5 minute read
WITH STYLE
WITH STYLE
Advertisement
"I’d love to be able to
support myself fully with
illustration sometime in
the near future. That’s
the ultimate goal. It takes
time to make a presence
and build a client base.
Patience has been key.
I’m having fun with my
illustration journey and
learning lots along the
way."
When did you first think about art as something you wanted to do? Were you encouraged or discouraged by family, friends, teachers, mentors?
It was in high school when I started taking art seriously and considering it as a career option. An advisor at a portfolio review suggested illustration as a focus for my work. I took the advice and pursued illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art. My family was very supportive in the decision.
What kind of kid were you? Where did you grow up? What were your influences?
I grew up outside of Portland, Oregon. I was creative as a kid, always drawing and making things. Like most 90's kids, I was very inspired by Pokemon and began drawing all of the characters.
Your style is very unique. Did you work on developing a style or is that what naturally came out of you?
My style has naturally developed over the past 5 years of working as a freelance illustrator. I’ve put effort into keeping the way I draw and create digital illustrations consistent. This allows my work to be recognizable and ensures clients that I can produce different kinds of images with the same look and feel.
You do a lot of actively colorful art work. How did that happen?
It’s a stylistic choice, for sure. When I first started right out of school, my color sense was super dark and overly saturated. I was working for some weekly newspapers and magazines and noticed that my illustrations were printing too dark. I then started using brighter colors and liked the results much better.
Has the computer affected your work? Do you work traditionally and digitally?
I work in both traditional and digital media. Right now I’m working more digitally than traditionally. It’s much faster when trying to meet deadlines! That being said, I’ve created digital brushes using my own art marks. I’ve also created a large collection of drawn and painted shapes and textures to drop into my digital work. This allows me to work digitally, but keep the hand drawn elements, too. It’s fun to take a day and make a mess of traditional media and then scan it all in to use for later.
What’s going on in your head when you work on a piece? Your fears, anticipation, confidence , etc. How do you know something is finished?
I spend a majority of my time on sketches. This is the most important part. If I can get my composition, values and color palette right in the sketch phase, it’s smooth sailing when working on the final. I try to lose myself when working on the final. It’s real easy to get sucked into the details with digital art and agonize over the details. This makes the art feel flat and lifeless. Easier said than done, but I try to keep it fast and worry-free.
Your work is very contemporary. Is that intentional? Who influences your work?
I can’t say that I have anyone that I’m influenced by. I like to stay connected on social media to see what other illustrators are making, how they’re making, and what they are being hired for.
You tell me! I’d love to be able to support myself fully with illustration sometime in the near future. That’s the ultimate goal. It takes time to make a presence and build a client base. Patience has been key. I’m having fun with my illustration journey and learning lots along the way.
I’m curious about how you choose what to work on. What’s does your process entail? Start to finish. Can you give us a short step-by-step?
If I stay organized, my work goes by pretty quick. First thing - find a color palette. You do not want to be wasting time pushing color sliders half way through your illustration. I start with the big flat shapes of the composition first. Then I detail any lines and smaller details. Drop in some textures and DONE!
What do you do to promote yourself and get work? Have you worked for publishers in European countries like England or France? If not would you want to?
To promote myself, I keep my social media up to date and post new work regularly. I send a lot of cold emails to potential clients and send physical mail to the dream clients. It’s time consuming work that doesn’t pay off right away, but worth the effort. Just recently, I got a job from an email I sent three years ago!
