Andrea Kang
USA
Illustrator Andrea Kang creates a fanciful world filled with girls, bears, and creatures. She explores nostalgia and the blurred lines between dreams, reality and memories. Andrea created Gomi for Momiji, a little girl who wants to be more like her spirit animal, a bear.
INTERVIEW
Hometown Long Island, NY
How did you begin exploring your ideas for your Momiji doll? Thought about what I would want to be if I were a Momiji figure and went from there
What’s your usual way of working; do you sketch first or immediately create digital files? I almost always sketch first, scan my drawings in and then if necessary create the digital files or tweak them using my cintiq
Can you tell a little about the Gomi character and what she stands for? Gom in Korean means bear. Gomi is a little girl who wanted to be more like her spirit animal and therefore disguised herself as a bear. She’s a dreamer, quiet, but very brave, and possess magical powers.
What was your favourite part of the design process? Brainstorming and initial sketching, I like the freedom you have in this stage.
Tell us about your workspace. Do you design in a specific place or do you find it easy to work anywhere? I converted one room in my apt. into a studio. There’s 2 tables that I work from, one which has all my electronics, i.e computers, scanner, printer and the other where I draw and paint from.
Tell us about a typical work day. Changes depending on the project, but normally it would be checking and responding to emails, working off my laptop that’s connected to a cintiq monitor and then intermittently taking my cat Dorian off my laptop or whatever else I’d be working on
How would you describe your illustration style? Minimalistic + cute
What would you say are the most important characteristics for anyone wanting to work in design or illustration? Passionate, imaginative, and not taking critique personally
In the movie of your life which song would be the title track on the soundtrack? Manhattan by Catpower
In the kitchen, what’s your speciality dish? Homemade vegetable tofu dumplings
What's your favourite thing about living where you do? It’s a haunted city
If you could live in any other city in the world where would you choose and why? Too many places to choose from, maybe Florence..fell in love with it the first time I visited. There’s a peacefulness I found there, love how the old world is infused throughout the city, beautiful muted color palette with pops of bright colors and delicious gelato.
Friday nights or Sunday mornings? I’m a night owl so I would have to say Friday nights.
