Interview: Kiri Leonard

Mythical Beasts artist Kiri Leonard tells us about her Kickstarter, Year of the Unicorn, as well as her favorite artists, techniques and the furry animals who occupy her life...

3dtotal: Tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you, what do you do, and where are you located?
KOL: My name is Kiri, I am a self-employed fantasy illustrator, currently residing in Austin, Texas. Beyond sharing my artwork with this wonderful world of ours, I also love sharing my experiences of living a life as an artist and pursuing a creative lifestyle.

I am originally from a tiny village called Boeslum in Denmark. I immigrated to the US in 2010 to pursue a career in Illustration at the Pratt Institute in New York City. I could, unfortunately, only afford one year at the school, so afterwards I jumped feet first into a freelance art career, which I have been very blessed to thrive in ever since.

Apocalina is a bit of an inventor, living in a destroyed world. She has a knack for creating things, in a time where others have forgotten how. Shes a concept for a book I hope to write

3dt: Tell us about your creations and the type of work you love to make.
KOL: I would describe my art style is whimsical mixed with a dash of mystery and darkness. I like to work with contrast, usually of scale. I like illustrating little things in big worlds, or big worlds found in little things. I also often work with deeper themes such as loneliness, friendship, belief, and hopefulness. Im very fond of working with animal characters, and with mythical beings such as fairies or trolls.

This is the June illustration for my upcoming Unicorn Calendar: The Year of the Unicorn

3dt: Who would you say are your main influences?
KOL: Brian Frouds book Good Faeries/Bad Faeries is what started me on the idea of wanting to be an artist, so he is my strongest influence, other than that I find Im often more so influenced by authors than artists. Books like Peter Pan, The Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland have had profound influence on my work. Some artists whose work always takes my breath away are Norman Rockwell, Matt Rhodes, Igor Sid, Kimberli Johnson and Jacob Rozalski. Its a very mixed bag but I think its important to look across genres to find your voice.

I am a little obsessed with the idea of post apocalyptic, or just adventurous, mermaids and was thinking what one would look like

3dt: What software, tools or techniques do you use to create your art?
KOL: I start with a good old-fashioned sketchbook: My preferred brand is Stillman and Birn, Zeta Series. For painting I work in Photoshop on a Wacom Cintiq 27 HD Touch. I only recently was able to invest in a Cintiq, before that I enjoyed working on a Wacom Intuos, which is also a great tablet, however; being able to paint directly on the monitor with a Cintiq made a big impact on the quality of my work.

Many of my story ideas start with a single illustration, this one is about changelings in an orphanage, the girl is the main character

3dt: Youve got a Kickstarter running at the moment, tell us about that. How has that experience been?
KOL: I am! Its a Kickstarter for a calendar called The Year of the Unicorn, 2018. It is my very first experience with Kickstarter. I have been absolutely blown away by the response. Its deeply moving seeing so many people respond to and support your personal work as an artist. It is a huge confidence boost, something I often lack, like many other artists, Figuring out the Kickstarter was a learning curve, but I always enjoy sitting down to do research. Studying successful campaigns from other artists was an immense help, but also researching marketing and social media has been very helpful.

This piece is the intro to the first chapter in an upcoming book I am working on called Montague Mouse. Its my current passion project!

3dt: What skill, technique or style would you like to learn in the future?
KOL: I would absolutely love to learn how to draw with a pen. I suffer from hairy-line syndrome as I call it - its when your drawings consist of a lot of little scratchy lines, rather than long confident strokes. Practicing with pen is supposed to alleviate that, so, that is something I would love to explore. Artists like Claire Wendling and Even Mehl Amundsen are masterful at this; theyre artists I would look to study from. I would also love to learn oil painting; I have never tried oils so I am intrigued by it. I dont foresee that happening in the near future though.

Promotional poster illustration for my upcoming book Montague Mouse. Montague and his friends are seeking to get lost

3dt: How do you keep your portfolio up-to-date? Any tips?
KOL: Im an avid proponent of Hiring Yourself so I work on multiple personal projects at the time in between my client work. Personal projects are a wonderful way to constantly add new work to your portfolio and also to practice working on deadlines, on top of that it absolutely helps you figure your direction as an artist and what you enjoy working on.

I came up with the idea of Pumpkin Sparrows for an annual Halloween illustration. Every year I do a Halloween themed piece

3dt: What are your artistic ambitions?
KOL: To write and illustrate my own books - I am such a book lover. I would love to be able to offer people the same deep connection to stories as I have gained with some of my favorite books. I am currently working on my first one called Montague Mouse. I have made substantial progress on it this year, but it might be another year or two before I am ready to send it out into the world. Its a story of a very little mouse who becomes the last hope of his woodland home when a group of foul toads move in and destroy the forest. On a deeper level it is a story of overcoming self-doubt, loneliness, friendship and perseverance. While the description may sound like it is for children, I think it will be more fitting for young adults and up.

The Parliament of animals are electing their hero, the Marten, who is to save them all but if you notice the light its hitting someone else

3dt: How do you occupy yourself when you need some down time from art?
KOL: I have currently taking an interest in gardening. I am also an avid animal lover and spend a lot of time with my five pets - three rescue cats and two rescue guinea pigs; the animals keep me sane. Working freelance from home can be very lonely, so having the company of other heartbeats in the house is necessary. Other than that, I enjoy playing computer games, sewing, cooking and writing and when I am stressed out by the work, I like to watch an episode of Frasier. It sounds silly but that TV show cracks me up, I have watched it so many times but I never tire of it.

This October illustration for my upcoming Unicorn Calendar: The Year of the Unicorn

3dt: What can we expect to see from you next? Any cool projects we should look out for?
KOL: First and foremost you will see The Year of the Unicorn calendar around hristmas this year, once I have sent that out into the world I will resume working on my book project: Montague Mouse. It is really my passion project and I cannot wait to be able to share it, but since it is a long-term project I am also going to work on some shorter-term stuff in between, so after the Unicorn Calendar, I would love to put together a sketchbook collection and self-publishing. I hope to do that in the spring of 2018. Other than that keep an eye out for my YouTube channel, I recently started an artist vlog on there where I am sharing the ins and outs of working as an artist.

Related links

Check out more of Kiri Leonards spectacular work on her website
Take a look at Kiris Kickstarter project, The Year of the Unicorn
Kiris chapter on the Gorgon is another reason not to miss out on Mythical Beasts
Kiris other major project, Montague Mouse, is currently in development, you can see her progress here
Buy prints and more from Kiris shop
Follow Kiri on Instagram
Hear more from Kiri, on her art and process, on her YouTube vlog