Meet Keith Alexander Lee | Conceptual Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Keith Alexander Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Keith Alexander, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
Well my work life balance has slowly shifted to no balance, haha. Back when I was studying, I was able to draw better boundaries between studying and personal life. But as I continued on as a freelance illustrator after graduating, I find myself became more work focused. I still try to get my workouts and jogs in on most days a week, play some ukulele here and there, as well as spending some time with my loved ones. But work has predominately taken over most of my time. I’d either be working on commissioned work or personal work when I have time to do so. I am not particularly bothered by this shift, I do think that there is much I need to do to better myself as an illustrator.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As I mentioned before, I create conceptual illustrations. The reason as to why I gravitate towards conceptual illustration specifically is because I believe that the idea behind an illustration is what makes the illustration. As a commercial Illustrator, my job is to communicate an idea to my audience. Therefore, I see myself first and foremost as a visual communicate, and artist second. A beautifully and carefully constructed illustration means significantly less if it fails to communicate the idea/concept behind the story/product it accompanies. I hope my illustration will be able to communicate the concepts and idea to my audience in a way they have never thought of or seen before. If my audience see my illustration and stop to think, “Wait, that is very interesting,” I would know that I have done my job.

I think the biggest challenge for me would be the constant thought that I am not doing enough. Similar to my approach towards my work life balance, I constantly feel like there is more I can do. I don’t think it has anything to really do with ambition. I have never really been an ambitious person. I think this stems more so from the fact that I don’t want to waste this opportunity I was fortunately enough to be given. The opportunity to freely pursue a career I love. If I were to just do enough to get by, I would not only be disrespecting my peers in the field, everyone who has invested time in helping me improve my craft, and people who didn’t have a the opportunity to pursue their dreams, I would also be disrespecting myself.

This sounds very intense, haha… What I am trying to say is, I just want to make the most out of the opportunity I was given.

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.
Oh I love zoos and aquariums. So definitely the Atlanta zoo and Georgia Aquarium. I would also go hiking with them. Personally I love fast food, so I think I’d just take them to Taco Bell or something. (Haha, I am fun to hang out with, I swear. My mom always says I am a wonderful human being.)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to thank for your success?
Well I consider this to be the starting point of my career, so I don’t consider what I have done as success. But, I would not have been able to even be at the starting line as a professional illustrator without the support of my loved ones. My wife has been one of my biggest supporter in my artistic pursue and I thank her for that. I also have had the fortune of crossing paths with many wonderful professors and peers who have helped me shaped my visual voice. I’d especially like to thank Mr. Craig Frazier for taking the time out of his busy schedule to guide me and help me grow as an illustrator. His work has inspired me to pursue creating conceptual illustration when I was still in studying, to be able to meet and receive advice from him has been unreal.

Website: www.keithleeillustration.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithleeillustration/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/keithleeillu

Other: https://www.si-la.org/member-gallery/keith-alexander-lee https://www.theispot.com/artist/klee https://foundartists.com/keith-lee/editorial-publishing https://altpick.com/keithleeillustration

Image Credits
Illustrations By Keith Lee Illustration