehand on the wall. A large-nosed mushroom creature waddles with a barking dog, and intricate linework is laid down on a wintry giant’s head. Initial drafts and freehanding for The Moon Set / A Star Rises, one of several murals commissioned by Royal Center Vancouver through VMF Agency.
Four close-up crops of mural scenes in various stages of progress. A boisterous living village, a beaming moon boy, and a well-dressed bird stooping out of arched roots. As thousands of careful lines were drawn, homages to Royal Center regulars snuck into the composition—a familiar shoeshine, a friendly late-night pup, and an unforgettable midnight mischief-maker—among others.
A wide angle shot of the completed mural’s entire span in a brightly lit mall corridor. Through VMF’s Un-Leased research program, murals brought new life to the exteriors of vacant commercial spaces, while the interiors underwent their own transformations, hosting temporary residency spaces for artists.
A character sheet with various poses and expression samples for the protagonist Delilah and her brain-goblin companion, Brian. Into the Labyrinth, a graphic novel exploring the complexity of navigating adult ADHD through a wild, imaginative fantasy lens, and a deep descent into an ever-shifting, parallel world.
Four sample illustrations depicting the labyrinth gate and gatekeepers, as Delilah hesitates to confront them, with a cover card and the title Into the Labyrinth in hand-lettering. Delilah’s conflicted relationship with her diagnosis and fear of imposter syndrome comes to a head in her first encounter with the titanic Gatekeepers of the labyrinth’s first portal.
A black bottle of gin sits left, with a second image of the label, superimposed on a textural illustration background. True Nature gin is distilled with foraged botanicals, drawing from wild folklore, ritualistic traditions, and the innate magic of the untamed, where even the mundane is seldom what it seems.