Kat Powell Artist

Painting Cute Cat and Corgi Bookmarks! (themed)

2021-11-07T17:50:00.002-08:00

Surreal Watercolor time-lapse (Skellie bird)

2021-03-13T11:45:00.003-08:00

Peripheral Creature (Short Scary Story and Art)

2020-10-31T17:55:00.001-07:00

I tried something new! A scary story with scary art and moves and changes as the story progresses!

Happy Halloween!

Book Review with Art Inspiration

2020-10-02T07:20:00.001-07:00

I'm trying something new! A book review with art inspiration.

Watch me create a surreal/realistic painting that was inspired by a book about dead bodies.

Halloween Inspired Watercolors

2020-09-19T15:54:00.001-07:00

Quarantine Fun

2020-05-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

I was having fun with the idea of creating a few images about the Quarantine.

Mostly involving the plague masks of old!

They just look so creepy/cool in those old-timey photographs. I wanted to give them an update.

It started with a traditional idea of a family staying home and baking.

They couldn't make bread because everyone bought all the yeast!

Oh well, you cannot go wrong with pie!

But you know, humans aren't the only ones going crazy during quarantine. Dogs need to get out as much as we do! So I wanted to show a kid and his dog getting some sun and....well, I don't know how much fresh air you can get in a mask.

Now that everything is opening we all need to practice social distancing. Grandma knows how to enforce the rules! 6 feet is 6 feet!!

Poor store employee is just trying to do his job.

Be kind to the employees and to other out there. Keep your distance and your manners in check!

Watercolor Frog Tutorial (step-by-step)

2020-05-13T09:55:00.002-07:00

Check out my newest step-by-step watercolor tutorial!

I take you thru the process of painting a frog with water and flowers all around it.

Creature Outside My Window (teaser trailer)

2020-05-08T07:40:00.003-07:00

This is a side project I've been working on. I've been working as a Freelance Illustrator for years now, giving life to other's stories. Which I love doing!

So I want to try to create my own stories.

This first story is an experiment. And honestly I've been hesitant to create and share it for a long time. But I'm forcing myself to put it out there!

I am uploading the first part of the story for free on my ko-fi page. (link below)

There will probably be 4 parts to this story and then I will have the entire story available as an eBook. Maybe later I will have physical prints....but that is for the future!

https://ko-fi.com/katpowellartist (donate)

How to create MORE art easily!

2020-04-25T12:39:00.001-07:00

The best piece of advice I've gotten as an artist is this:

"Take a single idea and stretch it over several images!"

Sounds easy? Well, yes it is.
For the longest time I would create an image by sketching out one composition. Then I would ink it, draw it out with color pencils, or paint it and move on to the next image. But this would often cause me to hit a creative wall, "artist block", and not be able to create something new.

So, to fix this I went back to that great advice.

I started with sketching out a bunch of different compositions for a single idea.
Let me give you an example:

This is a recent concept I developed for my "Skellies" where they are in a cyclical loop of self-consumption.
So I started with one image, one concept, one color, and then I sketched out more ideas.

I started with the idea of branches and berries growing out of my Skellies with a monochrome color palate.

Each composition is the same as the first one while still being different enough to stand on their own.

I also used gold leaf for each image to tie them together.

In each skull there is metallic gold, silver, or rose gold leaf. This is a simple way to make the series consistent.

But I started to get a bit bored of create the branches and fruits with the Skellies. It felt very redundant.
So I changed up the composition again while still keeping with the overall idea.

I altered some of the Skellies with their skulls sliced in half. The metallic leaf still coming from the skull.

Here is where the first concept of these pieces naturally evolved during the process of the artwork.

I even used the colors to alter the imagery to fit better. I couldn't find good examples of blue and green fruit, same with the black skull above, to make the theme work.

So I changed them to bring a different emotion to the art and a different concept.

So you can see how taking the first idea and altering it allowed me to turn 1 image into 9 pieces.

This trick has helped me to make more artwork throughout my career and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has the dreaded "artist block".
Go back thru your artwork and find an idea you loved. Then do another sketch idea with a different composition, extending on the concept.

