Illustrator Spotlight: Johanna H. Kim

June 1, 2025

We are pleased to feature illustrator Johanna H. Kim and her website banner design for June. Also check out her amazing art and her books and enter to win one of them (3 winners will be chosen).

Tell us about yourself and how you came to write and illustrate for children.

I'm a second-generation Filipino-American artist and writer based in Oregon. When I was a kid growing up in New York City, I loved illustrating stories to entertain my younger brother and me. The characters, mostly drawn from Jim Henson’s Muppets and my family, would tackle a gigantic problem, and it would either end happily, or on a cliffhanger so that we both had something to look forward to the next day. In school, I thought of becoming a fine artist, making art for art's sake, but I soon realized that I preferred telling stories with my art. The idea of illustrating stories for children was in my mind throughout my career working in galleries, museums, and arts organizations, but I never felt "good enough" or "ready." For that reason, the art jobs I've gotten over the years were from serendipitous encounters where my clients found me. I've painted murals, designed websites, illustrated an online strategy game, painted portraits, and illustrated a traveling exhibit for a children's science museum.

My first picture book job happened after moving to Singapore with my husband. I was still getting my bearings living in a new country when an acquaintance in Chicago referred a self-publishing children's book author to me. It was an exciting opportunity to work on my picture book making skills. The author was so pleased with my work that he hired me for 2 more picture books. Since then I've illustrated one other book for a self-publishing author. Afterwards, I finally decided to work on sharing my own stories. I've been developing my illustration and storytelling skills ever since.

Congrats on your website banner design! Tell us how you approached this project.

Thanks! Kidlit411 gave me this project around the start of 2025 when everyone was celebrating the Year of the Snake. Knowing this banner would come out in June, I pictured kids at the beach, sun-dappled ocean waves and sea serpents. I asked what-if questions. What if these kids were reading the same book? What if the main characters were a sea serpent and a mer-boy? What if the story felt so real that the readers were transported on the back of the serpent to its fantasy world? As for the tone, I aimed for warmth, friendship and suspense. Then I drew a ton of b/w thumbnail sketches, color sketches and digital mockups, which I shared with my critique partners. The final version was painted in watercolor and finished in Photoshop.

Congrats on your books Drawbridges Open and Close, Airplanes Take Off and Land, City Railways Go Above and Below, and Lost! Tell us about the books.

The Drawbridges, Airplanes and Railways books, written by Patrick McBriarty, explore how these modes of transportation work while adding the fantasy of anthropomorphic animals. Lost, written by Ann Bikales, is a sweet true story about her son’s missing stuffed

koala. My illustration style has evolved quite a bit since these books were published.

What is your preferred medium and illustration style?

I prefer to work mainly in pencil, ink, and watercolor, with some Photoshop at the end. My style is characterized by delicate lines, translucent washes, and detailed compositions with a dreamy, surreal quality. I gravitate towards blues, greens and earth tones,

but I’m working to expand my color palette.

What projects are you working on now?

I currently have several stories I’ve written and illustrated in various stages of book dummy development that I plan to submit to agents and publishing houses this fall.

What is something most people don't know about you?

I’m an imaginative worrier. For example, growing up in New York City, I’ve always found the idea of being alone in a forest terrifying. In a city, there’s always someone nearby to hear your cries for help. But in a forest, there are only the animals, and they can’t dial 911. I could fall down a hole and break a bone. I could tumble down an embankment and get amnesia. I could get lost, hungry, and eat a poisonous mushroom. And for some odd reason, bears and mountain lions aren’t on my list of worries. In fact, my kidlit brain imagines the animals making several fantastical attempts to eject me from the forest. Come to think of it, that might be a good story. Hmm…

Where can people find you online?

www.johannakim.com and @johannahkim on Instagram.

Johanna H. Kim is a Filipino-American children’s book writer and illustrator in Oregon. Johanna writes and illustrates stories about courage, compassion, connection, intuition, self-love, and hope. Her characters are animal, human, mythological and alien. She’s attracted

to stories featuring characters who overcome obstacles looming large in their minds to become stronger, wiser, and more content. She is also interested in illustrating other writers’ stories with which she feels a strong connection, and is seeking representation by a literary or illustration agent. Her website is: www.johannakim.com

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