Today’s 6Q interview features my friend, the amazing illustrator Kim Rosen. Kim studied advertising and design and then worked as a designer for several years before becoming an illustrator. Knowing Kim personally I can tell you that she’s has a quiet, peaceful demeanor, she’s very smart, considerate and she cares a lot about her work and her clients, which include; Time, Starbucks, American Express, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and many more. Kim has also been recognized by the Society of Illustrators in NY and LA, 3×3, American Illustration, the Altpick Awards and others. I hope you enjoy the interview.

1. What made you want to become an illustrator?

Well, I have drawn pictures all of my life and while I was working as a Graphic Designer at an Advertising agency, I saw some Illustration portfolios. When I saw those portfolios I knew immediately that that was what I wanted to do. Illustration involves everything that I love about design (composition, problem solving, storytelling etc.) but executed through drawings and that made complete sense to me. To be able to capture an emotion, tell a story and solve a clients needs was/is what made me want to become an Illustrator.

2. Did you ever consider something else besides illustration?

Nope, at the time Illustration seemed like the perfect fit for me and my personality. I knew the types of clients I would be targeting and I understood the competitive nature of the field since I worked in the commercial art world prior to becoming an Illustrator.

3. What influences your style of illustration?

I am influenced by everyday situations and personal emotions. I love observing people and catching subtle expressions and sometimes not so subtle expressions. Interactions between people are fascinating to me as well. The way people move and go about their daily lives, whether it’s at the grocery store, a bar or even dancing, I try to capture an inkling of what I see in their personalities.

4. Describe your processes.

When I get a job for a client, I start with a list of words or phrases that might spark some ideas for sketches. I narrow down my ideas to 2 or 3 concrete concepts. I often look for reference or take my own images for reference and I start drawing. I normally draw really tight line drawings for sketches and I end up using those line drawings for the final art. I finish an image in a variety of ways, but mainly I use my light table to create layers using pastels which I then scan into the computer along with found textures or painted acrylic textures which I compile digitally in Photoshop.

5. What is your favorite illustration you have done, and what do you like about it?

Hmmm… that’s a tough one. I am my own worst critic. I guess if I had to pick a job that I thought was perfect for me and my style, I would say the posters I created for Starbucks’ Hot Java Cool Jazz event. Starbucks has been sponsoring a high school jazz band event in Seattle for the past few years and asked me to draw all of the students in each of the five competing bands. I had so much fun drawing all of the teens with their instruments. The folks at Starbucks allowed me to capture the humor and awkwardness and overall moodiness of the teenagers and it was a blast.

6. What would be a dream project for you?

I would love to illustrate book covers for Fiction books. It would be great to illustrate a series for the Young-Adult crowd. I would also love to illustrate a movie poster. I can think of a million dream projects, but I’ll stop there. All projects are exciting to me because they are all different, that’s the beauty of being an Illustrator.

Thank you so much Kim,for taking the time to do the interview. I really enjoyed it and look forward seeing new work.

You can see a lot more of Kim’s work on her website and see a bit of her process on her blog.