Hi everyone! I am a US based artist and illustrator, originally from Munich, Germany, and have had the privilege to work in the LA Gaming and Animation Industry for a few years now. Past clients include Warner Bros, Netflix and ThatGameCompany, and I also got to Art Direct the Annecy Nominated animated pilot episode "The Ekspats". In my work I specialize in World Building and creating paintings and art work with a sense of mood and lighting that inspire me (and hopefully others too!). I have been doing freelance Background Painting and Illustration Comissions for a while now, and would love to make the transition to more Illustration Projects out there!

KimMcMahon

Hi everyone! I am a US based artist and illustrator, originally from Munich, Germany, and have had the privilege to work in the LA Gaming and Animation Industry for a few years now. Past clients include Warner Bros, Netflix and ThatGameCompany, and I also got to Art Direct the Annecy Nominated animated pilot episode "The Ekspats". In my work I specialize in World Building and creating paintings and art work with a sense of mood and lighting that inspire me (and hopefully others too!). I have been doing freelance Background Painting and Illustration Comissions for a while now, and would love to make the transition to more Illustration Projects out there!

Available to hire

Hi everyone! I am a US based artist and illustrator, originally from Munich, Germany, and have had the privilege to work in the LA Gaming and Animation Industry for a few years now. Past clients include Warner Bros, Netflix and ThatGameCompany, and I also got to Art Direct the Annecy Nominated animated pilot episode “The Ekspats”.
In my work I specialize in World Building and creating paintings and art work with a sense of mood and lighting that inspire me (and hopefully others too!). I have been doing freelance Background Painting and Illustration Comissions for a while now, and would love to make the transition to more Illustration Projects out there!

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Skills

Il
Illustration
Ch
Childrens Book Illustration
Fa
Fantasy Illustration
Ar
Artwork
Bo
Book Illustration
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Experience Level

Illustration
Expert
Childrens Book Illustration
Expert
Fantasy Illustration
Expert
Artwork
Expert
Book Illustration
Expert
Character Design
Intermediate

Language

English
Fluent
German
Fluent

Education

BFA at California Institute of the Arts
May 21, 2022
I studies Character Animation, completed 3 animated shorts and specialized in Visual Development and World Building!

Qualifications

Selected for the CalArts Producers Show 2022
April 25, 2022
My animated thesis film "Lift You Up" was selected to get screened at the LA Academy Museum in 2022. You can watch it here! https://youtu.be/B6Vv2gRmius?si=6GA0WXfIhwZRT3z3
"The Ekspats" playing at Annecy 2024
April 22, 2024
The animated pilot episode "The Ekspats", a half American half Nigerian Coproduction that I got to Art Direct and do all the Background Art for, is gonna get screened at Annecy 2024 this year!
    uniE621 Hot Days in Los Angeles
    Illustration of me trying to survive the LA heat without AC this past summer. I love doing little slice of life paintings like these where I try to capture a mood and vibe that I want to remember forever :) Even if it got quite hot, I loved my apartment in Silverlake with all my cute house plants that I collected throughout the year! (Done on Photoshop.) illustration illustrator visualdevelopment digitalpainting
    uniE621 The Fox and the Hedgehog on a Tree
    Foxes and hedgehogs are two of my favorite animals. I encountered them quite a bit when growing up in Southern Germany, and I made them my two main characters of a series of illustrations, because they feel like home and childhood to me :) This one in particular shows Fox and Hegdehog on a sunny fall afternoon, they are having a bit of a nostalgic moment here because they just realized that summer is coming to an end, and are reminiscing about all the beautiful moments they got to share these last few months. (Done in Photoshop) childrensbook childrensbookillustration illustration illustrator digitalpainting digitalart
    uniE621 Kombucha Walk
    Another Slice of Life type illustration I did of me and my sister, drinking my (homemade!!) Kombucha, enjoying the LA spring flowers and looking for a cute house of plant to paint. The light on mornings like these fills me with so much joy, and having a twin that I have been talking and talking and talking to all my life also makes me super grateful, and I tried to pour all these warm spring feelings into this painting. (Done in Photoshop.) illustrator illustration visualdevelopment digitalpainting childrensbook childrensbookillustration
    uniE621 The Fox and the Hedgehog on a Journey
    In this illustration of the Fox and the Hedgehog, i wanted to indulge into my love for world building a bit! I have mostly worked in Visual Development in Animation so far, and designing villages like these is one of my absolute favorite thing to do. I also just really love water and windmills for some reason, they have something so whimsical about them. (Done on Photoshop) childrensbook childrensbookillustration illustrator illustration visualdevelopment digitalpainting digitalart
    uniE621 Moment on My Summer Roadtrip in Virginia
    Me and my best friend spent all summer last year taking his poor car all around the US, and I especially fell in love with all the ruins and junk cars that you can see everywhere in the southern states. This one in particular was in a super rural area of Virginia, and I loved how nature was just slowly reclaiming this old truck bit by bit every year. (Done on Photoshop) illustration illustrator digitalart digitalpainting childrensbook childrensbookillustration
    uniE621 Cover for "My Daughter is Afraid of Stars"
    When I was super small, looking up into a sky full of stars freaked me out like crazy, and my wonderful father wrote the sweetest poem about that time back then. Two years ago I found it again and it made me feel so many lovely feelings, and I decided to illustrate the whole poem as a childrensbook as a christmas gift. This is the cover for it. (Done on Procreate) childrensbook cover coverart childrensbookillustration illustrator digitalart digitalartist coverillustration
    uniE621 Cooling Off.
    Another deep love of mine are saunas! Specifically, the cooling off part after a sauna. It's the most relaxing thing, especially on a winter night, so i wanted to capture that feeling in this illustration of a little bear and his self built little sauna deep in the winter woods. (Done on Photoshop) illustration illustrator digitalart digitalpainting
    uniE621 The Lantern Monster
    This creature is part of my 1920s detective story! It traps peoples souls in lanterns, and has been collecting them for centuries. characterdesign characterdesigner creaturedesign illustration illustrator
    uniE621 Detective Duo!
    I designed these two characters for a mystical mystery story set in the 1920s. They are both secretly detectives, that investigate peoples nightmares and hunt supernatural creatures and spirits that interfere with the human world! (Done on Photoshop) characterdesign characterdesigner illustration illustrator digitalart digitalpainting
    uniE621 The Fox and the Hedgehog on their Way to the Lantern Festival
    In the middle of winter, Germans celebrate St Martins Day! Children craft their own little colorful paper lanterns, light them and wander around together on a snowy evening. It only later occurred to me how magical this tradition was, so i decided to paint my Fox and Hedgehog Characters making their way through the snowy forest to the parade. And their friend the Badger came along this time! (Done on Photoshop) childrensbook childrensbookillustration illustrator illustration digitalpainting digitalart
    uniE621 Princess and the Frog
    Fairytales might be cliché at this point, but I grew up with them and have a deeply rooted love for them all! I especially had fun with this one, I like how my character design for my little princess turned out to look a bit unkempt and playful. illustration illustrator characterdesigner characterdesign childrensbook childrensbookillustration
    uniE621 Midnight Forest Hot Tub Time!
    About a year ago me and my family rented out this lovely airbnb deep in the Redwood Forests in NorCal, and it came with this Hot Tub in the back! At night me and my sister would stay in there for hours and listen to the sounds of the forests, and the mood was absolutely magical. It reminded me of the mood of Miyazakis Princess Mononoke, and that's what I based this illustration on too. (Done on Procreate) illustrator illustration digitalpainting digitalart childrensbook childrensbookillustration