Meet The Artist - Keena Goze

Keena Goze, American artist behind “i_color_dreams”, creates illustrations with intricate detail, depth and dimension. With a predominant focus and master in eye and animal art, Keena’s skill with coloured pencils allows her to create illustrations that effortlessly capture the realities of life.

Open to working with all media from coloured pencil and oil and acrylic paint to alcohol markers and everything in between, Keena has recently been using Spectrum Noir Illustrator Dual-Tip Markers and ColourBlend Pencils to set her creativity free on a project centered around celebrity and portrait, featuring the iconic Zendaya and Tom Holland.

Here’s Keena to take you through her inspiring background as a self taught artist…

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background as an artist

I'm a 17 years old homeschool student and this fall I’ll be a senior in high school. I’ve always loved to doodle and sketch things, but I started to get into art seriously at age 11. I was obsessed with horses as a kid, so the majority of all my drawings were of them-or my attempts at them. It was when I first discovered colored pencils and created my first colored eye drawing that I became hooked, and since then I’ve continued to create art and share what I do with my audience on Instagram.

Over the past years I’ve dipped my toes into several types of mediums, such as oils, acrylics, watercolor, markers and more, but have always come back to my favorite medium: colored pencils. Experimenting with other mediums has given me more insight and understanding into different techniques I’ve observed from other artists and the many ways I can express my creations.

How would you describe your style? Which medium do you work with the most? Why?

I would describe my style as colorful realism. I love exaggerating certain colors because that can bring more life to a piece. I believe color can have a considerable amount of impact in a piece, that’s why I think a lot about what colors I will use before starting one. I use colored pencils the most because they are the first art supply I ever used-I basically grew up on them-and I prefer the amount of control I have when using them.

What inspires you and where do you look for inspiration?

I look at work from other artists, photography from other people, or even create my own photos. It’s interesting to see what photographers capture or what artists create. I get fascinated when I see unique colors or shapes in photos or art, which inspires ideas for pieces of my own.

What’s your top tip for aspiring artists?

Observe other artists. I’m a self-taught artist, I didn’t learn what I know now and can do from any art classes, I learned it by observation, study, and practice. I studied the work of the artists I looked up to, I learned about the different techniques they used, and I applied them to my own pieces through practice. Some methods worked for me, but others didn’t. Experimenting is an important part of improvement. If you don’t experiment, you might not discover a technique or skill you would prefer over others.

If you could be anything besides an artist, what would you be, and why?

I would either be a pro runner or a sports physician. I absolutely love running! It’s my favorite thing besides art. I actually compete in cross-country and track and I hope to do so in college as well. Through running I experienced an injury, but I was fascinated as I learned more about the healing process. That’s also why I would want to be a sports physician. I would love to help people too! It was also exciting for me to learn how the body heals itself as I recovered from my injury.