Interview with Amanda Kihlström

Amanda Kihlström currently works as a junior art director for Aegik AB on the latest project War Arcana, producing concept art and making sure everything runs smoothly. You can find tons of her concepts on Aegik's home page. She has previously designed concepts with King.com and Vishindo as well.

I have asked Amanda for an interview, and she has been kind enough to answer a few questions on inspiration, technical abilities, and concept design!

Q: What has kept you motivated to draw throughout the years?

A: My main motivation has always been to get better, continuing to evolve as an artist, and also to get a foot in the game industry as a game artist. 2011, I reached my goal and got my first job as a graphic artist for an indie game studio. So, for right now, my inspiration is to keep climbing the ladder up.

Q: What do you do to inspire yourself in creative lulls?

A: Usually, I play a game, or look at other artists work to get some inspiration. Because I work with game art, I get very inspired by playing games, and also games give me have a little pause from drawing so when I start drawing again I feel energized and ready to do go!

Q: What was a massive "a-ha!" moment for you that you feel improved your technical ability the most?

A: I guess it was... "RIMLIGHTS"! Even though I overused rimlights in the beginning, and it didn't look so good at the time, it still improved my art a great deal. Another "a-ha" moment was when I realized that almost everything reflects color. It sounds very obvious, but the concept wasn't something I had implemented in my art before and it made everything look much better.

Q: What is your favorite resource book/lesson that you bounce back to for reference? Why?

A: Usually, it's other artists on deviantART such as JessiBeans (Jessica Oyehenart), UnidColor (Patrik Hjelm), artsammich (Sam Nielson), and shoomlah (Claire Hummel) for example. I like those in particular because they have vibrant colors and whimsical styles. Otherwise, I've found that pinterest is a great source to look up inspiration or reference pictures. I have a few pdf books on my computer which I gaze in from time to time like Trine Artbook, Dark Souls artbook and a book about Andrew Loomis's art techniques. The first two books are a collection of art from games and the third is, of course, the renowned Andrew Loomis.

Q: What do you practice when you sketch? Do you think you need to practice something else? If so, what?

I mostly practice anatomy and random character sketches to try and find a style and find quick ways to do poses and facial expressions. Also, I blindly sketch whatever comes up—it makes the inspiration flow. I need to practice more male characters though.

Q: If you could go back to the start of your artistic career, what do you wish you could tell yourself?

A: I wish I could tell myself to draw more real-life subjects and educate myself more in color and light study. I am self-taught, in all its glory, although I wish I had read about color and light earlier to facilitate for myself in the future.

Q: What has hindered you the most creatively, and how do you get around it?

A: That's a hard question, I don't think I ever felt like something has ever hindered me creativity.

Q: What inspires you the most? Themes, music, coffee, fresh air, etc.

A: Games, movies, photographs, other artists, and reading or watching history documentaries.

Q: What do you wish starting artists breaking into the concept industry knew?

A: Try to be as good as you can on one area, and still be versatile with your artwork. Work hard and be willing to learn new things. Don't beat yourself up if over critique, just continue with what you do and you will evolve as an artist. Avoid free" work"!

Q: What's something you want the readers to know regarding inspiration and artistic knowledge?

A: I am not someone who advocates going to art school, even though I have never went to one myself. I know a lot of people who have, and none of them have any good experience. There are plant of sites and books that can help you just as much as a full year in an art school would have (and with a lot less loans). I do advocate doing online courses with personal feedback that you can find on Schoolism, online art camps, workshops, etc. Those venues have proven to be really helpful and a great source of learning. Most importantly, those venues help you meet other artists in the same position.

I would like to thank Amanda for the wonderful opportunity. Feel free to follow Amanda's work at her tumblr, deviantART, and personal webpage!

