Born in 1959, Kevin W. Kolander grew up in a tiny coast town in the State of Oregon.  From learning to play chess at age 4, he soon focused his dreams and desires on computer science.  A move to southern Oregon in his high school years provided his first hands-on computing experiences, and after graduating with honors in 1977 immediately began his career in large scale computer software engineering.  By 1997, Kevin was the chief architect of a world class laboratory automation product and from 2003 holds a Fellow Emeritus appointment with a Fortune 16 pharmaceutical supply and medical informatics company.

 

During high school, aside from his mathematics, physics, and mechanical engineering biases, Kevin was an avid creative photographer, winning 1st and 2nd place awards at local and state fairs, dabbled in developing precision metal art objects, and was also an accomplished mechanical draftsman, nearly pursuing a career in architecture.

 

Fascinated in his early 20’s by the precision styling and artistic impressions of Patrick Nagel, and then again a few years later by Dennis Mukai, Pater Sato, Hajime Sorayama, and Olivia De Berardinis, Kevin decided in 1992 to increase his skill at drawing stick figures, check marks, and smiley faces.

 

By the turn of the millennium, Kevin had reached an analog tool limit with color pencil, pen, and air brush.  There, he turned his attention to developing digital tools to create works of art solely as digital media.  Also, he began focusing more on human psychology, turning to such behavioral researchers as Dr. David M. Buss, the widely published Dr. Helen E. Fisher, and even the works of world renowned master makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin, to discover the compelling nature of human attraction.  Armed with sufficient science for optimal composition, Kevin began to use digital media to help intensify visual tension by contrasting a stark context with detail of certain expressive human elements.

 

The result, Kevin explains, is compelling characters attractive to all genders, whose demeanor is approachable, internally reflective, and exudes a calm confidence with an air of exotic elegance.  He continues by saying that his characters’ beauty emanates from their emotional well being, and therefore need not fit any particular media-driven norms for acceptance; in short, they can “emotionally afford” to be precisely who they are, and are pursuing their dreams.

 

Look for Kevin’s future projects to cover a wide spectrum of subjects, including Santa Fe styling, Victorian period, science fiction, fantasy, fitness, conservative nude, and perhaps a few in-situation settings like Mardi Gras, Jazz Festival, wine tasting, and the Greek Isles.