Artist Kim Loan Provides First Look at Rabbit in Red's Rose Dawn

I had the pleasure of interviewing another fantastic artist who contributed some art for my upcoming novel Rabbit in Red. Today, I’d like to take some time to introduce you to Kim Loan.

Kim creates mostly anime, cartoons, and any kind of creature or imaginative thing living deep inside her head. She remembers drawing shapes all the way back in kindergarten and being absolutely mesmerized by art. She moved from simple shapes to more challenging concepts very quickly. By the time she was in second grade, she would draw Pokémon characters. In the summertime, she would often draw from the moment she woke up until bedtime. Art is clearly her biggest passion.

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When she’s not drawing, Kim loves hiking, biking, and playing badminton. She also loves playing video games and watching anime. Her current goals are to improve with charcoal and with drawing more realistic looking people. Kim plans on being a hair stylist, but will never give up her love of drawing.

For Rabbit in Red, she drew the character of Rose Dawn. Here is part of the excerpt from my novel that Kim read before drawing Rose:

When asked why she entered the contest, Rose looked shy on camera and said, “I enjoy being behind the camera. Not on it.” A seventeen year old New Orleans resident, Rose’s name matched her face: soft, short red hair, a petite body. Her eyes were hard and dark, as if guarding a secret, but her face was cute in a little-sister kind of way. She may not stand out in a crowd, except for her hair and a little black purse she held tightly against her side, but she possessed a deeper beauty, something harder to see for most people.

She spoke quietly into the camera but never looked directly at it. “So you want to be a filmmaker too?” a reporter asked.

 “Yes.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I like it.”

 “And you want to make horror films? Why horror?”

“Horror needs art, and I like art. I think JB would agree,” Rose answered simply.

For multiple reasons, I thought Rose Dawn was a perfect character for Kim to draw!

Kim also shared with me her favorite drawing, pictured on the right. You'll see a butterfly with torn fabric wings and a ribbon-like tail. Next to the butterfly, Kim drew a hummingbird with a mermaid-like tail and butterfly wings. They are surrounded by flowers and a stream of water. She had a very unique inspiration when drawing this. This art represents the idea that everyone belongs in this world, no matter how different they look or act.

Finally, I talked with Kim about other interests such as books and movies, since she drew some art for my book. Her favorite horror film is Thirteen Ghosts, and her favorite book series is Gregor the Overlander, which she says is action packed with adventure and creativity from the beginning until the end. Plus, there’s a bat that can fly you around and the roaches in the book can talk!

Thank you, Kim, for your beautiful portrayal of Rabbit in Red’s Rose Dawn. If you would like to message Kim, just leave on comment here on this blog article. 

Rabbit in Red is scheduled to release in September of 2015. Be sure to follow along on Facebook and Twitter for more updates.