We recently connected with Karen Kemp and have shared our conversation below.

Karen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’m a gouache portrait illustrator and designer but I followed a circuitous route getting here. Throughout my career as a designer I would occasionally dip back into expanding my illustration work, my college degree. During one of those times, I got this idea to write and paint a nonfiction book. The idea for it seemed to come out of nowhere: a book about a network of 135+ public stairways and paths in the hills of my Berkeley, California neighborhood, illustrated with my paintings of the paths. Curiously, when I started researching how the paths came to be, and filing away my notes, I discovered old newspaper clippings about the paths that I had stored away years before. I guess the idea wasn’t really out of nowhere. When I was a teenager commuting into the city for a summer job, a man seated next to me told me of a map of stairways in the Berkeley hills. To me—as someone who’d spent her youth hiking whole weekends with friends over the Mount Diablo foothills—it sounded like a treasure map. I think I had tucked that jewel of an idea away for later when I was ready. There was some wonderful serendipity that occurred too once I began researching the topic. Some of that research included hiking in the hills—in search of the paths. Soon frustrated, I remembered that old map I’d been told about years ago, and so I headed for the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce in search of it. At the Chamber, the clerk told me no, there wasn’t a useful map of all the stairs, but then introduced me to Eleanor Gibson, who happened to be there. She had just founded a grassroots organization with three others to promote, protect and improve those public stairs, called The Berkeley Path Wanderers Association (BPWA). I attended their next meeting, and soon after became a board member. So as well as working on client projects, I spent as much time possible delving into my path project, and spending time with BPWA—helping them while learning a great deal too.
My days were a mixture of digging for history, writing, hiking in the hills, plein air painting stairways, and designing page layouts. I shared artwork and a story in BPWA’s newsletter, and I became engaged with a community of like-minded path enthusiasts. Eventually I and other members created the best map of Berkeley’s pathways. I art directed the design so the paths were the prominent feature of the street system, and on the cover was a path painting I did of Visalia Steps, a particularly rustic and romantically askew set of steps. We published a few thousand copies of the map which sold out immediately. Now the map is in its ninth edition and has sold nearly 40,000 copies. The book itself made it to a first draft, and briefly held the interest of a publisher. But sadly at the time, I didn’t have the resources to complete a second draft, and had to put the book project aside when I became a new mom. The book project though encompassed all of my passions: design, painting, history, community and the outdoors. Who knows, maybe it’s time—now that my daughter is a young teenager—to revisit that project. Last year I worked with BPWA to reprint a set of note cards of my path paintings. You can purchase them here https://www.berkeleypaths.org/swag-store/n.

Karen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My career path has been an interwoven pursuit of illustration, painting and design. After getting a BA in illustration, I continued painting and did the ocasional portrait commission, while I also began freelancing as a cookbook production artist. That led to 14 years as a staff magazine designer, then art director and creative director, managing designers and hiring illustrators and photographers. Five years ago I quit my full time job to open my own studio and really pursue illustration work. I meandered a bit while getting reaquainted with painting and discovering in what area I wanted to specialize. I love combining hand lettering and other elements with my gouache portraits which are cheerful and energetic.
I approach an illustration assignment with the knowledge gained by my years as an art director. So, I understand the importance of clear communication, setting expectations, and meeting deadlines — as well as making a great illustration!
I’m really proud of the portrait illustration I did for San Francisco State University’s SF State Magazine. It is a portrait of the school’s president along with hand painted lettering in the shape of a waving flag for a story on teaching American history. They were so happy with the portrait that they purchased the original art as well.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

When I graduated from an art college (this was before social media), I struggled to understand how to market my work, and where to find clients. If I were starting out again, I would have found a mentor right out of art college, an experienced illustrator a few years more seasoned than me. They could have helped ease me into the business side of illustration, something that should have been taught more extensively in art school. Of course it wasn’t available then, but now with places like Skillshare and Creative Bug, there are great resources for improving marketing and business skills. I’ve taken a ton of courses over the last several years. One that stands out for me is Shannon McNab’s Pitch Your Portfolio. It is a thorough and well organized class — an essential guide to preparing your portfolio, finding clients, and setting up a system to pitch on a regular basis.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As someone who pursues both commercial art projects as well as personal art projects, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is collaborating with various people, digging into research, and learning about people, places and history. It’s exciting to enrich a story with a great illustration. I like too that as I continue to ask myself what really matters, I can navigate towards meaningful projects. For me that’s more and more about working with companies that foster growth, empowerment, and respect. Companies doing good in the world. Running my own business has that advantage.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.karenqkemp.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenqkemp/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-kemp-visualcommunicator/

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