We were lucky to catch up with Kaelen Felix recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaelen, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Thank you for the opportunity to talk about my life’s passion. I always noticed at a very young age when I first picked up a drawing pencil to draw out a simple character, then I could really put together my color schemes with the crayons or paint I used. It all made sense to me what my calling was, so with that being said, … Learning the craft part goes as far back as my early childhood days, I always carried a burning desire to learn and grow to be able to adapt to every situation when it came to refining the artistic methods in my craft. At age two, I had a tremendous interest in drawing, shading, and color values. I recall piecing together still-lives at around 5 years old, and began analyzing with all the light sources, I would say I spent hours on the shading. Art excited me so much, I couldn’t wait to start following my career in it. The one area I focused on the most in the artist principle is movement. My subject of choice on the topic was animals, which were horses. Every day I took the time to analyze the structure of muscle movement in the horse’s legs, along with the background, and how it entailed the negative and positive space of translating the artistic composition. In a way, my gift for art was way beyond my peers artistically. I was very fortunate throughout my life, and it got noticed right away. Before I attended high school, my level of skills was advanced, and the art teachers looked forward to teaching me everything they learned from their educational training. When my self-portrait from high school was drawn beautifully, and shaded exquisitely from drawing one, the teacher was beyond impressed. I received the first solid “A” in nine years, and she used it as a reference to show her college students the value of shading. From there on, I landed a scholarship to attend a top-tier art institute Memphis College of Art, and I received my bachelor’s in fine arts in Illustration. This institute made a complete difference in my life and opened my eyes to the world of art. There were so many great options to pick from career-wise. While I was an undergrad, I picked up on a very important word that stuck with the art, “whimsical” to this day – it’s used in almost every single one of my personal pieces. Towards the end of my training, I realized my calling was to pursue children’s book illustration. After college, I managed to land a freelance opportunity to illustrate my first children’s book with an author working remotely. That book is called, “A Colorful Balloon Ride” which was published on CreateSpace, at the time on Amazon in October 2018! When I started the process of creating the layout, I meticulously researched and harness how I was going to be able to piece all the digital and print production aspects of putting the marketing material together. The biggest hurdle was I didn’t have a graphic design background, I didn’t pursue as many of the design classes as I should have during my undergraduate career. I will say thanks to the resources of other professionals, and the internet – it gave more insight into my focus to accomplish the job. So, since then – I’ve constructed another children’s book for the, “Freddy the Foster Frog” book series, and I recently did another one that is set for publication in June on a retelling story of Aladdin this upcoming summer! That is a more recent book cover, and accomplishment. I made. Another scenario where I also keep using my skills to be adaptable and flexible was during my internship experience at 360 Magazine. That internship was a youthful-edge – lifestyle, and culture magazine – all the amount of vector-style work I created for this entertainment industry allowed me to soar very well. in other words, the sky wasn’t my limitation. I was the “go-to” Illustrator because I completed 400 + illustration/graphic works in eight months. I wanted to speed up their business, and sales so the viewers were seeing newly refreshed work. I also understood the process exporting of the images and making sure it was properly handled for web-media blasts. The last piece of advice I want to conclude is every day – I do art. I don’t stop in my tracks, even if I get burnt out. I get myself back up, and I keep pressing myself forward. That’s what artists must do – they must thrive and presents themselves in a way where we can achieve everything we’ve dedicated, sacrificed, and worked hard for.

Kaelen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Kaelen Felix, I was born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri – where I reside currently. My occupation is Illustration with design/graphic art – 5 + more years of experience with four children’s books published, with two more books on the way. I’ve achieved a recent award for being the “Best 100 Creative” Artist representing MO & TN – as the #1 Fine Artist. I’m an award-winning illustrator from 2020 in England – I earned 4 awards for my children’s book illustrations. The ceremony was held virtually due to the covid-19 pandemic. The children’s books are as follows: “A Colorful Balloon Ride,” “Freddy the Foster Frog Series: 1 &2,” “King Leo & The Feast,” and two more will be coming out soon. The fine artists’ awards were: “Best Book Illustrator” for “Freddy the Foster Frog” and “A Colorful Balloon Ride.” Right after college, I earned freelance opportunities to illustrate all these different books for clients, and what sets me apart from others is that I started becoming published 6 months after college, and made my name known. Recently, I became verified on Instagram and Facebook! Right after my publications came out, my name got notified on Google for the first two children’s book. I always tell people, never to give up, and put their names out there as best as possible. Don’t worry about the declines, keep going. Pushing yourself to be the best version of yourself is important. In addition, to my illustration expertise, and background I have graphic design, print production, and production assistant with prepress experience too! All those skills allow me to match up my creative thinking and skills with business marketing. I’ve had years of social media community management knowledge and blogging with copywriting.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

The drive is always: how can I take this metaphor I have: “Without seeing the light, how could I survive?” It also in a way reminds me of a sunflower, “I will stand tall, and find the sunlight.” This is a metaphor to manifest positivity – I always like to use my artistic eye to see the best in my art – to see the best in my clients, and other people’s work. I strive to bring a balance of “there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.” The rainbow will always shine through and restore making a way. My creative journey is about bringing happiness to every part of my art. When I started to do children’s literature art – I invested time and effort in finding out what steps I need to personally take to create and market my book. Currently, I would love to continue my freelance with children’s books, while I would love to sign myself up with an agent or company representative. I know I can make a meaningful career in Saint Louis, my hometown if I can get myself in touch with the right people.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After figuring out I needed some practice on my artistic and design skills each day I spend time doing so. It could be anywhere on LinkedIn Learning, or as simple as YouTube. Most of those are my go-to platforms. I usually try to catch up with the Adobe webinars. Even when I get declines from applications or jobs, I tell myself, “Maybe it wasn’t meant to be.” I always reassure myself; you can always improvise and improve yourself, and your skills in the arts every day. I tell myself each time, I can work on bettering my self-accomplishments. I can always be the better person, take the high road, and continually stay resilient to myself, and the artistic craft and brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kaelenfelix.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaelix_fx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaelen.felix/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaelen-felix-360591124/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaex_fx

Image Credits
The animal pieces are credited to me, Kaelen Felix – the others like Iggy Stardust – David Bowie, and Mandalorian are credited to 360 Magazine. The first book in its form is credited to “A Colorful Balloon Ride” all rights reserved are for Allistar Banks.