Kevin House
Children's Illustrator
Who or what made you want to become an illustrator?
I have always been drawn to art versus photography from an early age. I remember Maurice Sendak's 'Where the Wild things Are' book as a child effecting me deeply with it's vividly rendered crosshatch ink style illustrations. The power of colourful illustrated imagery was everywhere in my youth from album covers to packaging and advertising and of course childrens books. I didn't realize till much later that the peolpe that created all of those images were called illustrators or that that was even a job someone could do. It was only after years as a graphic designer that I decided to specialize in just creating images for a living and it is the best job in the world. For me at least. ;-)
Where do you currently live and where did you grow up?
I currently live on the West Coast of Canada in beautiful British Columbia.
Which books from your own childhood really stand out?
An absolute stand out for me as mentioned above was Where the Wild Things Are. This book's incredible illustration style and unforgettable characters and fantastical yet entirely relateable story captivated an entire generation and still does.
Do you have a favourite picture book or recall one of the first picture books you saw?
One of my stand out favourites has to be The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. I love the idea, the story and especially the illustrations that bring everything to life. Another favourite is the Adventures of Taxi Dog by Debra and Sal Barracca, illustrated by Mark Buehner. Buehners lush, painterly illustrations are a delight to the eyes and his really astute capturing of New York City's streetscapes and people are just brilliant.
Describe your working technique and how you came to perfect it.
I am through and through a digital artist. With a long background in drawing and painting traditionally, I migrated to the screen as the industry evolved. I usually start out on my iPad in Procreate sketching, working out compostion and refining details to the point where I will bring it into Affinity Designer to build and finalize. Having the ability to use layers to organize as I build an image with the flexibility to make changes, experiment and explore different versions, or to scale, rotate, or flip elements opens up so many possibilities that just aren't there or not as easy to obtain traditionally. And with the state of creative software these days any traditional style or effect is usually available should you need it.
What piece of software or hardware could you not live without and why?
Affinity Designer. For illustration it's a rock star application. The overall ease of use, drag and drop or copy and paste masking and clipping, transparency tool, ability to work in pixels or vectors in one app, a low one time cost, ability to work offline and fast and stable workflow make it my go to tool of choice.
Tell us about the creation of your favourite character from one of your books.
I wrote a fairly comprehensive (458 page) book on Affinity Designer called "Up and Running with Affinity Designer" and a part of that book was a practical chapter where the readers learn how to use many of the softwares tools and features to create a fun female astronaut character called Ricky and her sidekick companion, a dog named K9. From designing and sketching the characters all the way through building, instructing and sharing each step of the process I really enjoyed the experience of putting down in words all of the steps it takes to create an illustration. Up until that book I had never experience creating an illustration and recording the process that indepth before. It was a very rewarding experience and subsequently a very memorable character. I can see the attraction of teaching and why people create tutorials sharing their processes.
Kevin House
What would you say is a distinguishing feature of your artwork?
Probably the use of bright, rich and saturated colour with glowing highlights and deep dark shadows. I like to use the full spectrum of hues as well as hefty sprinkling of positive fun energy.
What’s the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?
To be true to yourself. You do you. Don't follow trends.
What makes a good children’s book?
A great concept or idea, communicated as a great story or message, presented with a great execution in a style best suited to the story.
When you are not drawing, how do you like to relax?
When I am not working on an assignment I am out walking. It is the perfect place to either take a nature break or to come up with new ideas or concepts. I am very fortunate to live in an area abundant with natural places to escape to either to re-energize or to de-program and get away from the screen for a couple of hours.
What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?
That I am a living kidney donor oh and that I can chop wood like a boss. ;-)
How do you get your creative juices flowing?
I go for a walk. I find when your feet and body are working your brain is free to wander.