An accomplished illustrator and designer, this month’s feature artist is screen printer extraordinaire Kevin Tong.  Having recently done notable posters for Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk and his highly sought after Lost poster.  Here’s an interview with Kevin and lets regale his talents.

Give us some basic info:

My name is Kevin Tong and illustration is my game. Over the years, since graduating from California State University Long Beach in 2005, I’ve been illustrating for various clients.  Currently, I reside in Los Angeles.

What kind of illustration work do you normally do?

I guess the real buzz about me comes from the various posters and prints that I do for bands, movies, tv shows, authors and whatever else is around the corner. The limited edition posters are screen printed and are sought after as collector’s items and as fan memorabilia.

That’s what I mostly do, but I still take on various other illustration projects like t-shirt illustrations or editorial illustrations and I occasionally do fine art for gallery shows. It’s nice to be nomadic like that, it keeps things interesting.

I am completely freelance, I haven’t had a 9-5 job for a few years. I think that freelancing suits my personality better.

When you’re making illustrations, do you have certain methods or techniques you use?

I think all artists have preferred methods, I certainly do. I like to start by drawing on paper with a pencil. Then I ink my drawings with brush and pen. After that, I scan the drawings into my computer and use the computer to add color, type, pattern, textures, and whatever else. I usually break up an illustration into different elements and draw them separately on different sheets of paper, then combine them with the computer.

The method I use is pretty close to how comic books are drawn as I was definitely inspired by them. The primary reason I work that way is because it allows for maximum edit-ability if the client requests changes. Also, screen printing requires a particular kind of image separation, so illustrating that way naturally aids the process and doesn’t require extra time to set up the file to be screen printable.

One thing that is really different from the way I work compared to other illustrators is that I hate sketching. I like going right into the final. Sketching feels unproductive to me. I don’t like to sketch for clients, but sometimes I have to, so I just suck it up and do it.

With your illustrations, is there a trend we can see, in the style or content?

Maybe, it seems natural to have preferences and consistently act them out.

Style wise, hmmm. I try to mix it up. I’m told that’s not good, especially for fine art or the collector market, that it’s better to maintain a consistent style and content. That seems so boring and lame to me. I do what I like and I like many different styles and I try to work in different styles to challenge myself. The only tendency I notice is that I like to mix organic and graphic images into a single illustration, as I like the contrast and interest it creates. The only style I don’t like doing too much is photo realism, it’s easy, uninspired, and it feels gimmicky to me if that is the only compelling thing about it.

As far as content goes, I like to tell stories in my work. Much of my work is narrative. There are a lot of pet peeves I have, but I don’t really feel like going into those too much.

Some quick advice for an aspiring illustrator?

That is such a windy maze and I could go on for hours with suggestions. I remember when I was starting out. It seems like every beginner  (myself too) is so idiotic after a few years in the field. The most frustrating part is that most people don’t really listen to advice, they think they are the exception or something.

Well, here it goes (Warning, I do not sugar coat things, I speak frankly):

1. Art school is a great way to learn, but no matter how good the school is, it will always be a simulation. Don’t be a student to hide from the real world, that is a quick route to failure. A master’s degree in art is only useful if you want to be a teacher or art analyst (critic, historian, etc).

2. Don’t make short term “future” plans. I’ll send those emails to art directors tomorrow, I’ll look into building a website next week. Don’t talk about doing stuff either. Do it or don’t.

3. Get a website and be Internet savvy. Learn how to promote yourself. It doesn’t matter how good your portfolio is, people need to see it to want to hire you. Anytime your name is out there, it’s a good thing.

4. Don’t try too hard in one direction. What I mean is, if you think you want to be an editorial illustrator and it just isn’t working out (not getting work) perhaps it might help to be a bit more flexible and try another direction. I had no idea I would end up doing what I am doing, but I couldn’t be happier. So glad I decided not to be a professional unicorn bigot hunter.

5. Have a positive attitude. When you’re starting out, it’s really easy to become pessimistic and that really doesn’t help. Not getting a call back is not that big a deal.

Last Words?

I’m having the time of my life right now, so my only hope is to keep doing what I am doing. Enough said.

Shameless Self Promotion?

Kevin Tong Illustration
Website: www.tragicsunshine.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tragicsunshine
Facebook: Kevin Tong Illustration
Gigposters: http://www.gigposters.com/designer/86535_Kevin_Tong.html