just 'Katie' Illustration

Interview with Illustrator Kirsten Ulve!!

2010-08-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

So, on a whim I thought I would try contacting a very talented illustrator by the name of Kirsten Ulve for some advice one day... and she responded!! Such a lovely woman. She even permitted me to share her advice with all of you, enjoy!

QUESTIONS on STYLE, BRAND, and WORKING METHOD:

I looked for a bio on your website, but couldn't find anything like that. Could you summarize your career for me? What did you study at school, and was it helpful? How did you get started? Was illustration always the goal? Or did you find yourself there?

I'll try to answer all of the above here: I've always loved drawing/designing when I was a kid, but my parents wanted me to pursue something more career stable than art. Of course, when I got to college and got rebellious, I decided to be an art major. I was working on my BFA in drawing/BA in graphic design at the University of Iowa (there was no illustration program, but yes, these were super helpful building blocks), and I also worked at this little graphic design agency run by the school (which was even more helpful - the dawn of the using computers to draw!). We did all of the graphic design and illustration for the student union/bookstores/restaurants, campus activities, etc. Then I moved to Chicago to be with my boyfriend at the time. I freelanced for a while - some graphic design, some illustration - mostly nightclub flyers and the occasional cover for New City newspaper. It was hard to find work though, and I really wasn't sure how to get my illustration career off the ground. At that time (early 90's) it was still pre-internet, so you dropped off/picked up your portfolio. I eventually met my rep Holly Hahn there, and we decided to give things a test drive. After 6 years there, I decided to move to NYC (in 1996), but continued to work with Holly in Chicago. I started sending out some postcard mailers and advertising with her in the workbook, showing my book around NYC. There was a lot more work here, and I got a few magazine jobs, which is like free advertising. I think my first job was with American Salon Magazine. I later did a stint of advice column drawings for the gay porn mag "Inches," which was hilarious. I was also working as a graphic designer for the first two years here in NYC at The Princeton Review. I drew at night. My teeny apartment wasn't big enough to set up a place to work with my roommate there too (who later became the shoe designer for Christian Dior), so I got a little studio space in The Cable Building downtown, which was really cheap then (it's not now). I got a website together - it must have been in 1999 or so - and started getting jobs from all over the country. After 2 years, I had to quit my day job. Then I approached CWC to see if they would rep me in Japan, and we've worked together for about 10 years now. At this point, I've been a full time illustrator now for about 12 years, and I'm still repped by Holly in Chicago. I'm still busy! Knock on wood.

I personally grapple quite a bit with my on-going search for a
personal style, and even more so, my artistic voice. I understand the
need for a strong personal brand, and that includes an equally clear
illustrative style. What was the evolution of your own brand like? Is this how you've always drawn, or did you have to consciously work at it to bring your
current style to fruition?

I never went to school for illustration, and "branding" is definitley a modern approach to an artist's marketability. Making money was never factored in to art school when I was there, which is so weird! Anyway, yes, it's good to have an identifiable look. I never really thought about it while I was coming up, I was just trying to develop my drawings in a way that I loved as much as or more than I loved the work of my heroes. It was and is a process of self discovery. A lot of trial and error, honing and editing. Paying attention to what excites you. I used to SUCK! And I mean, when I see my old work, I cringe a little. Don't laff, but here's a piece from 1998. 12 years later, my work looks pretty different now:

Do you ever feel limited, or perhaps stir-crazy working within the perimeters of your style?

Not really. I try to keep interested in what I'm drawing and the way it's drawn. Sometimes I have the freedom to bring in looks I'm testing, sometimes not. Illustration is almost always seen in conjunction with something: text, on packaging, etc - so I view drawing assignments like design challenges. My style is a function of solving a visual issue, and that means it has to feel visually relevant with modern graphic design (which has trends just like fashion), and then I bring in feeling, humor, personality, etc.

I'm assuming you chiefly use Adobe Illustrator (which is also my program of choice).

Me too.

Do ever experience what I refer to as "digital burnout" where you just can't stand to look at the computer another second?

YES.

If so, what's your remedy?

