Keturah Ariel Nailah Bobo (Let me illustrate)

Keturah Ariel Nailah Bobo is an Ohio native and a BFA graduate from the Columbus College of Art and Design. She grew up with parents that instilled in her the importance of individuality and creativity. Keturah is known for creating vibrant images that are relatable and distinguishable. She is the lead game illustrator for Cards For All People and the #1 New York Times best-selling illustrator of I Am Enough by Grace Byers.

• Website: http://keturahariel.com/
• Email: [email protected]

Audio Transcript

“My name is Keturah Ariel Nailah Bobo. I’ve been a board game artist since 2013 or so. I became a board game artist because my brother, who is the founder of Black Card Revoked asked me to do illustrations for his second game, called Angry Moms.

“The art style I’m best known for is children’s book illustrations that focus on the beauty of human diversity. The first board game I was an artist for was Angry Moms and I did some packaging work for Black Card Revoked as well/

“The work I’m most proud of was for the board game Angry Moms. Most of the illustrations are very fun and expressive in that game. I like creating artwork for people that are often underrepresented or misrepresented.

“I get my inspiration from family, friends and pretty much everyday life. I think the most important part of making artwork for board games is making sure the artwork is sized properly because unlike my actual artwork it tends to be much much smaller scale.

“I think the most challenging part of making artwork for board games is communicating or being able to communicate a very concise idea in a limited way because cards and game pieces have to be easily understood and they have to resonate with pretty much everybody who plays the game. So that could be a varying number of ages and different types of people. So you kind of have to know exactly what you’re pinpointing in the art.

“The longest I worked on art for a board game was the four weeks it took me to develop concepts for the Angry Moms cards. In my view more board game artwork should reflect diversity as all media should.

“The artist whose style I admire the most currently is an artist named Sam Rodriguez and I just love his style. It’s very expressive and he puts himself in his work and I think I really appreciate that aspect of his artwork.

“My favourite colour is… I honestly don’t have a favourite colour. It’s always hard for me to answer this question. It really depends on the day and how I’m feeling. I’m really leaning toward like maroons and blues right now though.

“What very few people know about me is that I was home schooled as a child. So starting off as early as first grade, second grade, third grade I was at home and my mom was my teacher. We started school a bit later.

“If you wanted to become a board game artist yourself I would tell you to practice and just learn your style and and kind of hone your craft. That’s that’s the best you can do as an artist in any field you’re trying to get into.

“If you want to get in touch with me you can contact me at my website which is keturahrial.com or on Instagram or Twitter and I’m on as katurario on there as well.

“Thank you.”

Transcript by Make My Game Travel (https://makemygametravel.com)