23 Sept 2011

Artist 112: Stephanie Kubo








It's feature time now, and as usual we have a great artist for you guys now with the multifaceted Stephanie Kubo, hailing from the balmy climes of California Stephanie is the the driving force behind a range of working methods and styles that gives her a diverse but cogent portfolio that has her unique brand running through it. Whether it's her exquisitely detailed line art, her carefree but striking characters or her hand drawn typography there is a real sense her work has detail at it's heart. From her use of incredibly intricate worked patterns to her characters that distil the essence of a person with well chosen subtlety she has a way of knowing where to put a line to give the most value for money. With her "head dress" series she folds in her subtle efficient characters into her intense and detailed patterns, I think the real strength is in the ability to utilise a working practice that requires such care and intensity and it almost seems like a meditative act allowing her to keep her work distinct and create in a range of ways. It's great to see an illustrator who can branch out and still keep her body of work feeling distinct yet with her own stamp. So read on to find out a little more about her.


Who are you:
My name is Stephanie Kubo and I'm an illustrator living and working in Oakland, CA.

What do you do:
I make hand drawn illustrations with lots of pattern and linework, usually with little to no digital editing. Also, more recently I make hand drawn and carved/printed non-keyable fonts.

How did you start:
When I was little I used to copy cartoon drawings (Sailor Moon was a big one). As I got older it turned into copying photos, then drawing from life. In college i couldn't decide between graphic design and illustration, but illustration won in the end and it's just been snowballing since then.

A Personal statement about you or your work:
I like to think of my work as two different animals of the same species. One is usually ink and/or limited color, dark-looking illustrations, and the other is abstract, obsessive and organic drawings. Both of these use intricate patterns and dense linework.
More recently, however, there is a quickly growing third animal; typography work. I'm looking forward to seeing how these will all work together!

Links: 
portfolio
@stephaniekubo
blog

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