Genevieve St. Charles

Genevieve St. Charles (@goldsuit) is a Portland-based visual artist with a background in acrylic, spray paint, and digital illustration. Rich in symbolism, Genevieve’s vibrant illustrations feature streamlined scenes of otherworldly characters and landscapes interconnected through harmonious geometry and organic linework.

Embark on a Vivid Journey. Snacks Included! Going by the moniker "Goldsuit", Genevieve has developed work on a scale as small as packaging all the way to large wall murals in her vibrant and whimsical style.

Could you tell us a bit about your core skills and relevant expertise?

Yes! I'm a lifelong visual artist and have worked in a ton of mediums and on many different types of projects over the years, both physical and digital. My basis has always been drawing & illustration and my pieces are usually character-based and on the whimsical side. I had an art studio in Seattle for a few years where I worked a lot with spray paint; I would design pieces digitally before cutting out the design with a jigsaw, spray painting the color, brushing on the linework, and finally pouring high-gloss resin over it. I would make all kinds of these cutout pieces, ranging from small pop art pieces (La Croix cans with different flavors like "Thighs" and "Dad Bod") to large street art-style "hangable murals", as I called them, with all kinds of human-like animal characters.

A woman holding an illustration of a sliced banana

Could you describe your primary illustration style? What do you specialize in?

These days I'm doing a lot more digital work and have been loving leaning into a more symmetrical & geometric look. I'm working on a lot of packaging design at the moment, which is my dream - I absolutely love designing labels and working on marketing materials.

With clients from a wide range of industries, which projects stand out for you the most from your career?

One of my most recent projects is definitely a favorite; I designed the bottle label and corresponding marketing materials for a mezcal producer in Oaxaca, Mexico. This was a dream project for me because there is so much history and culture in Mezcal - it was a joy to work with them on an eye-catching, modern, and culturally significant design.

holding a real world illustration of an island deity

Tell us about your process when creating illustrations. How do you approach concept development?

When I'm working on a commissioned piece that has some open-mindedness, I start with pen and paper and begin by writing keywords, moods, and attributes related to the piece. Then I move on to very rough sketches while keeping those initial words in mind. Sometimes the underlying significance and message of a piece can get lost, so it's important for me to keep the meaning alive in my head as I develop the sketch.

Illustration of a tropical leopard woman

Your work oscillates between everyday food and drinks to surreal/abstract characters and worlds. What draws you to these categories/depictions?

Haha, yes - consumables have an appeal that I just can't get over, especially often-overlooked foods or foods that are slightly suggestive in nature. I guess that's the pop art lover in me. One of my favorite solo shows was called One Night Snack and it featured paintings of things like crumpled Chinese takeout cartons, milk jugs, and an oversized, resined white and red THANK YOU bag.

As for the surreal and abstract characters, I've been on a Moebius kick lately and have loved illustrating desert dreamscapes and otherworldly characters - I love how evocative these scenes can be and how personally relevant people find them.

Woman crouching in front of an illustration of two dogs

How do you develop work when catering to a project outside your signature style? (eg: the piece for Microsoft on the cargo truck)

That's a great question and definitely something that can be a real challenge. Each project has a period of narrowing down style and aesthetic; usually, I send off a couple of very rough sketches and do some back-and-forth emails of "Is this warmer or colder?".

Through your experience developing murals, art tables, and painting, what are the clients/brands that approach you typically search for and how do you cater to those needs?

Thankfully much of my work is very niche (resined fruit coffee tables, for example), so I get a lot of requests for duplicates and variations of previous pieces. It's always a joy to re-create a banana coffee table, for example, but in blue instead of yellow!

With my more recent digital work, many of my clients are those who have seen my work in publications and are looking for something stylistically similar for an editorial or marketing illustration. A client who had seen some of my work in the Portland Mercury commissioned a collection of editorial illustrations for an article they were publishing about snacks. Illustrating a bunch of snacks was an absolute delight!

Considering that some of your work doesn’t reference source material, where do you draw your inspiration from?

I have a ton of artists and art material saved that I reference all the time if I'm feeling like I need a boost of inspiration. Sometimes when I get stuck I look at how other artists creatively solve problems with shapes, colors, and lines. Some of my current favorite artist inspirations are Ori Toor, Soudassix, and Tony Riff (among many others).

What is a typical day in the studio/on location for you?

I'm currently a bit nomadic and my studio practice is on hold, so I'm working 100% digitally. A typical day is working on commissions, usually using a combination of Procreate, Photoshop, and Illustrator. If I'm feeling funky I'll work on personal pieces - right now I'm really into geometric shapes and jungle-y fruits and animals with an 80s kick.

It's important for me to keep the meaning alive in my head as I develop the sketch.

Are there any other areas outside of illustration that you’re exploring creatively?

Oh my gosh, yes - I recently got into dice-making and it has been an absolute blast. I made a set of d20s for my husband; each d20 was styled after a location that's significant to us, so there was a rocky-looking die that corresponds to our favorite backpacking mountain, and a peacocky ostentatious die for when we got married in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. I can't believe how much fun it is to mix resin and experiment with dyes and powders to get just the right effect. I also made a set of ripe banana-colored dice and I LOVE how they turned out.