Yes, I do get compu-burnout, but I'm also kind of addicted to my computers. I love them, and then I shun them when I get overworked. My solutions are that I don't watch tv or play video games, I don't even use Iphone apps. I try to limit unnecessary screen time. I head to the country (we have a mountain house in the Catskills) and do some gardening. Travel helps (but then I find that I need to work remotely when I'm busy). I'm also pretty social. I ski a lot in winter, and am always taking some kind of exercise class. Currently it's a Michael Jackson dance class. We'll learn the entire Thriller routine and then perform it as zombies in the NYC Halloween parade. I cannot wait!

How do you bust through design block?

Hmmm...I don't know! But if something isn't working, I move on. Take a break, let it marinate, come back with new eyes. Forcing it never works. I also have a library of inspiring art books, and if I'm stuck, sometimes I'll leaf through one that has a feeling I'm going for.

I see that you do animation work as well. How long have you been animating? Did you learn in school, or are you self taught? What programs do you use for animations? Do you feel you get more attention, or even better, can ask for more compensation having this extra skill in your arsenal?

OMG, I so do not animate anything! The only animation I know how to do is really low end animated gif stuff that I sometimes send out at the holidays. Illustration and animation are really two different fields - everything you see on my site has been animated by someone else. Sometimes if I client liked my work, I'd be hired to draw the "key frames" of the storyboard, and an animation team did the movement. This was more likely to happen if I had been doing a print campaign (like Oster, Palty of Japan, and then I did one for Midol that's not on the site), and then the client bought tv advertising time to do an animated commercial to match. You definitely get paid well if this happens, as advertising rates/illustrator usage fees for TV are much higher. Definitely separate fees: one fee for the illustrator to draw the images, another fee for the animator animating them (so if you do both, yes, charge separately). I think there are a lot more "cool" animation studios now, so I don't think it's as common for illustrators to "style" animated commercials anymore because it's way more expensive for the client to pay for the drawings, and then pay again for animation. An animation studio will charge one fee for moving images and are typically work for hire (paid per project or hourly with no image rights), so it's way cheaper.

QUESTIONS on MARKETING, AGENTS, CONTRACTS:

How do you promote yourself?

I advertise in the workbook, and I have two agents. Magazine work is also like promotion. I'm busy, so I've gotten kind of lazy about promoting myself! BAD!

Do you keep a physical portfolio of work? Or are you all digital in
self-promotion?

My agents have physical portfolios, but I don't any more. Art directors used to want to see your book or printed samples, but now a website is typically fine

I see that you have an agent.

Yes, one in Chicago, one in Tokyo

How was the process of getting an agent?

I just contacted them, met them, and we "test drove" each other before we signed contracts.

Do you recommend having one?

Yes

Do they get you work you feel you could not get representing yourself?

Yes. Art buyers at ad agencies typically work only with agents who know the drill about pricing complicated usage.

Did you have to pay a start-up fee with your agent?

No, it was a very casual beginning with both of them

Or did you pay once they started getting you work?

Is a startup fee typical now? What's included in that? There is never any guarantee they'll get you work, especially if they represent lots of people.

Once you land a job, how does your interaction with a client typically
play out? Meaning, do you have sketch reviews, do you charge for
edits, etc.

They e-mail or call, call my agent, there's no rule. They run the project past me, ask if I'm interested. If I'm working with my agent, I'll keep her in the loop and they discuss money before I do anything. Once the $ is agreed upon, I make 1 sketch to start. The client can make any changes at this point free of charge, until the concept is nailed down. If the job is a more complicated development process involving test marketing groups or layers of approval (sometimes this happens with expensive ad campaigns or products), this part can take a while and my agent will limit the number of sketches included in development to protect my time, and then if that's exceeded, we charge for another layer of development. Once the concept and sketch are approved, I make the digital piece. I also offer free adjustments to the digital drawing, but these are usually minor and involving color. If the concept changes at this point, a kill fee is charged. For magazines, it's the whole fee. For advertising, it's the development fee without the usage fee. If any job is killed while your'e sketching, you get a smaller kill fee, usually a percentage.

How do you negotiate price?

