Artist of the Week: Koby Etzwiler
"I’ve always looked outside with wonder, and I do my best to represent my love for the wilderness in my pieces. "
Presenting our Kindred Artist of the Week series! We are big fans of all the artists we work with and we are so excited to share their stories!
This week we are featuring Koby Etzwiler, Alaskan college student who uses many different mediums to share his love for the wild things. His creature stickers are durable and water resistant -- just like any true Alaskan needs to be, am I right? He is clearly just getting started, and we can't wait to see what comes next! Check out the full interview below to learn about all things Koby!
Who are you?
Hey! My name is Koby Etzwiler, I'm a 19 (almost 20) year old kid from Alaska who just loves to create. I’ve lived in Homer nearly my whole life, but I’m currently going to college down in Oregon. I’m working towards getting my Bachelors Degree in Outdoor Recreation Management. Basically, I want to be able to work in the National Parks. I love to hike, explore, fish, hunt, and just generally be out in nature.
What do you do?
Most of my background was actually in watercolors and pen and ink drawings. I did almost solely those two things for about 4 years, with occasional acrylic pieces here and there, but recently I bought an ipad so I could branch out into digital art. Lately, all of my pieces have been simple black and whites, though I recently started expanding into colored pieces.
Who/what inspires you?
My biggest inspiration for almost everything I’ve done comes from outdoors. It’s no coincidence that’s the field I’m trying to enter as well. I love drawing any mountain scene with the stars. I’ve always looked outside with wonder, and I do my best to represent my love for the wilderness in my pieces.
What is your favorite moment in the process?
Honestly, my favorite parts are 1) when I get the inspiration to create something new, and 2) when I finish placing the last star. That part is always so tedious for me and it feels great to be done and look at a completed project.
What is a trick of your trade or a piece of advice for artists in your medium?
The biggest piece of advice I can give for any medium I’ve worked with is watch youtube videos and ask questions. There’s always somebody out there with more knowledge on something, even if its a minor detail, and you never know who might be able to give you the advice that makes your next piece your best one yet.
What is next?
My next goal is to expand my digital art style to attempt to create more realistic looking pieces. I love where my inspiration comes from, but I’d also like to learn how to do more types of scenery. If I had to pick one I’d like to learn how to do though, it’d have to be northern lights.
Check out his Instagram @etz_art to see more designs!