Real Name: Jimi Benedict
Age: 32
Location: California
Website: www.jimiyo.com

BIB: How did you get started in illustration?
Jimiyo: I took piano lessons in Kindergarten, and whenever I did well, the teacher would draw cute faces on my finished pages.  I think it made an impression because I remember drawing a lot back then.  Teachers, you are the key!

BIB: I know you recently moved to California from Tennessee. What prompted the move and how do you like California living?
Jimiyo: I had left Tennessee for a month on a soul seeking road trip around the US, and a short 7 month spent on a ranch in nowhere, Utah.  Afterwards, I went back to Nashville, but life there was immediately boring.  I had quit my last art job because I wanted to seek better opportunities, and freelancing and road tripping actually seemed to set me up for my next landing zone in California.  Designbyhumans had put out a request for interested applicants almost a year prior to my move there, and even then I felt like the position was made for me, although at the time it wasn’t quite time for me to hunker down just yet.  Once I got back to Nashville, DBH contacted me directly, and voila.

Also, I had the shittiest roommates. One of them wrote me after I moved and asked me not to blog about them. LOL. I moved out at 3 am when no one was home. I called and said, “Hey, I’m moving out, I left you a check for this month and next. See ya.”  The place I lived in was a total craphole. Orange County in comparison is like comparing a no name motel with roaches to a room at the Bellagio.  I feel like I needed to experience living in lower standards to spur me into action. I had thought that just doing art would make me happy, but I found out that making art, and living a Bohemian lifestyle for the purpose of having more time to create art, didn’t make me happy.  Currently I am more happy to create art after work, and living not so Bohemian. YAY for health insurance and being able to eat out for every meal!

BIB: You gave up the freelance lifestyle for a full-time job. How hard or easy has that transition been?
Jimiyo: It’s been pretty easy. Although I work a lot more since I coasted while freelancing. Orange County is a beautiful place, and the job is fulfilling although I don’t create art on the job anymore. I feel like it’s an opportunity to increase my internet visibility, and make some excellent networking connections.

BIB: What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on?
Jimiyo: There’s a period of my life connected with every major piece of work. This reproduction of Steve McCurry’s National Geographic photo was right after graduating college. Although it was a depressing time since I sent out 40 resumes/demo reels and was rejected for all of them, it was when I had escalated above myself in skill and done something I look to this day with a little pride. That was in 2002, when I talked big about moving to California to be an artist. It took 7 years, but I finally made it to this plateau.

BIB: If different, what piece are you most proud of?
Jimiyo: I’m fairly proud of this design as it’s the most current and flossy of this style I have been pursuing.  It represents a lot of trial and error in learning of the last few years.

BIB: Name your three, all-time favorite artists (living or dead).
Jimiyo: Alphonse Mucha, William Bouguereau, Frank Frazetta

BIB: So I’ve seen a few episodes of The Fing and Meow Show on your YouTube page. I have a two-part question: Why do you like cats so much? And, what inspired you to start the series?
Jimiyo:

1. Cats don’t drool on you like dogs.
2. Cats are independent… like me?
3. Cats can be left alone for a few days no worries. Dogs?
4. You don’t have to let the cat out to use the bathroom. Dogs?

I was originally inspired to start the Master Meow Lee Show to have a humorous way to teach people how to learn photoshop shortcuts, but it’s now evolved into just tomfoolery. I crack myself up making the shows, and the few people who have seen them seem to enjoy them.   I think it could be viral material since, it combines a few things people like: Cats, and crude humor. At least that’s what I enjoy.

Check out Jimiyo’s Back In Black T-Shirt here!