I hope this advice is as helpful as it was for me!

Straight Ink, No pencil Gi drawing challenge

2020-04-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I saw a bunch of artist trying a drawing challenge. It is based off of an artist named Kim Jung Gi who draws extremely detailed and realistic images with only ink. No pencil, no sketch and straight from memory and imagination!

So, I decided to give it a go.

The image you see below is my attempt at straight ink drawing. I also wanted to test my imagination and memory by drawing everything you see from memory. Of course, most of the drawing is fantasy but this was a great challenge for proportion, perspective, background, and anatomy.

It was a great way to get out of my comfort zone and test my confidence as an artist. I would highly recommend this challenge for intermediate and advance artist!

I will be honest, it was very scary at first. But if you stay focused on what you are creating and have a general idea of what you want to draw then you will have more fun!

You can start off simple by drawing one object or creature with ink and then work towards something complex. Or you can jump into the deep end and just know that it is just a drawing. If you mess up, start again with a new blank space!

If you would like to see a full video about the process and watch me draw in this Youtube Video.

Have fun and always challenge yourself!

Blue Light Damage {timelapse}

2020-04-12T09:58:00.001-07:00

Quick lighting advice.

For this video I wanted to experiment with a single light source. When you are working on something like this you need to constantly think about WHERE your light source is.

For the first skellie you see sitting right in front of the computer screen, the light will framing his figure and casting an intense shadow around his frame. And a tiny bit of light will show around his eyes. I made the light here the most intense because that is where I want the main FOCUS of the image.

Everything else still keeps with the light source but is more muted because the other figures are both farther away and not the focus of the image.

By the way, rest your eyes when you can! (And I will try to take my own advice...)

Bee-eater Bird {time lapse}

2020-04-07T11:56:00.001-07:00

Cotton Plant Transforming Painting {time lapse}

2020-03-27T06:10:00.001-07:00

You've probably already seen my first transformation video of human anatomy here. Well, I wanted to do another video that shows the growing process of a cotton plant.

I know that might sound boring but cotton plants have a very interesting transformation from a bulb to flower and then to a cotton boll. It is kind of difficult to find videos of real cotton plants growing thru all the stages so I made one myself.

This was a challenge to paint! Not only did I have to consider the transitions for the "good" effect but I also had to keep the paint colors consistent.

If you want the video you can see there were plenty of times where I didn't get the correct colors but I really didn't fret over that. I wanted to accomplish my goal!

Watch the video and let me know if I was somewhat successful. :)

Watch me paint a Skeleton into a Human figure tutorial

2020-03-23T18:48:00.001-07:00

This painting is my first attempt at a "transforming" painting. The idea I had was to paint a figure with the same steps I use when I draw the human figure.

You can see in the video that I start with a rough outline for the skeleton figure. If you have ever taken a figure drawing course you know that in order to properly capture the human form you start with the skeleton and muscles underneath. It's like building a house. You need the frames then the drywall before you add the house paint.

Anyways, after I paint the rough outline I fill in the skeleton, while keeping the light source in mind. Giving depth and highlights. Keep in mind the skeleton is rough because this is not a skeleton painting. So I don't care about the tight details and realism. This is just a phase.

I then move on to the muscles. When I was in college my drawing professor had us learn all the muscles by name, and I knew them all....but then I got lazy and forgot most of the names of the muscles. Haha, I'm trying to re-learn them.

The muscles are where I start to develop the facial features and decide on the characters face. I develop the muscles the same with the skeleton, with highlights and shading.

After the muscles I add on the ears and nose. This is just a transition towards the skin level. And before we get to it, I am very rough when it comes to skin and the multiple colors it reflects.

The nose and ears helps her looks less like Skeletor.

If you've seen most of my artwork you know that painting skeletons and any anatomy is "easy" for me because I've had more practice. Skin, however, I don't have as much practice in. But that is the point of creating art all the time. You get to constantly practice!

I did use many references for the skin tones while I was painting. Off screen, in the video, I have a tablet with a google search of faces. This way I can study skin tone and learn from my mistakes quicker.