Aegik ab. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.aegik.se/

Amazon. (n.d.). Andrew loomis books. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Loomis/e/B004L5LII8/

deviantART. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.deviantart.com/

deviantART. (n.d.). Amanda kihlström's deviantart. Retrieved from http://amanda-kihlstrom.deviantart.com/

deviantART. (n.d.). Patrik hjelm's deviantart. Retrieved from http://unidcolor.deviantart.com/

deviantART. (n.d). Claire hummel's deviantart. Retrieved from http://shoomlah.deviantart.com/

deviantART. (n.d.). Sam nielson's deviantart. Retrieved from http://artsammich.deviantart.com/

deviantART. (n.d.). Jessica oyhenart's deviantart. Retrieved from http://jessibeans.deviantart.com/

Hayashi, M. (2014). Dark souls: Design works. Udon Entertainment.

Schoolism. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.schoolism.com/

The artwork of amanda kihlström. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://amandakihlstrom.com/

Tumblr. (n.d.). Amanda's blog of art and random stuff. Retrieved at http://amandakihlstrom.tumblr.com/

Trine. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://trine-thegame.com/site/index.php?page=home/

King. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.king.com/

Vishindo. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.vishindo.com/

Review: Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon

Austin Kleon's book Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative presents inspiration in a small handheld book that fits in a purse, backpack, or simply under the arm on the go.  The book gives great unique ways to keep an artist drawing and offers creative boosts.

Austin Kleon Introduces His Book
Austin Kleon starts with explaining his belief that "when people give you advice, they're really just talking to themselves in the past." In his book, Kleon wrote advice from experiencing specific past incidences. He goes on to explain that the advice shared is comprised of advice to his 19-year-old self.

Kleon briefly shares that as he gave his insights, those insights applied to any person seeking creative inspiration. While writing for himself, he later realized that people that try to "inject some creativity into their life and their work" have a need for his book as well.

An Overview Of Steal Like An Artist
10 quick chapters summarize the entire book, designed in a way to read easily in many different ways. The reader has the option to read through the whole book in one sitting, or thumb through the pages for something particularly inspiring. A person can easily come back to Steal Like An Artist on a creative low the spark the brain into productivity.

On top of inspiration, anyone can afford the book. With art books or inspiration books, anyone can expect to pay from $15 and upwards from there—the high gloss and ink used to print the artwork typically runs up the price. Steal Like An Artist is available for only $7 on Amazon, included with imagery for the visual learners.

You can also continue to follow Austin Kleon on his tumblr. He continues to discover new ways to stay inspired as well as learn from other artists.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick pick-me-up on a less than productive day.



Kleon, A. (n.d.). Tumblr: Austin kleon. Retrieved from http://tumblr.austinkleon.com

Kleon, A. (2012). Steal like an artist: 10 things nobody told you about being creative. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Company, Inc.


Amazon. (n.d.). Amazon: Steal like an artist. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Steal-Like-Artist-Things-Creative/dp/0761169253

Inspiring Art-Blocked Artists

Blogging for inspiration and learning’s sake
Every artists of every level needs help with art-block at some point. This blog aims to make going around that block a million times easier. The blog primarily reaches out to offer tips and tricks to concept illustrators — if different types of artists find help through the blog, the more the merrier.

Learning continues even years into an artist’s career, which means the struggle with inspiration continues as well. This blog gives the materials and advice on learning, inspiration, and motivation that I wish I had had given to me.

Things to look forward to:

• Reviews on materials to learn from like James Gurney’s book, Color and Light
• Advice backed by professional concept designers on staying creatively charged
• Feedback from fellow readers to other readers to help encourage ideas and grow artistic skills
• Possible interviews and/or podcasts with working concept designers
• Tips on presenting the best foot forward in the creative industry
• A long list of resources to learn from and a review on why I recommend the books
• Looks at established artist’s such as Noah Bradley and Feng Zhu and how they approach professionalism and inspiration

Background on the author
My name is Kristin, and I’m currently a college student studying animation. I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil, and have found that I produce more and better work when around other creatives. About 2 years ago, I realized that I can create a career out of my drawings instead of enjoying art simply as a hobby. I decided that if I am to go after a career in concept illustration, I need to look outside of college courses and take my education into my own hands.

After doing some searching on my own when I struggled through an art-block, I realized I had to search several sites to find an idea that worked for me. With this blog, I compile everything I have found and melt it into one giant mixing pot for other artists to use.