Some of the smaller jobs I do are "house accounts," where I bill clients myself and don't work with my agent. There are some rough guidelines for editorial (magazine and newspaper) work. 1500-2000 for full page, 300-500 for a spot, 750 for a quarter page. Book covers and cards usually have their own budgets, and they'll let you know what they can afford, and sometimes there's wiggle room if it seems low. Ultimately you decide if it's worth it for you. Advertising is more complicated. Basically, drawings are rented for certain periods of time to use in specific places. So they're priced based on what's called "usage." Fees are subject to who the client is, if the campaign is national or international, what their budget is, where the drawing appears, etc. This is where an agent helps because they'll know how to play ball with an art buyer, who's job it is to spend as little of the ad agency's money as possible with the most usage rights.

How do work out a contract? Did you ever get burned before you got wise?

The client will send you a contract. It will be full of legal speak, but they're generally structured in a similar way. The important parts are about the fee, the terms of usage, and about who retains the copyright. I don't remember the last time I got burned..but once I did several drawings for "Success" magazine, and then, ironically, they went out of business and I was never paid. I think we did end up getting something from the bankrupcy settlement though. Oh, and currently there is a company who produced products in Taiwan using a pattern I made for a company in Hong Kong, so there is a legal battle there that my Japanese agents are handling. This is the third time a company in Taiwan has stolen my work over the years. An agent is helpful here too, although I know other artists who hire lawyers who specialize in this area.

How do you balance making your passion, your job?

I wouldn't say drawing for other people is my super ultra passion. But I do feel really lucky to be able to do this for a living, because it's close! I also really enjoy helping people and solving their visual puzzles, and that's part of the service I offer too. Illustration is a commercial art. Drawing is for yourself. When I start to feel like my own drawings are not getting enough of my attention (easy to do when you're busy), I look into doing a show so I can force myself to pay attention to them. It's not always financially lucrative to do a gallery show, but my favorite work always comes out of them, and then more work will usually spring from there.

MAN, this is so windy. Hope it's helpful! Good luck to you!!

Kirsten

for fun, lets put the whole family together

2010-05-16T00:04:00.001-07:00

... as they were meant to be.

I'm done.....?

2010-05-15T23:59:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna have to be. It's 3 am, and I have the stationery show tomorrow.
I guess this means I'm done with... college?
All's left is the cap and gown. Damn.

The end is near!

2010-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

PATRON IS DONE!!! ahhhhh thank God.
Once I finish Bailey's, I WILL BE DONE WITH COLLEGE!!!!
....annnd I need to finish that TODAY. AHH! lol omg things are wild

Another Mermaid!

2010-05-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

This one's looking for trouble....

T-shirts I designed for my bro and I for Bridge Street Run (bar crawl) in Oswego

2010-05-08T17:05:00.001-07:00

Who's seen Zombieland??? If you haven't you need to. That and Kick Ass are my current favorite movies.

Luz! the musical?

2010-05-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

Worked on the cover of Luz's portfolio today. She wanted it in the style of a Playbill since she specializes in events and entertainment. Haven't gotten the OK yet, so it may still change. The grayscale was a quick photoshop to see how it might look, not a finished .ai file.

Move to fall back plan!

2010-05-02T15:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, to reduce effort and stress, I will only be screen-printing the silver. The rest I will have digitally printed. Here's the updated design, after removing the challenge of creating screen-friendly type.

My sister is getting married...

2010-04-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

as Maid of Honor, I plan the Bridal Shower.
Here are the invites I designed today. I'm going to screen print them on light blue paper, with silver, white, and black ink. I hope that type comes out. Fall-back plan I guess is just print them on an inkjet.

Mermaid... final

2010-04-28T06:47:00.001-07:00

this is how I feel in school right now

2010-04-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

Another WIP. Concept is indecision and the overwhelming choices for brides... I hope that comes across without an explanation :o/

Blushing Birdies Done!

2010-04-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

GOOD NEWS! (btw)

2010-04-26T20:47:00.001-07:00

OH! btw friends, I got the job at Up With Paper!
...don't think I blogged that life-changing bit of news yet.

Blushing Birdies (wip)

2010-04-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

JM: "He's all, 'heeeeyy behbeh' and she's all cute and squeaky"
Me: "like us?"
JM: "yeees : ) "

felt good to be somewhat productive again. Like I said, however, its just a work in progress.

A mermaid

2010-04-21T07:20:00.001-07:00

Procratination means being productive in every way except the way you need to

2010-04-19T19:42:00.000-07:00

like doing crap like this

I spent the day with my new friend Joi

2010-04-18T20:26:00.001-07:00

check out a preview of her brilliant work

launching from the direction of The Swing card

2010-04-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

Lookie! I am still alive!

2010-04-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

and this series is still not done!! lol but I made some progress today so here you go.
Have a look-see.

Gah! I'm so outta touch.

2010-04-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

Due to gearing up for my interview with Up With Paper followed immediately by Easter I've been a busy girl. But I should shortly have work to put up here, since I am now swamped and have plenty in the pile.
I've got a backup up of screen prints and figure drawings from electives I can share, I'll post those when I get back to Roc.

She pops!

2010-03-18T05:54:00.001-07:00

Mailing the completed card out today to a perspective employer. Wish me luck!

Swing into Spring!!

2010-03-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

New style=new freedom!

I'm creating a promotional pop-up greeting card. It's a modernization of Fragonard's The Swing.
Her swing will have actual twine ropes for a touch of mixed media and added dimension. This is the most stylized I've been in a final illustration, and I am so excited about how it's turning out!

I had Anita from Disney's 101 Dalmatians in the back of my head as I drew this girl. I love the art direction of that movie. Come to think of it, the greenery gives a bit of a nod to Sleeping Beauty. I guess I'll never escape my Disney influences. :o]

I'm back. And it's bitter sweet.

2010-03-09T20:09:00.000-08:00

Vacation was amazing.
My fiance is the greatest man in the world.
He's working on building a game prototype. Follow its progress.

I'm back in classes, and it's a strange time. Graduation is about 10 weeks away.
The future is bright, but also stressful.
For now, I'm still jet-lagged.
So, goodnight.

Peace OUT!

2010-02-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

I am leaving for spring break tomorrow and will probably be awol for a while.
I will be in San Francisco with my fiance!!!!

See you later!
<3

Finalized Cosmo spread

2010-02-16T20:40:00.001-08:00

Here's the final, going to print.

Coming soon: photos of final pop-ups, fully illustrated, and photos of my revised hot sauce label mounted to its bottle at last.

Happy (1 day late) Valentines Day!!

2010-02-15T11:18:00.001-08:00

First draft (I'm certain there will be revisions) of an editorial spread for an article in Cosmopolitan.

Some inspiration for the final stretch!

2010-02-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

My Bombay Sapphire piece has been selected for the Society of Illustrators Student show!! I just found out and I'm shocked, excited, happy, and somewhat confused. lol

Still it is good inspiration to get through the last week of the quarter!!

Plenty more artwork to come, I just need to focus on handing them in first!

my newest baby!

2010-02-10T16:10:00.000-08:00

My promotional mailer is DONE!!!
It's Snow White.
I actually, really love it!! ... or at least I thought I did. I'm getting very pessimistic reviews which shakes my confidence to say the least. :o/

Model is fellow illustrator, the gorgeous Katherine Defeo (I'm assuming I spelt her name right because I've never actually seen it in writing) aka Juu Hachi

Yay Wine! Hooray Engagement!

2010-02-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

I'm putting my tuition to good use this quarter and taking Wines of the World. It's pretty fun and very informative, without turning us into wine snobs.
Bridget, my roommate (and graphic designer extraordinaire) is taking the class as well so we're doing our final project together, which is a wine-tasting party celebrating my engagement to Jean-Marie.
This is our event's official illustration, lol.

As for the illustration.... I really like it!! One more style... like that's what I need. Maybe another portfolio of quick and easy stuff to balance my crazy time consuming meshes??? I've always wanted to try working this way, don't really know what took me so long. Granted the faces would be illustrated and not photos... I assume.

Hot sauce label

2010-01-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

I was super excited to do this project. Bought an adorable bottle of yellow Jamaican scotch bonnet sauce to do my label for. I'm so not happy with this label yet though. Neither is my teacher. Therefore, revisions to come.

Clif's Luna Bar Ad

2010-01-24T19:31:00.001-08:00

hopefully this one is done

I think I died a little last night (UPDATED mesh views)

2010-01-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here's the fruit of my labors.
1 down, 2 to go.
It printed this bright too. I wasn't sure about it, thought it could use some desaturation, but I got positive feedback on the saturation from my classmates, so, maybe I'll keep it there.

I must be a glutton for punishment...

2010-01-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

Every project I do is inherently tedious and time consuming :o(

I am up to my eyeballs in meshes! I've also been working on my two-page-spread pop-up book.
Here's some sneak peaks at my WIP's.

Tons more work to come!

2010-01-20T09:31:00.000-08:00

I just need to do it... like, now.
For now, here's my updated personal logo.

tryng to make the hairzoo look cool

2010-01-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

A logo design for HairZoo

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

2010-01-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

Much belated, but I just realized I hadn't updated in a while.
I've been busy!! I got ENGAGED!!! To my talented boyfriend of 3 years Jean-Marie.
You should go check out his nifty site, he has very cool projects in his 3D animation and video game design classes.

Here's the digital Christmas card we made together. He did most of the work, I drew the bunnies. (We made this... actually I think we made this hours before he proposed!)

Girls and Alcohol, always a good combo

2009-12-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

working on a series of alcohol ads highly influenced by Mucha (and some Elvgren), for visual essay right now. I like to do this sort of digital sketching with collaging and digital painting. It helps me to consider color and composition at the same time, while creating a finished reference.

Here's where they're at right now.

Art project for a Liberal Arts class

2009-12-09T10:28:00.001-08:00

I took Graphic Novels for fun last quarter (a liberal arts class, not an art class) but the final assignment was to write 18 panels of our own graphic novel. I did the direct translation of the Volsgung Saga and illustrated an excerpt from one of my favorite stories in it, when Sigmund and Sinfjotli don the skins. It was my first attempt at sequential art.

I enjoy working in this digitally-cut-paper style. It is also much faster than gradient meshes.
I'm considering developing a portfolio of each style.... like I have the time to do that :o[

My best showcase of gradient meshes

2009-12-06T07:35:00.000-08:00

A very Mucha inspired Totem spirit gets down with some incense and a bad-ass headdress.
Gradient Meshes (reserved for skin). Adobe Illustrator
Model: my sister Jenny!

Sketchbook (a difficult habbit for me to form) :o)

2009-12-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

As always, click to enlarge.

Getting warmer

2009-12-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Mayan Goddess (aka, Alyx Kasupski! lol)

Way cooler than the last one. Way more proficient with the meshes than last time as well.

learning meshes... the usual

2009-12-04T11:14:00.001-08:00

Othello illustration. Adobe illustrator, using gradient mesh tool.

needs re-doing.

2009-11-12T12:22:00.000-08:00

While this quarter wraps up in a whirlwind, here's a post of a happy use for my love of "paper engineering" as well as my fervor for dressing up in bad-ass (though always homemade) costumes.
In recent years I've been choosing strong women, and I decided back in the summer to portray the strongest woman in American mythology.

WONDER WOMAN!!! XD
Here's my inspiration:

and here's the costume!
(This costume was also an excuse to dye my hair dark.) :o)

eventually I'll remove the halter strap, and the costume will be even more legit. But I was mostly happy with the results.

As for more academic creations, don't worry, I have plenty to share as soon as I get done with this quarter.

A good example of missing the mark

2009-10-01T11:29:00.000-07:00

[You can click on any of these guy to view them larger.]

So, I was super excited about this project and ready to show off my freshly polished Adobe Illustrator skills on this one. I did the study below to teach myself gradient meshes in preparation for this project and those that will follow as I explore an aesthetic style I am struggling to realize.

The only problem is that I completely mismanaged my time and bit off more than I could chew. I am planning on redoing the vectored final version, but I think I'm fairly satisfied with the prep-work - color choices, sketches, reference, etc.

The concept is a Mucha/Klimt inspired illustration of Titania and Bottom from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

It looked pretty good in outline, but I learned that I need to stay out of that view most of the time, since color and shape have more impact than outline... especially with such bold colors and contrasts.

For my next piece (which will be an illustration of Othello and Desdemona) I am starting with the portraits in gradient meshes first. They are the most important part of the pieces anyway, the rest is literally just fluff.

This was the "final" version that I handed in and honestly I was embarrassed to hang it up. This is not at all what I wanted though, after not looking at it for a week I hate it less.

I'm scrapping this completely and am redoing it from my sketch. (My scanner was broken before and therefore I had to draw from my reference collage.) Hopefully the next version will have more of the same charm as this one.

First-Time Gradient Meshes

2009-09-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

OMG I'm actually posting something new!!!!!

I apologize but the problem is that most of the stuff I'm doing these days is confidential and owned by Disney.
I am however back in the swing of classes and will have more and more fun things to share.
First up, I'm working on a new style for myself, attempting to use Adobe Illustrator to create a look reminiscent of Alphonse Mucha and Gustav Klimt. I want to render faces in the round and keep the rest of the shapes nice and flat with quite a bit of ornamental illustration and flat patterning giving those spaces lots of vibration and energy.

But I didn't know how to render faces in Illustrator. I figured gradient meshes would be a good route to go.

Long story short here is my first ever attempt at gradient meshes in Adobe Illustrator. I think it turned out pretty good for a first time study and I am comforted in the hope that I will be able to use these sparingly in order to achieve the aesthetic I am searching for.

Senior year.... GO!

2009-09-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Moving back to school today!!! Senior year starts Monday!!

My last First-Day-Of-School EVER!!!! (Grad school doesn't count, :oP )

I would apologize for the lack of posts, I spent my entire summer interning in Ithaca with Portosa Studios. We are a studio contracted by Disney to design/create art for two Disney cruise ships currently in production. All of my work is confidential though, hence I haven't gotten to show them off here (though I thoroughly would have loved to!!)

But guess the seriously good news......
THEY HIRED ME FOR FALL!!!!!! WOOT!!!!
So I will be driving to Ithaca Mondays and Fridays (though we discussed staying home to work if the project permits) and going to school in between. I am not so ignorant to assume that I wont be completely exhausted by the end of this quarter, but I am not complaining. I have only one year left to make the most of.

Let's hope I can finish college right.

:o)

peace.

Junior year is OVER! plus, "Brides Nouveau"

2009-05-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

Whew.

I am beat!

BUT.... I am also, officially, a senior.

Goodbye Junior year.... you kinda sucked a little. However, here's to my summer internship at Portosa Studios working on designing art for Disney Cruise ships! WOOT!

Now, finals. Here's my final series of the year. I was looking at Audrey Kawasaki's technique (her assistant even responded to my email, I felt so special!) and Alphonse Mucha for inspiration and as a reference to Art Nouveau.

I was super excited about this project, but after spending the whole night in the studio and experiencing a scary encounter there with a delusional (and bleeding!) drunk dude, I was starting to feel a little annoyed with life, and the series.
However, after having time to recover and after not looking at them for a few days I am excited to keep tweaking them and to further dabble in this method this summer.

They looked so pretty before I colored them. :o[
They represent seasons (only 3, the assignment was a series of 3). Represented are (from left) winter, spring, and fall.

Latest Reporter Illustration

2009-05-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

They may or may not use it but I was a last minute replacement for this illustration (the top is the final version, the bottom just looked cool, like a wanted poster from the west.) The article was called "What is Reporter" so I made it into a pun. I like humor, or at least, I try. The middle figure is our mag's editor.

Rethinking Camoflauge

2009-05-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

I am being a bad blogger. Blame it on finals. Last project is due tomorrow. Here's one from digmix that I need to fix up, and I definitely plan to because I will be giving it to my Dad (I pretty much stole this idea from him!) :o) So MOM please don't let Dad see.
Thanks.

The project: Illustrate the concept of reinventing the wheel.
The solution: industry adapts to blend in with nature (the submarine with the sea dragon camo that is totally impossible to see) while nature adapts to blend in with technology (even if its not quite up to date, evolution takes time after all!)

Enjoy, I'm sure it will be awesome eventually. :o)

A Radish Story

2009-05-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a mini assignment from Digital Mixed Media. We drew the veg in class and were then instructed to finish at home without further referencing. I am a reference slave so this was a little scary at first but once I got into it I actually had fun.

India ink painting with digital color manipulation as well as under and "topical" digital painting. The tablet I tried using has no pressure sensitivity, so I had to disguise my lack of proper tools. I think I was overall successful.

You're never really ready, it's just your turn.

2009-04-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Katie's growing up! So I registered for my first quarter of (ahhh!!) SENIOR YEAR yesterday morning. Here's what I'll be up to in the fall.

PLUS, I got a proverbial kick in the ass the other day and finally had to solve my lack-of-website problem, and my poorly maintained resume.

So, now you can check out my portfolio blog,

and finally, here's what I've been up to with my resume design.
I like peacocks, why fight it anymore?
Here's my header. On cover letters it is
a smaller peacock and longer line, as well
as resting at the bottom of the page.

Exciting and scary all at once! Much too soon and also overdue.
As Ty Murray put it in Dancing with the stars, "Dancing [or life] is like riding bulls. You're never really ready, it's just your turn."

Inside out: DigMix

2009-04-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Inside out, or outside in. Whichever, I guess. Digital Mixed Media.
Here are the final(s)?

Process/stages of experimentation.

Progress and Process: Visual Essay

2009-04-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, a little later than I promised, but here's some progress work from my Visual Essay project.

Here's some "year-book style" collages for ya, of my photo shoot, some of my inspiration and stages of my process, as well as the current state of the paintings.

Visual Essay: B Horrors and Pulp Fiction= Modern Tabloid Drama

2009-04-14T17:13:00.000-07:00

Here's my overdue project for Visual Essay. These are in the process of becoming paintings (I will post wip's most likely tomorrow) but here is my "photosketches". I enjoyed the graphic design element to these and after all the work I put into the photo montages I almost wished I could call these finished illustrations. However they're just a bit too sloppy and not high enough dpi, maybe next time I will avoid that if I'm going to spend so much time on a "sketch". Still I couldn't call these "illustrations" it just didn't feel right. Even if most of the images were of my own creation. Almost all photos were shot by myself or my roommate. The only found images are Lindsay's face and one hand, Britney's face and the city she is stepping on (which actually a shot of a Kenyan city- crazy right?), and Tom Cruise's face. All the bodies are either myself, my roommate, or my boyfriend (maybe you can guess who is who. Bridget and I actually appear in two each.)

Wow, that was a long explanation with a lot of (...) and "...". Yeesh. Picture time!

2009-04-14T17:09:00.001-07:00

my latest little creation. It needs some fixing up. Did this for Digital mixed-media.
Inspired by icons of St. George slaying the dragon, here he is slaying the monster of procrastination and disorganization. :o) A goal of mine.

POP-UP BOOK!!!!

2009-04-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is going to be an EPIC-ly huge post. An entire class worth.
(REMEMBER YOU CAN CLICK ON ALL IMAGES TO SEE THEM NICE AN' BIG! LIKE THESE LETTERS) ;o)

Ok, so, I've LOVED pop-up books forever and was SOOO stoked to finally get my chance to take pop-up books this winter. I plan on taking Pop-up II which technically isn't a class, but my buddy Alyx and I are obsessed and wont take no for an answer. It took me the whole 10 weeks to learn how to, experiment, and then finally make this puppy. I LOVE it. I hope you do too!

There's no story, just an Arabian theme.
first up: sketch and color study. These were VERY tentative as pop-ups change a lot during production by nature of the beast. Lots of engineering and trial and error, and error, and error. :o/

Then comes the white paper "dummy" book. This was my completed, to-scale, and working(!) dummy. I destroyed the evidence of my many failures. ;o)ooook. Time to ILLUSTRATE! What I did was scan in watercolor paintings of solid colors then put them together like cut paper, but digitally. I got to combine my love of paint, cut paper, and the efficiency of digital, all in one!
Here's some close-ups.

Now lastly, but most importantly, perhaps, is that a pop-up is not a proper, functional, pop-up unless it POPS! That means it looks good pop up, but it must also open and close, and often the most heart breaking part of making a pop-up is when it doesn't close. However, mine does!! YAY! completion :o)

Reporter: Bachuss and Boxed Wine

2009-04-03T16:27:00.000-07:00

Another Reporter Online illustration. It will be up soon at Reportermag.com. You can also check out the site to see my illustrations in actions by looking at the current or older mags, either flipping through the pixelated version digitally, or by downlaoding the pdfs.
This was continuing on the theme of my previous wine tasting series, this one is about boxed wines. My art director asked me to do it in the same styles as the previous wine tasting series. So I did an ink-wash painting and manipulated the colors in photoshop to simulate the use of white, and blush wines.

