T.E.S.T. Interview: Ken Roko Art

We hope to introduce you to all the great Etsy sellers to be found right here in Toronto. Here at the T.E.S.T. blog, we plan to interview them all. This is the 42^nd in our series with Ken of KRokoArt

Tell us about yourself. How does your animation background influence the art in your shop? Do you still animate? What inspires you?

I graduated from Animation program initially and decided to continue to study 3D Visual Art program. After the graduation, I've been working as a 2D/ 3D artist in entertainment industry. Recently I turned into a full-time freelance artist. I am taking various freelance projects and developing my own art work on the side simultaneously.

I have explored various styles and colors from different generations of artists. Especially I love 19th century American painters such as Thomas Eakins and John Singer Sargent.

I primarily work with digital media through 2D and 3D applications, but don't forget to enjoy developing images through traditional media.

I usually get inspired by small daily objects and reading books. I think books can be very interesting inspirations, sometimes books can make you more imaginative visually.

Tell us about your shop. How did you get into this Etsy business?

Although my artworks had been already published through my publisher internationally, I didn't know about Etsy until late 2010. Actually one of my colleague artists recommended Etsy to me, I was fascinated by the fact that you could reach out to your patrons directly.

A lot of your prints seem to be inspired by nature, and the beauty within our environment. How do you choose your subjects?

It's really somewhat a random process, usually I need to wait for the inspirations to visit me. Once I get that hit, it's just a smooth process from there. Waiting period is sometimes really agonizing.

In your shop, your style is defined, yet each piece is unique and made with extraordinary detail. Do you keep your overall style in mind while creating each piece or does it come naturally?

I'm still exploring to find my voice, so to work with different styles and colors are always fun process to me.

What is your vision for the future of Ken Roko Art?

Keep doing what I'm doing I believe.

Do you also do custom made items?

Yes, I've been working on lots of freelance and commissioned projects.

Check out the other items available from Ken in his Etsy Shop! You can find more of his work on Facebook, Tmblr and Twitter.

Interviewed by Jackie of LivelyLoops in Toronto in January 2013.

T.E.S.T. Interview: SoRad

We hope to introduce you to all the great etsy sellers to be found right here in Toronto. Here at the T.E.S.T. blog, we plan to interview them all. This is the fourth in our series, an interview with SoRad.

Tell us about your shop.
I opened my shop last summer in hopes to sell some extra cards I had printed for a craft show. Right now, my shop has greeting cards, prints and some baby and kids clothes.

How is your Etsy experience so far? What have you learned about yourself? How does your store fit into your life?
So far, not so bad. I was hoping for more sales, but I'm sure most people are when they first open a shop! I've learned that I definitely love working for myself. I like having all of my stuff online, available to the public and I really like having my own shop! Having a shop on Etsy seems to give me motivation to create more stuff. When you work for yourself, it's SO easy to slack.

Tell us about your creative process - what is your favourite medium to work with?

Creative process.. funny, I had someone else ask me to write an article about my creative process and I'll be honest, it wasn't too long. Ideas just come to me out of the blue. I might get stuck on wording and spend time talking to myself for a day or so, but then I'm back on
track. A bit of my background might make this make more sense - I used to be a digital illustrator for clipart.com. I worked part time and my
monthly quota was minimum 60 illustrations, I sometimes did 90. I also did freelance for liquidlibrary.com and had another 4 (more beautiful) illustrations per month. My favourite medium is the computer! My mac book pro and my tablet *sigh*... My husband said I looked just as excited when I got it as I did when I had my son! haha

Your artwork has quite a bit of variety, how would you define your style?
Being a digital illustrator, you tend to have to adapt. I love lots of styles and wish I could do more even, so I guess maybe I am still searching for my own style. I have been told, I do have a specific style and I need more diversity, so go figure!

Love your monsters! How were they born?

Like I said, I love lots of styles. One in particular are those japanimation characters and creatures. I also love simplicity and wanted something I could work with without too much detail. Something that could be done easily in Adobe Illustrator and resized to 54892 x 7489 if it needed to be.:)


What are your upcoming plans and goals?
I am actually thinking about not doing anymore cards. I love making the artwork and I love the characters (which will carry over into the next endeavor). Right now, I am working on my own baby clothing line - yes, now I am a fashion designer - stay tuned...

Check out more of Jazz's work on her Facebook sorad page, in her blog, follow her on twitter, or on her website and in sorad in etsy.

Interviewed by Zippster on January 28, 2010.