Nashmin 
We sat down with Illustrator Karlie Rosin to chat about her career in special effects, content creation, and fashion illustration. Karlie will be working with Vancouver Fashion Week for to create live illustrations of some of the most captivating designs!
MM: Hi Karlie, tell us a bit about yourself and your background as an Illustrator.
Hello!
To start off, I’m originally from Montreal, I now live in Vancouver, Canada. I’m trained in traditional art, illustration & design, as well as Matte Painting for the VFX Industry. I studied traditional art ever since my mom put me in classes after seeing me draw a recognizable Lisa Simpson at 4 years old. I continued these classes and also went to college to study Illustration & Design, and then to University in Computer Graphic Design for Visual Effects, specializing in matte painting & environment design. After art school, I became a freelance illustrator and worked on various types of creative projects, which I would do part time. Meanwhile, I also started my career as a digital matte painter in the visual effects industry. Since then, I’ve worked on blockbuster movies such as Godzilla 2, Justice League, The Mummy, and Suicide Squad to name a few.
This exciting career experience taught me to work quickly and under pressure, and learn the skills necessary to build a business. It helped me expand my ability to be versatile and blend traditional and digital mediums to create the best quality work. I currently work as a freelancer taking on commercial illustration and painting contracts, and once in a while I will still take on another movie contract to do matte painting as this is also a passion of mine!
MM: As an artist, what draws you to fashion illustration in particular?
I have always loved fashion and used to work as a makeup artist. I really enjoyed working on creative photoshoots and high fashion runway makeup. I think fashion illustration taps into the feminine side of my art and I really enjoy blending imagery of the body and fabrics with different silhouettes and fabric movement. I see myself as capturing the moment, kind of like a photographer, but with my own perception and my own creative flair added to it through illustration. It also reminds me of figure drawing which I absolutely love doing. So, live sketching at fashion shows really helps with focusing on the main shapes and gestures of the look. Starting with a sketch and absorbing the energy from the show (lights, crowd, music, etc) then, going home and creating a final rendered illustration from that creative energy is one of my favourite things to do.
MM: What was it like – transitioning from working in special effects in film to starting your own business?
Starting your own business is always a challenge, but it’s very exciting! I’ve always worked freelance, so it felt natural to start my own business in Vancouver. The hard part was moving here and not knowing anyone- starting a whole new business from scratch and building up a reputation and clients here. I am still taking on visual effects contracts though because I am really passionate about my work and career as a matte painter. These are similar contracts to what I take on as a freelance illustrator but the main difference is that I have to do the work in-house because of the high security involved with blockbuster movies. I do appreciate having the flexibility of which contracts I chose to work on and the mix of going in an office and also working from home creates a good balance for me.
MM: What do you think it is about Vancouver that brings out the creative spirit for young entrepreneurs?
I think we live in such a beautiful city that everyone inevitably has their muse. For me, personally, it’s the mountains and the beach in the same place. All you have to do is look up to find inspiration. I am 100% inspired by the nature in Vancouver and I’m sure that this plays a huge role in bringing out creativity in the community.
MM: What do you have planned for 2019? – We hear you’re launching a creative agency!
The beauty of freelancing is that you never know what you will be taking on next! But I am definitely excited about this year. I’m currently working on a movie that will come out in September doing matte paintings, and I have a set of 48 fashion illustrations that will be licensed out to a greeting card company which is launching in spring!
And yes, I will be launching an Agency! I have noticed an incredibly high engagement rate when I use motion graphics in my images as well as for my clients and this is definitely a growing trend, along with illustrated content for digital marketing in general. Image Fatale Creative Agency will focus on creating mesmerizing content that differs from traditional photography. This will include illustrations, mixed media, photo manipulations and moving images. You can visit imagefataleagency.com or instagram @imagefataleagency for more info. Stay tuned!
MM: Last but not least, what are you most looking forward to for this F/W19 season at VFW?
I can’t wait to see the talent on the runway this year! I am definitely excited to attend, do some live sketching as mentioned above, and create some of my own artwork from that inspiration. I love illustrating for Vancouver Fashion Week and can’t wait to be doing it again this season. Discovering new talented designers as well as meeting people in the industry is energizing and I am looking forward to all of it!
Thank you for telling us about your journey into fashion illustration. We can’t wait to see your illustrations for the Vancouver Fashion Week F/W19 season and hear more about Image Fatale Agency!
