Sometimes known as Keith Wormwood, Keith is an incredible illustrator and artist from Canada. With hundreds of quality illustrations under his belt, he works both on personal pictures and concept art for games, movies and books.

 

So, how did you get into illustration? It is obviously a passion, but did you make a conscious decision to do it or did you fall into it?

I was obsessed with art and creating art since as early as possible. Before kindergarten I remember getting very good at pterodactyls, and trying to figure out how to overlap the lines properly in two crossing brontosaurus necks. From early on I was always very enthusiastic about book illustrations, video game artwork and movie effects, so my enthusiasm really directed any career path.  In terms of mindset I was basically set from the get go to work in the fields I work in.  All the conscious preparation mostly came in high school when I started thinking about how I was going to go about the pragmatic side of things like freelancing.

 

How did you get into making concept art for companies?
 
So far they’ve found me, which is nice because it allows me to spend all my time working on the art itself.  Clients seem to mostly find out about me from my website from the sounds of it.

 

A lot of your art is very surreal and features steam-punk elements. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
 
Everything really.  I can find inspiration in a lot of very varied things. Obviously I follow a lot of art very closely and always try to discover new artists regularly as well as pay attention to what my favourites have been up to. On the other side of things for inspiration I actually rather like being in a boring situation (note that that’s different from having to fulfill a boring task) because my mind can wander.  One of the biggest drawbacksof being so busy now is that I don’t get enough idle time where I’m stuck with nothing to do but lose myself in my head and imagine stuff (it’s where I form ideas for my art, but it’s also very enjoyable in itself.)

 

Could you take us through a short description of your workflow? Do you start a picture with ideas in mind or do you develop the drawing as you go?
 
I usually spend a few hours in front of a blank page imagining what I want to do.  Sometimes I’ll take a walk or pace around. Everything is clear in my head before I start drawing.  The actual creation of the art is just trying to get those fully formed ideas down.  I spend a huge amount of time during my work just staring off into space.

 

Lastly, how much does art dominate your life? Do you hope to do this forever, or would you one day like to move on to something different?
 
Art completely dominates it.  Basically there’s nothing else. Thankfully it’s not due to falling too deep into my career (though there may be some of that) but rather that I tend to enjoy everything I end up doing on some sort of artistic level.  I’ve always enjoyed the aesthetics of everything in life.  It doesn’t seem to muddy my enjoyment of things, only enhance it, so I can enjoy a fun video game in and of itself, but doubly so if the aesthetics are wonderful in it.

 

Thanks for your time

 

You can view more of Keith’s artwork at his website, or his deviantart.