I like puns, this one was unintentional at first and is sort of a stretch; Bacuss-ed Wine.... ? :o)

Anyway, it was a last minute, panic-stricken piece, but overall I like it!

Reporter Art Speigelman

2009-03-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

This was a Reporter illus I did a couple weeks ago to announce Art Speigelman's (author of Maus) visit to RIT to speak. Forgot to put it up on here. Ink wash and photoshop.

Reporter "Clubs"

2009-03-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

My most recent Illustration for the Reporter on 3 different kinds of clubs at RIT. Water-polo, women in business, and electronic-music-dance-club. My roommate Bridget gave me the idea to do cards, and I really like the result. This was a lot of fun to work on.

1st project for digital mixed media

2009-03-24T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm still recovering from the all-nighter it took to pull this one off; last night! I was pleased with it this morning and it printed well, but now I'm not as sure. I'm thinking there will be changes.
Here I included some process shots. Yes, I got in the bathtub to get reference for what was supposed to be a midnight swim with the beau, and some star-gazing. It ended up looking like we were just laying down on a surface. So it started with raw reference (taken by my super helpful and cooperative roomie Bridget), followed by some photoshop manipulation to find a color scheme and to push the lighting to make it looks moonlit. Then I painted in some cell shading and used the areas as a way to select scanned-in watercolor textures. Finished up with some water photos and a nebula, and voila! A "finished" illustration... maybe. :o)

Adrian Brody, improved!

2009-03-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

So Adrian Brody was the only one I had revised, and before I could get a scan of it, it was placed in the case. I was honored! So, the onyl image I have of the current piece is this one. He's still there to this day! I'm such a proud mama. :o)

2009-03-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Last quarter I took caricature! I was really stoked for this class because caricature's something I've always wanted to do but was at a total loss as to how to go about it. Here's what I came up with from the class. The mediums are grayscale prismas, photoshop as a painting medium, photoshop as a collage tool, and vector.

What do you think?

From top: The Osbournes, Chris Farley, Amy Winehouse, Adrian Brody.

2009-03-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

Also in illustrator as journalist, I did this ballroom dance series. All the dancers are either my teachers or siblings. We all did a competition this summer. I'm hoping to break into this demographic and get commissions for paintings.

(btw, that's me! In the gold dress, with my partner/teacher from the summer, Misha.)

Empress Theodora, one cool lady

2009-03-17T17:18:00.001-07:00

So Fall quarter of this year I took a book illustration class. I decided to do a book based on empress Theodora of the 9th century Byzantine empire. She was responsible for bringing the iconoclast to an end, and reinstating icons into Orthodox Churches. She is commemorated on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which actually just happened week before last! Anyway, I never finished, I got too bogged down in the research. I want to finish it someday, and probably approach the illustrations with a different style. Here's what I made for the class though, besides the research.
These are done in oil paint.

3rd year: Illustrator and Journalist

2009-03-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a vector series I did for a class illustrating Syracuse's zoo. These are some of my all-time favorite pieces, the elephant and penguin even made it into the display cases outside the illustration class room! :o)

Reporter commissions

2009-03-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

Junior year! Time to get serious. This year I got a job with our school's magazine - REPORTER- a 32 page full color weekly mag that is completely student run. It's been a great experience, I'm learning more about editorial while also gaining experience working as a staff artist! Here's some examples of the crazy variety I get to experiment with in the editorial environment.

2009-03-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

...and here's sophomore work from my Dimensional Illustration, and Techniques classes.

Sophomore digital

2009-03-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sophomore year I got to produce a larger quantity of illustrative art... no more weird 3D projects and figure drawings.
Here's work I did for digital.

breaking into college art

2009-03-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Still figuring this out. :o/

Here's my favorites from freshman year of college! :o)
This was the year I discovered (and yes, I didn't even know what it was before college) Photoshop, and Color-Aid (aka, tempramental cut paper that I adore.)

First post, art way back from 2003-2006!!

2009-03-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

First blog.
First post!

This thing is in serious need of imagery, and since I didn't know where to start, I figured I'd show you guys where I've been before I begin updating this with things I'm working towards.
Ergo, a visual biography.

In High-School I discovered oil paint, here's some favorites.