Libby Frame: Illustrator interview

I’m an illustrator currently based in Portland, Oregon. I graduated from Brigham Young University with a BFA in illustration and a minor in media arts. My work is mainly digital, I sometime dabble with other mediums such as watercolors or markers, but when I have a bucket load of commissions with deadlines my iPad and Procreate are my go to. I love creating in all forms and to exercise my drawing muscles I often turn to other artistic expressions like baking, sewing, photography, and writing. Though it’s a bit of a cliché; I absolutely love the outdoors. If I had my way, I would live in a tiny cottage in the woods with a big ol’ lush garden and several cats.

I create many forms of illustrations from comics, kids’ books, drawings for software lessons, logos, character designs, storyboards, and the list goes on and on! If I had my way I would only do full blown detailed illustrations and comics, but as a young recent grad I will take on any project; which has become a great learning experience. My work is very silly looking (in my opinion) but I try to give it a lot of heart and positive energy. I want my work to make people feel happy and calm.

There are so many I could honestly write forever on this but I’ll stick with just the biggest boys for the sake of space. Yoshida Akihiko is by far my biggest inspiration. Particularly his Final Fantasy Tactics character designs. I swoon. He’s had the biggest impact since when I was a kid playing video games and knew I wanted to draw like him. Arthur Rackham is another biggie. His attention to detail and moody minimal palette is extremely hot. I’m also a little obsessed with myths and lore, (partially Celtic) which plays a huge part in my art.

I like to work in coffee shops surrounded by people. When I work alone I drive myself crazy. It’s hard for me to get any work done when I’m not in an environment where other people are also working. I prefer to work in the morning or late at night, it’s hard to get drawing done mid day because I start to get very antsy and need to move around.

The lighthouse on the sea cliffs illustration I recently posted was a one of the few personal pieces that I felt came out exactly how I wanted. I would usually feel weird about hanging my own art up on my walls, except for that piece. I really like how moody but calming it came out and the ocean is special to me.

I never intentionally tried to go for a certain style, it took form like handwriting, and I just ended up drawing the way I wanted things to be drawn. It derived from artists I looked up to and wanted to draw like. It’s definitely still evolving, but I’ve never wanted to force it, I want it to come naturally out of what I enjoy drawing.

There’s this comic I’ve had in the works but keeps getting pushed back because of my busy schedule. It’s image based, doesn’t contain any dialogue, and is simply wizards traveling through beautiful lands and finding peace and serenity in companionship and nature. Kind of cliché but when it comes down to it all I want to draw are wizards and pretty places.

Definitely energy and story! The design has to feel alive, have a lot of motion in the line work or else it’s boring to look at. Story is the most important part of character design though; the design needs to tell a story in some way about the character. Be it in the way they do their hair, their clothes, accessories, pose, expression, etc. It’s all about storytelling.

Not important with the magical internet! But seriously speaking, I know many successful artists that did not go to college, and so many art school graduates that are not working in art but are in a ton of debt. Nowadays there are so many resources online and especially with social media that a college degree, though very helpful, isn’t essential to success as an illustrator. It really comes down to a solid portfolio and getting your work seen, which could be attained without a formal education, but still takes a shit ton of hard work and self discipline.

I sometimes think what it’d be like to own a little coffee shop in the Swiss Alps that also operates as a tiny gallery space and offers figure drawing classes.  Sometimes I think about that coffee shop when I’m super stressed out and it helps relax me.

Printmaking! I’m going to start printing my own shirts and tote bags very soon and add those to my online shop. That is still in the works but should be launching very soon.