Artist Spotlight: Avery Kitchen

Interview by Yising Kao

Avery's featured in our May issue-read/grab a copy here!: https://www.galaxy-mag.com/product-page/stand-atlantic-may-2019

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/wwdforfun

Based of the song ‘90s Baby’ by MILKK

What inspired you to start creating art?

I’ve always loved drawing ever since I was little. My parents kind of kickstarted it seeing as they’re both artists, (my dad teaches animation and my mom illustrates children’s books) so I’ve always been exposed to that stuff. When I was young I used to draw a lot of comics or things based on books i read, but now I draw more based on music. I started drawing much more though over the past year when I found it was a good distraction, I felt really proud of myself whenever a piece would turn out the way I wanted it to, and I loved getting my thoughts out onto paper.

You practice different forms of art such as sketches, watercolor, and digital. What influences your choice of each art medium?

I’m a really visual person, so I usually think and develop concepts in my head, then depending on what emotions i wanna communicate and techniques I wanna use to do it I pick a medium that I thinks fits well! If it’s a fun, bubbly thing like my ‘Rainy Days in LA’ drawing, then i’ll tend to do digital because of the saturated colours and animated look I can give it. On the other hand i did a piece based on the song ‘90s Baby’ by MILKK and i found myself leaning towards watercolour when planning it because i wanted it to feel dark, gloomy, and have a washed out look.

Based off of 'Rainy Days in LA' by Adam & Steve ft. Waterparks

What's your digital drawing process like?

I usually start out with a sketch on paper (whether it’s in my sketchbook or just a doodle on some leftover receipt roll that I did at work) and then I draw that in photoshop really rough, just mapping out where everything’s gonna go and organizing composition. From there I do another sketch layer to define everything more and then the final line art, if there is any. Once all the lines are done I start colouring, usually having a loose colour scheme in mind but most of it is figured out as I’m going. I start with the base colours and then gradually add shadows and other tones. Once I’m finished everything I’ll add the background and make some small adjustments, but that’s pretty much it.

What are some of your goals?

I’d love to do commissions or sell prints someday, once my art has improved of course. Being able to design merch for small bands has always seemed like such a cool thing to me as well, so if that ever happened in the future it’d be so sick. I’ve always admired people that do art within the music industry and I love seeing the artist behind album artwork, promo posters and pieces of merch so to be one of those people would be so fun. Overall being able to do freelance work with my art when i’m older is what i’m aiming for, but even if I don’t focus on it career wise I’d still want to do it on the side, whether I’m making money or just drawing for myself.