Deanna Kei on Her Artistic Journey

by Calli Ferguson

“One great thing about New York is that you’re constantly inspired,” Deanna Kei mused when I asked for her take on the role of personal style in her experience as a Fashion Illustrator, “And I almost feel like– not that we ‘owe it’ to eachother– but if you can just put a little more art out there in the world… I think that could be nice!”

It struck me as a deeply New York City thing to say– to relate the act of styling the self to beautifying communal space. Not only are we in a notably social ecosystem, but in a place known for its aesthetic and cultural richness. It’s somewhere people gravitate to for this particular quality and a famous “energy”. It is living proof of the idea that we contribute to culture simply by being present in the experience of it. And if that’s true, it’s fun to think we may also, on some level, have a responsibility to uphold it with our aesthetic contribution to the shared cultural ecosystem.

Maybe NYC’s stamp on Deanna Kei’s work and style philosophy is by design. The tagline on her website reads, “Elevated Illustration with A NYC Edge”. The Staten Island-based artist is from New York City and an FIT graduate. That “edge”, to her, is less something that can be defined, and more something you can feel. “New York has a kind of effortless cool…” she describes, “some luxury design mixed in, but you’re not just wearing brands, you’re styling them. And building something unique with it.”

Deanna Kei started her career in fashion design, spending about 10 years working for several brands. But long before that, she recalls being “one of those kids [who] was always doing art.” Her grandma was also an artist, so Deanna started drawing around the age of 5, and immediately gravitated towards subjects of people and clothing. Even while designing, she kept her illustration craft alive, and she credits Instagram for a sort of revival of fashion illustration as artform. “The industry kind of revived, and I saw an opportunity to get back in there.”

Where some may think of fashion illustration as a piece of the design process, for Deanna Kei, it’s an art form of its own– her bread and butter in the expansive worlds of art and fashion. In a way, her craft is an intersection between her long-time loves for both drawing and fashion. And the artist’s years designing outerwear— a category that requires technique, attention to detail, and awareness of garment construction— still informs her work as an illustrator today.

Kei’s entry into live drawing for events happened by chance, in one of those serendipitous ways opportunities can come to us before we know we’re ready for them. When someone found her online and asked if she could do live illustration for a bridal industry event, Deanna recalls, “I was so scared, but I knew I had to say yes.” Already an excellent illustrator, drawing in front of people adds an entirely new (and more intimidating) factor. After practicing her speed sketching for several days leading up to the event, Deanna took half a day off from her design job and a train downtown to her first live illustration gig. And as it so often goes, that first scared “yes” was the start to a much larger journey. “As a fashion designer, you’re kind of in the back,” she remembered, “... it was nice being in the front, being a part of it, seeing reactions, hearing the music…”

A fashion illustrator has this really fascinating place within the bustling scene of the industry in that way. It’s a present role, “in the front,” as Deanna Kei puts it. But simultaneously holds the power of the observer. When I asked the illustrator about her experience with trends, she told me she can note the marker colors that run out of ink first. She remembers flying through greens one wedding season. She’s also loving the flick of the wrist while illustrating wide-leg pants as the silhouette continues to grow.

As much as the role suits her love of clothing, it also seems to inspire her love of people. The way Deanna Kei described live fashion illustration made it feel like a collaborative artform. She’ll pick up on details while she’s sketching that wearers hadn’t even noticed. People love to see her work reflect their own clothing and selves. They’ll compliment her and sometimes note how much “cooler” she made them look. And Kei, in turn, compliments the wearer on their own styling, “Well, no, you’re actually pretty cool!”

There seems to be something pretty powerful about exchanges between the illustrator and her subjects… It isn’t uncommon for these illustrations to make someone’s day. When we use clothing to express the Self, just imagine how meaningful it is to feel that Self reflected back to us through art.

Since those early days of posting and a first live event, Deanna Kei’s illustration has planted her around all kinds of opportunities and collaborators. From fashion illustrations for a cardiologist’s app, to a collab with Maybelline illustrating on cookware for Gigi Hadid’s 30th birthday, her craft has brought style and an artist's touch to many spaces.

Deanna Kei - sketching at Bucherer R.jpg

These intersections of artistic practices and spaces offer something really fascinating. As a fashion illustrator with a design background, the artist is uniquely positioned to understand just how fashion and personal style allow us to “put a little more art out there in the world”. Having worked across Fashion (with a capital F), the art of design, and engaged deeply with personal styles through drawing people in their outfits, Kei’s able to see not only how style is both an internal expression and a social reflection, but also how it feels when our own style is mirrored back to us.

“I definitely think style is a form of communication,” she expressed, “...it speaks for us before we can even open our mouths. It also influences how we feel: our mood, comfort level, confidence level…” When I asked Deanna about her own personal style, she explained it branches into her ‘events style’ and ‘daily life style’. At an event, you might find her in a long, flowy dress, where her day-to-day personal style is influenced by skate culture. “But no matter dresses or cargo pants,” she says, “I’m still gonna be wearing combat boots.”

As we enter Fashion Week, Deanna Kei will be moving on her toes (luckily, laced up in combat boots), often booked just days before events. And between all that, she’s expanding her craft… experimenting with new pens, illustration styles, and expanding offerings for live events.

For an artist who memorializes style as works of art, who dreams up fashion and reflects it back, who moves through the world with aesthetic intention as both personal and communal practice… relationships between self expression and cultural participation come full circle. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. For Deanna Kei, it’s also both mirror and magic wand.

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You can keep up with her on Instagram at @deannakei_illustrations on facebook [Deanna Kei] and online at deannakei.com

Deanna Kei will also be involved with an annual fundraiser event put on by the High School of Art and Design, speaking about her career and industry. It’s open to the public and a great place to hear about her work and others in the arts.