ART SCHOOL | Q&A WITH AFROKILLA
Painter, muralist, and Chicago based artist Keith Smith aka Afrokilla is always painting and creating cool murals all around Chicago. Not too long ago we featured Keith in our Mural Mondays | Afrokilla post, highlighting his cool mandala inspired murals, using geometric shapes and patterning, so we’re excited to talk to the man behind the murals about his background, process, and what his favorite things are to draw and paint.
Photographs courtesy of the artist.
Could you introduce yourself? Hey y’all name is Keith Smith. I go by the artist name Afrokilla. Yes, I have an afro. Yes you can touch it. I am a painter, muralist, and community art activator in Chicago. Every day I paint. It is my full time job as an independent artist, and I absolutely love it. Something people may not know about me is that I have never been out of the country (USA). I recently got my passport, so I’m looking to change that this year!
Where you based out of and what do you love most about the city you live in? I am based out of Chicago, Illinois. What I love most about my city is the super welcoming art community. For the longest time I was involved with graphic design and just wasn't finding a “crowd” in that scene, and once I started to immerse myself into the painting scene, it was way more open, friendly, and adaptable to express myself. I learned very quickly from other people I had looked up to for years.
Can you tell us a little about your art background? Were you self taught or did you study art in school? I am self taught with drawing and painting 100%. I was one of the only artists from my hometown in Iowa, where I grew up. I came to Chicago to attend art school (Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago) majoring in Graphic Design. I thrived in the “mock-up” category when it came to critiques, haha. After I received my bachelor’s degree, I worked for a brand marketing consultant firm downtown for 2 years before my transition into full time painting and mural excecution thoughout the city. That was the prominent “flip-flop” era in my career that I have never looked back on.
Who were some of your early artistic influences? Who are your artistic influences nowadays? I’ve had many many many influences thoughout my career... so i will just focus only the handful of Chicago street artist’s / muralist’s who inspired me to leave that marketing job to pursue art full time. Jeff Zimmerman, Sentrock, JC Rivera, Max Sansing. And it’s crazy how things work out. I've been lucky enough to work alongside of all of these artists to this day. It’s truly a blessing.
What are some of your favorite things to draw and why? Favorite things for me to draw would definitely be illustrated characters. I’ve been drawing them since I was obsessed with Dragonball Z at age 11. When I am drawing these characters, I’ll either get commissioned for a mural and have to come up with them to relate to the theme of the job, or I’ll whip up a few new ones when I am bored in the studio. Either way, it becomes such an expressive practice where the end result becomes something I would have NEVER thought I could come up. Like seriously, I've drawn dog aliens skateboarding inside of a bread bun portal before... like wtf???
How do you get started on a piece? How do your ideas take shape from start to completion? I literally just go man... When I started my painting debut in the city I was heavily involved with live painting so that totally forced me to just start throwing colors up and finding shapes and a groove I could settle with from there. Those “happy accidents” from a painting session have easily become some of my best work. It all starts with just tossing some paint on that canvas then keeping things organic and fun.
What do you use mainly to create your art? Tools? Is there a medium you’d like to try out some day? I pretty much just use acrylic, latex and spray paint. I primarily combine brush paint with spray paint to get different fade effects. I've been told by other local established artists to try out air brushing sometime. It’s basically the happy medium between the acrylic + spray mediums, but I have yet to round up the gear. Maybe someday I'll give it a shot, but for now I like getting the arm workout with tossing paint literally everywhere, haha.
What’s something you can pass along art tip wise? What’s something you’d like to pass along to folks? The only art tip I can pass on is redundant… DON’T STOP. Every single painting I make to this day, I’ve hit a wall where I’m like, okay is this too much? Is it not enough? What am I even doing? And you know what, if you're even questioning yourself like that, your obviously not satisfied so just keep going and you will surprise yourself. When you are finished with your work, you will know. The stars align in the most beautiful ways if you truly trust yourself with the process.
What are you inspired by and how do you keep fresh? What happens on your days off? Skateboarding 100%. It has given me knowledge of urban sub cultures, sense of self that has evolved my true character and overall, a vibrant visual stimulation that inspires me to create freely. I would be nowhere without skateboarding.
What are you listening to when you’re working on a mural or sketching? Hip hop is my #1 influence. From the beats to the flow, it has carried me through so many sessions. Soul music for the soul, baby!
What are your favorite Vans? My favorite Vans (right now) are the Ultra Cush HD Slip-Ons with the toe cap. Perferably that Maroon colorway. Literally the best shoe ever.
What advice would you give someone who wants to do what you do? Have passion and trust that you won't fuck up.
What’s coming up for you the rest of the year? I am aiming to release a coffee bag with Dark Matter coffee (locally made in Chicago) later this summer so that is super exciting. Live painting at music festivals is always a thing I have coming up during the summer– main ones being Lollapalooza and North Coast Music festival. Other than that, doing murals for local businesses and for the public to stay busy. There are a lot of beautiful things in the horizon for me, and it feels like I am just getting started.
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