Kieltokki
He/They@kieltokki
Location: Iloilo, Philippines
Occupation: Freelance Artist
Media: Digital
Dream Projects: A self-drawn and self-written graphic novel, album/song cover artworks, and book cover illustrations.
I am kieltokki, a Filipino illustrator based in Iloilo, Philippines. I specialize in creating textured digital illustrations that often takes on themes of nostalgia and queer representation. My style inspirations stem from my fascination in diverse Asian cultures, iconographies, and references mostly taken from varying media such as "mangas"/"manhwas," movies, music, books, and etc., while also incorporating different visual elements that evoke a variety of emotions.
“thinking deep”
Digital
2023
A girl deep in thought while finding solace in the calm waters of a pond and in the sight of her cat being amused with koi fishes. This piece was born out of my fascination with koi fishes and beautiful ponds I found on the internet. This came about when I was starting to utilize thin, delicate lines and soft colors which became my signatures in my art style since then. This also catapulted me into delving in capturing mundane yet peaceful and nostalgic moments in my works.
“ripple”
Digital
2023
This artwork was basically created out of my understanding of the word, “synesthesia” for my former school publication’s literary folio cover. It consists of a boy shown to be “experiencing” the said condition in the illustration. Visually, this is inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) and All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001). It also takes on the plot of the latter on how music can be used as an escape from reality, and tied it to how synesthetes with audio-visual synesthesia process music in their minds.
“don’t wanna say goodbye”
Digital
2024
As a queer artist, I always wanted to include queer experiences into my works. This particular piece was made for a zine during Pride month and with the word,
“madamdamin” (“emotional”) as prompt. The intention was to show how “emotional” queer romance can be (as it always is). With this word in mind, I wanted the emotions to be the focal point of the artwork while being supported by minimal background elements. This particular scene showed up in my head and decided to revisit an old artwork composition I had and remade it into this. Listening to Billie Eilish’s song titled, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” also helped make this piece come into
fruition.