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About
Charles Kohlbeck is an illustrator and comic artist currently based in the Chippewa Valley Area who’s love of the rural Midwest is paralleled only by his strong inclination towards horror and fantasy. His work can be found to reflect the aura of these areas, from a dark forest lit only by the orange glow of vintage streetlights to a small town gas station with an video rental section to boot. Charles wears his influences on his sleeve, the vintage horror and fantasy film, comics, and games he consumed in his youth, and the diverse personalities and appearances of the many people he’s met being combined to conjure the unique stories and characters his ink or digital pen brings to life. No where is this more apparent than his most recent project Another Day, a personal story which allowed him to create his own ghost story for the sleepy Wisconsin towns he’s frequented and the people (and urban legends) which call them home.
Charles has found that the best stories are those that are a perfect combination of real culture, people, and places combined with just enough of the fantastic to make the viewer feel like they are someplace new, free to explore and discover a new, yet familiar adventure.
When he’s not busy rapidly smashing Ctrl + Z or spilling ink on his favorite flannel, Charles can be found with his second love, plants, tending to the abundance of house plants his wife and him still seem to describe as being “too few”. If not feeding Audrey II jr. he can be found playing one of many of his favorite card games, watching old horror movies, playing piano, or flipping through comics and art books to get enveloped in someone else’s imaginary worlds for a change.
Resume
Programs and Skills
- Clip Studio Paint
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Affinity Suite
- Figma
- Font Forge
- Wonder Unit Storyboarder
- Traditional Illustration
- Digital Illustration
- Digital Coloring
- Storyboarding
- Character Design
- Graphic Design
- Page Layout Editing
- HTML5/SCSS (CSS)
Jobs
Press Operator (Screen Printer)
- Work on merchandise for clients such as Leinenkugel’s, Catan, and Blue Ox Music Festival. Delivering the highest quality goods to represent our clients.
- Troubleshoot and resolve printing issues efficiently, minimizing delays and maintaining production flow.
- Supervise a small team through the multiple steps along the production pipeline to produce quick and consistent results.
- Use record keeping skills and organizational systems to enhance ease of consistency on repeat customer jobs.
JUN 2024 - Present
Eau Claire, WI
- Worked with a team of designers to create a public paint by numbers mural to accompany the UW-Stout’s School Of Art and Design’s 60th anniversary.
- Designed a 4′ x 32′ mural, divided down to three 4′ x 8′ sheets. Focus was put on the different elements of the SOAD’s history and present.
- Chose a color scheme to match available print colors, sticking to 5 colors.
- Transferred design onto 4′ x 8′ sheets before event day, giving guidelines for the public paint by.
AUG 2025 - OCT 2025
Menomonie, WI
Screen Printer
- Worked with local community events and business to deliver high quality garments for sports teams, restaurants, and gyms.
- Used a manual
- Developed and maintained an Excel-based system to track print production tasks ensuring a consistent process for every customer job.
- Collaborated with a team of three, ensuring quality and deadlines were consistently met.
- Reviewed and refined digital files for compliance with technical standards, ensuring proper organization.
NOV 2022 - JUN 2024
Milwaukee, WI
Projects
- Wrote and Illustrated 100 page graphic novel “Another Day”.
- Managed and promoted a successful Kickstarter campaign.
- Worked in a mix of mediums including pen and ink, Clip Studio Paint, and Adobe Photoshop.
- Participated in all stages of book management and production.
- Produced finalized pages and images according to print specs using Adobe InDesign.