Rik Lee

http://www.rikleeillustration.com


 Working with grey lead pencils, texts, watercolours and his computer to create masterpieces is an artist called Rik Lee who lives and draws in Melbourne, Australia. Rik has worked for a range of clients that include American Express, Nylon, Puma, Wired, Vodaphone, Air New Zealand, Virgin Australia, Telstra, Vibe, Vice, Dotti, Clandestine Industries. Hurley, Honour Over Glory, Stussy and The Itailors.

From studying Graphic Design to becoming a Freelance Illustrator

Rik studied Graphic Design however it bummed him out and he decided to focus more on his illustrations because it made him happy and it meant he was doing what he loves, instead of leaving the Design School he decided to stay and produce an illustration portfolio however this caused him to get a lot of grief from his lecturers of whom were annoyed with him for drawing everything even typography. Rik graduated with a portfolio he was proud with however one that no design company wanted anything to do with. Rik carried on drawing and ended up picking up some freelance gigs and is now illustrating for a living.

Mediums and Processes

Rik's works have a range of different media used, first he will started off with a red outline (Faber Castell "Polychromos" pencils, the red is his favourite) for the basic lines where he would then be able to trace over the lines that he wanted in a darker tone. 

The lead of all the coloured pencils differ slightly and Rik found that the blacks and greys are scratchy and good to use so he decided upon using the red because it is soft and draws perfectly. These reasons being why he uses the red pencil first as he then stated "I began to draw almost exclusively in red. It comes down to personal preference. Like all my techniques, I have discovered them through trial and error. I suggest you do the same. Mess around, and find out what works for you. every artist is different and every artist will prefer different mediums. While I may like the red pencil, another person may prefer blue or green. Try them out and decide for yourself."

When the line work and shading is drawn by hand in pencil and the occasional marker pen/sharpie he will sometimes scan in the illustration to then manipulate it in photoshop by adding colour and more. However sometimes he will continue working by hand by colouring it with gauche or watercolours but in some cases he will leave the piece as a pencil drawing on paper. The medium used for each piece depends on which Rik feels would work best and a medium which he is confident with using. The paper that he uses is Arches Smooth Watercolour Paper.

Rik's Interests

Rik has his other interests outside of his drawing of which involve trying not to fall off his skateboard, talking in detail about the weather (Storms being his favourite). He plans to draws more in the future as well as travel more, get more tattoos, drive a '67 Chevy Impala and move down the Coast with his girlfriend and his dog.

Some examples of Rik's works below: