Meet Kyle Shold | Illustrator and Graphic Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kyle Shold and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kyle, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
When I first started out I drew everything traditionally on paper with pencil and pen and brush. Over time I found that I was doing more and more work at my computer and spending much less time at my drafting table. These days I work 100% as a digital artist that creates everything using creative software. I’ve found that there’s an assumption, even among traditional fine artists, that digital art means the computer does a lot of the work for you. (Unfortunately now that A.i “art” has sprung up that misunderstanding is even more widespread.) All I can say is as a digital illustrator I draw all my artwork by hand but I use the computer as a tool like anything else. A tool that is “magic!” Creating art in a digital space allows for any number of working methods, alterations, manipulations, tool sets and even short cuts but it doesn’t do the work for me. I compose the image. I make the choices. I make the changes. When I deliver a piece of artwork it’s something I made on a formerly blank canvas. The canvas just happens to be on a computer screen. There are huge advantages to working digitally but in the end if one can’t draw, understand composition, color, value, layout, or typography, creative software isn’t going to do those things for you.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
When I was growing up I wanted to be a comic book artist. My career went a different route into video game art and then editorial layout but my illustration style still has a very strong comic book influence. I really love exaggeration of proportions, movement and melodrama. I don’t want reality. If there’s an emotion or an action make it big! I also love line work. The inked line is unforgiving yet incredibly emotive. I’ve always been fascinated by it.

I’ve had my work be described as “whimsical.” I don’t know why I hate that so much. I once heard 1980’s cinema described as a mix of cynicism and sentimentality. I like that. I guess that’s how I see my artwork. But the artist can only create their work, they ultimately can’t define it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m the last person you want creating an “exciting” itinerary. Ha! I’m a simple guy. I’d plan visiting historical sites like the Cowpens National Battlefield or Kings Mountain National Military Park or the Poinsett Bridge. Paddling around Lake Cooley in a kayak is wonderfully peaceful. I would include getting some delicious barbecue at Bubba’s BBQ Bash or at Carolina BBQ. Grabbing a beer and enjoying live music at Fr8Yard is a must! I’m still very new to the upstate so going on a spontaneous drive and exploring the area is always fun.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife, Matessa. My best friend. We’ve been together since high school and she has been a constant source of love and support for me. I honestly have no idea where I would be in life without her. I don’t always think I deserve her encouragement but she’s always there to tell me I do.

Website: https://www.freshwaterbaycreative.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyleshold/

Other: @kyleshold on Vero
@fwbcreative on Cara

Image Credits
All photos and artwork are copyright Kyle Shold/Freshwater Bay Creative. Other logos represented are copyrighted to their respective businesses and used with permission.