From the Studio 3

Greetings KatGirl Studio Followers that was a crazy summer wasn't it? We were so busy we hardly had time to work on any personal projects. But now that we are swinging into fall the Studio blog should see more frequent updates.

This image was intended for Illustration Friday's topic "Old Fashioned" but I had too much client work to get it done in time. It's a stylized self portrait of me and our studio kitty Crash the Stampede in Steampunk Victorian wear. I will be finishing this image for my Halloween themed avatar, but I thought I would share a little work in progress.

Some of you who have been staying up to date with the going-ons at KatGirl Studio though our Purr Post newsletter may remember that this summer I went 100% digital with my art. It is not immediately noticeable from the outside looking in, and in truth 90% of the people we meet at shows are down right shocked to learn my illustrations are digital. The reasons I made the leap to 100% digital are two fold.

It saves me time.

I'm not saying I spent less time on the actually painting or that digital is easier than traditional media (trust me it's not). What I mean is that when I still drew my illustrations traditionally I would have to do alot of scanning and clean up work. A typical illustration would go like this:

I would scan my thumbnail and blow it up to the correct size then print it out, tape it to my desk and put a piece of vellum over it. Once I had my sketch down I would tape down another piece of vellum and draw a clean copy of the image. I would then have to scan it, usually in two parts since most of my illustrations are larger than the standard 8.5x11 paper. I would then have to clean it up in Photoshop before transferring it over to Painter. That's alot of time spent not painting, don't you think?

Now that I have gone 100% digital I can work up some quick concept thumbs quickly in Painter 11 (usually at 2am). Once I pick the one I like I just drag it into a new file and size it in a matter of seconds. I can then either sketch directly on it or turn it's opacity down and work up the sketch on a layer above it. Inking the line work is the same process. Or I can "ink" it in pencil to keep the paper grain texture. The painting part of the process is pretty much the same for my illustrations as it was before.

It also means I can get work to clients faster and make changes for them quicker as well without having to sacrifice quality.

The other great part about working digitally is I can also easily show the step by steps by either turning on or off certain layers or by cloning a flattened version of the file every so often.

It saves the world.

Ok it doesn't actually save the world but it does save alot of trees and make our studio more Green. By doing all my work on the computer I don't use the ink, paper, vellum, tape, pencil lead and erasers I use to.

Lions in my Tummy

This past fall I was commissioned to illustration a book by author Katina Lawdis for Viscus Vir Publishing. The book is scheduled to be out in March of this year and I'm greatly exited to have an illustration project finally be published. So I will be posting a new image from the picture book each week so stay tuned for new art!

Commissions
Yes I take commissions and even have a highly informative service section of the KatGirl Studio website. So whether you're from a big company, small company or self press we have a package that can accommodate you.

Computer Crash and Pixar Portfolio

Computer Crash
This past Saturday I went to turn on my computer and found that it had suffered a PBR 2 system boot failure. I was frantic because I was in the middle of backing up my portfolio work for my Pixar submission. I called my dad who was nice enough to spend all weekend and Monday fixing my computer. Luckily none of my files were damaged and he was able to transfer everything off so he could wipe everything. I am truly lucky to have a computer engineer as a father because now I sit here in front of my computer and it’s as if nothing happened to it. Thanks dad!

This brings up another point, I have become so computer centric in my day to day life that I really didn’t have anything else to do. So I rented and watched the entire first season of the Tudors, Twilight, the Truman Show, and Sense and Sensibility. As well I washed all of my roommates and my clothes and attempted to pack more boxes until I realized we were out of tape.

Pixar Portfolio
I’ve also been working on my portfolio submission for Pixar Studios. Some of you may remember that a few months back I had the opportunity to visit Pixar. All the work is done and mostly printed out (I ran out of ink with 2 pages left) and should be ready to send on its way tomorrow! After that it’s back to client projects and my book Stalking the Elusive Quetzal.

Here is one of the pieces from the portfolio. The original design was intended for a children’s magazine, unfortunately the company went under and the project was never finished. Since I had already done all this design work it was a shame to let it sit so I painted the character and gave her a new name.

Portfolio Work

Sorry about the lack of updates my roommate’s buying a house and so that means lots of running around looking at places. Production of Stalking the Elusive Quetzal has been halted till I finish up this new portfolio to send to studios like Pixar. However that will most likely be completed today so production on the book should begin again next week.

Here is some of the things I’ve been working on:

A Day at Pixar

On Monday I had the privilege to visit Pixar Animation Studios for a private tour and portfolio review. A friend of the family, Arun, is a programmer there and was kind enough to take time out of his day to show me around the main studio. Pixar’s main building has a rotating exhibit of the most current movie in the case Wall E and some sections of their older films. It was a great honor to be given a private tour since Pixar is closed to the public and does not give any public tours. People who know me well know I’m a collector of concept and “art of” books and so to see the concept art in person was really exciting and awe inspiring. While we walked around Arun pointed out all of Jay’s (his friend I would meet later) pieces on the walls.

