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  Gallery Of Illustrations By Ken Orvidas - Usa

My career began as an advertising art director.
It was my privilege to have worked at some of the most creative agencies on the West Coast. It was then that I learned and honed my conceptual skills.
During the mid to late 80's I was a freelance art director and illustrator in San Francisco.
Then the recession hit. I went dry for almost a full year. One day I got a call from a heavy hitter head hunter familiar to AD's and copywriters in SF and LA who encouraged me to look into a Creative Director position at a hot, young corporation in the Seattle area.
I had never worked for a corporation before and wasn't too taken with the idea. But remember that pesky recession? To make a long story short, I was hired by Microsoft to be their worldwide Creative Director.
Sounds big doesn't it? It was big. It was daunting. I went from a business of one (me) to supervising a 70 person creative department that cranked out over 3,500 corporate communications per year. After three years of 10-12 hour days I left Microsoft burned out with the full summer ahead of me and with thoughts about what to do next. Our house and my studio sits on just less than an acre and a half east of Seattle.
A good portion of the land is under garden which we had begun planting when we moved to the area three years previous. For the entire summer I worked in our gardens full time while pondering the next move.
For starters, I decided to get into the strategy of branding through communications. So, I ran my own brand management business and consulted with some well and not so well known tech companies.
For one year I closed my door and experimented with hand drawn and painted elements, scanned textures and manipulation within Photoshop until I was happy with my tone and style. Fortunately, art directors and designers liked what they saw. Good commissions steadily grew and I have been a freelance conceptual illustrator ever since. Aside from commissions, my work is available through re-licensing and limited edition prints.
For the past few years I was the chair of the advisory board for the multi-media curriculum at Lake Washington Institute of Technology.
Additionally, about two to three times a year I am invited to lecture to students and attending faculty of the institute about the ins and outs of illustration.
It's fun for me to listen to student questions as they entertain illustration as a career. I would enjoy doing the same at other schools. So, if you have an interest please shoot me an email.
Sans travel, commuting and distraction, everyday, our two big, black dogs Hugo and Coco faithfully take the trek with me to the studio with the command, "Let's go to work!".
Their idea of work is to sleep and dream of chasing squirrels and our two cats. My idea of work is create the smartest, most aesthetic imagery I can conjure while enjoying the view and considering myself to be pretty lucky

Gallery