Hieu Nguyen, better known by his artist name Kelogsloops, is a digital and watercolor artist based out of Melbourne, Australia.  He has been drawing since age 5, and painting with watercolor since 2013.  In recent years, he has made a name for himself particularly in the digital art world, and has developed large Instagram and Deviantart followings. He publishes popular speed-painting videos on YouTube, and sells his watercolor paintings and digital art prints through his website and his Society6 shop.

The work of Kelogsloops is influenced and inspired by artists such as Anna Dittmann (Escume), Lois van Baarle (Loish), Silvia Pelissero (Agnes-Cecile), Wenqing Yan (Yuumei), Alice X. Zhang, and Audrey Kawasaki.

Of his creative inspiration, he says, “My work is inspired and driven by a lot of introspection. I draw upon my own experiences at the specific moment in time – which can be a feeling, a thought, a memory, or even a life event. For example, the loss of a loved one. I want my work to connect to people, to resonate, to tell a story and to make people think and feel. I believed that if I used my own thoughts, feelings and experiences in my work, it would connect with others.”

 

We asked him to describe his creative process. “Typically, I start off with a general compositional sketch in pencil, which can be very rough and as simple as a few strokes, as I usually have the mental image of how I want to compose it and flesh out the piece in my head by then. From there, once the composition feels just about right and the movement within the piece is working, I refine details with the pencil and clean up the work so it is ready to paint. There, I paint the base colours and layers, starting with light washes usually, such as the skin. I then go on to subsequently layer the work, adding details, building on values and progressively working to complete the piece. Once the paint layers are finished, I go on to add details with mixed media, ranging from inks, pencils, markers, gouache etc.”

Kelogsloops’ brushes of choice are the long round size 4 and 6 from our Velvetouch™ series. “[I’m] particularly in love with [these brushes],” he notes, “With that matte red handle – that matte feel has got me swooning!”

As Kelogsloops continues his artistic journey, he notes that he is continually learning about art and the industry, and aspires to teach other artists in the future.

Kelogsloops website: kelogsloops.com

Kelogsloops Instagram: @kelogsloops