Last step is just to add fun stuff. I gave the girl eyebrows, eyelashes, freckles, and hair that grows out in the video. Considering I didn't have to concentrate very hard on this part I kept my focus on showing the hair grow out from short tight waves (very 80's) to long waves.

Please check out my other "transformation" cotton painting.
And I hope this was fun and informative.

Little Skellie drawing Time Lapse

2020-03-16T08:18:00.001-07:00

A Reddit post inspired my Art!

2020-02-14T09:01:00.001-08:00

This video is about how you can find inspiration in the simplest/most unassuming places.
There are so many odd things in the world that you will be surprised where you will find inspiration. I was browsing Reddit one day when I came across this image:

I know that looks horrifying but I was instantly draw to it! Those are the hooves of a newborn foal. Apparently, when an infant horse is in the womb it has these rubbery capsules, called a deciduous hoof capsule or Eponychium, that is designed as cushions to help protect the mother.
They are nicknamed "fairy fingers" or "feathers" and I knew I wanted to create and image with the surreal and beautiful twist.

This video is help give you an idea of how to take something from nature, whether bizarre or mundane, and put your own artistic twist to it. For me this was like getting hit with lightening! I knew how I wanted to take an image that was off-putting and turn it into something a person would want to look at forever!

I made the image into stickers on my Etsy and prints on merch on my Society 6.

Fantasy Skellies {Watercolor Timelapse}

2020-01-31T15:25:00.001-08:00

If you've been following my work you know the Skellies are a common occurrence. I love drawing in scenarios that look like they came out of a storybook. I just having fantasy images that feel as if you walked into the room and see all the characters going about their own business.

For this image I wanted to challenge myself with a complex watercolor painting that has foreground, mid-ground, and background. I wanted the stain glass, which is the background, to be a bit out of focus. And as the characters and items in the scene get closer to the foreground there are different levels of details. I keep the color palette a bit subdue, mostly oranges and blues.

You can see in the video that I start with the background. This is not a necessary step for watercolor, but it's a habit I tend to have from doing acrylic and oil painting for years. (I start with the background so that way I can layer stuff on top of it and it stays as the background.)

Fan Art and Review {The Orville}

2019-09-14T08:27:00.001-07:00

This is a quick, not professional very opinionated, review of "The Orville" TV show.
It is a show written by Seth McFarlane that is a scifi comedy spoof of Star Trek....that is the easiest was to put it but this show is more then what I expected!
I have never watched Star Trek but that didn't stop me from truly loving this show!
This show has a lot of inspiration from scifi but the show is it's own thing. It has compelling stories, hilarious characters, complex social ideas, and emotional depth. It is kind of like Futurama, it is funny but it knows when to keep a serious tone for those big emotional moments.

And Bortus is my favorite character!

Easy way to get a Vibrant color palette!

2019-09-06T19:07:00.001-07:00

How working for a Taxidermist changed my Art.

2019-08-24T10:59:00.001-07:00

Tsuyu Asui {BNHA}

2019-08-09T10:25:00.001-07:00

Neon Peacock {acrylic time lapse painting}

2019-07-30T08:45:00.001-07:00

Watercolor Timelapse (watch me paint!)

2019-07-05T07:10:00.001-07:00

Here is a quick watercolor painting I did called "Killer Bee".

In my artwork, bees have come to represent my thoughts and voice.
Bees are essential little creatures who help with the balance of nature,
and yet they can pose a real threat. Being an introvert I find my
"thoughts/voice" to have the same push and pull. I want to speak my mind
but I know that there are often consequences that follow. So I am
constantly pushing and pulling against my own desire to speak freely and
possibly hurt people around me, or keep quiet and give up my self to
keep the peace.

Do let me know if ya'll like the way this video came out and do let me
know how I can improve in the comments below!

If you have any questions about my artwork please comment below.

Neon Swan {painting tutorial}

2019-06-21T10:39:00.001-07:00

I thought for this video I would do a tutorial on painting a Neon Swan! What do ya’ll think?

KaiJune Snow Monster

2019-06-08T19:40:00.001-07:00