After the tour we met up with his friend Jay for lunch, which was very taste. After lunch Arun had to run to a meeting so Jay, who worked on Star Wars Episode 1 before coming to Pixar 6 years ago, was kind enough the go through my portfolio with me. He offered me some insight on what the directors would be looking for in portfolios and about the hiring process. I know have a better understanding of the difference in what directors look for in book portfolios vs. concept or story artist portfolios. I would like to give a big thanks to both of them and I hope to someday work with them there.

On a different note Pixar has its one store at the studio that sells some special things. I picked up a shirt some Golden books (another thing I collect is children’s books) and this cute plushy box set that was marked at only $10.

Spent most of the day ordering various supplies for WonderCon and the upcoming arrivals to my store. As well I made a few thinks like bookmarks and product tags.

Art-a-thon
Today’s (and yesterdays) pieces are updated versions of my character studies.

Art-a-thon # 31: Captain Greyfur & Mr. Whiskers

Sorry about today’s late post I had to rescue a friend.

Art-a-thon
Today’s piece is a character study of Captain Greyfur & Mister Whiskers

New Year

Hope your new year is off to a good start! Yesterday I went to my friend’s Sally & Drew’s wedding which was very nice and very unique just like them. I’d like to wish them a lifetime of happiness and all the love in the world.

Yesterday was also New Years Eve so there were mad lines everywhere and a flurry of excitement. I on the other hand staid home (well after coming home from the wedding) watched Andromeda Strain and back episodes of the Sara Conner Chronicles, ate a burrito and drank champagne while playing WOW. I haven’t a clue what’s geeky than that but feel free to let me know.

My New Year’s resolutions are:
• The keep up the Art-a-thon challenge (though for everyone’s sake the new rules will be modified to exclude holidays as well as weekends.)
• To continue to bring forth the best work I can
• To stop neglecting to work on the COR project (it’s something I’ve been working on here and there since 2003) and actually set aside time to collect it all in one place and see what I have.

Art-a-thon
The first piece of the new year is a painting of Xcaret(ish-car-et) from my children's book Stalking the Elusive Quetzal.

Artwork and Videos and Facebook oh My!

Hello my fellow feline friends hope your holiday was wonderful!

Sally & Drew’s Wedding
Tomorrow is my bestest friend Sally’s wedding. To Sally and Drew I wish you the best! A few months back you may have heard me mention that I made their wedding invitations which used this image. Also as a bridal/x-mas/b-day present I made her this.


Holiday Art
I finished my Holiday art in time but wasn’t able to gift it to people because my printer decided to have issues. After many hours of work yesterday we came to the conclusion that it was not the printer but the image that was messed up. I’m going to try re-exporting it to see if it helps. On the bright side my printer now has its updated drivers. I have also complied this evolution of and image for you.


Kat in Videos
I was in the background of this music video they shot at the Dickens Fair can you spot me? Hint I’m the one in the shop in the background right above the left girls shoulder. I’m wearing my new second costume it has a black jacket and periwinkle skirt.


What's the Use of Won'drin'? -Amanda Palmer & Vermilion Lies- from Amanda Palmer on Vimeo.

I was also in the last bit of this documentary in my Bo Peep costume. If you’re never had a chance to come to the Dickens Fair this is what it’s like. In case you’re wondering I’ve played little Bo Peep in the Nimble Light enchanted Toy Parade every weekend during the holiday season for the past 4 years.


Kat on Facebook
I am now on Facebook! If you want to see cool photos of my friends, me and places and events I’ve gone to please stop by and feel free to add me as a friend. If you’re in one of my photos please let me know as well.(search Alicia Kat Dillman)

KatGirl Studio at WonderCon
If you missed this announcement here it is again!
KatGirl Studio is going to be at WonderCon (Feb 27, 28 and March 1) along with Lost Graphics in the Artist Alley at table AA041. I’ll have new art and new items for you my fellow feline friends to take home with you.

Art-a-thon #24: ShyOShea and Cloud & WonderCon

KatGirl Studio is going to be at WonderCon (Feb 27, 28 and March 1) along with Lost Graphics in the Artist Alley at table AA041. I’ll have new art and new items for you my fellow feline friends to take home with you.

Art-a-thon
A present for my friend Sally, her WOW characters ShyOShea and Cloud.

Art-a-thon #23: Cloud Sketch

Sorry about not posting yesterday I was gone for most of the day and unable to finish this piece till past 1 am this morning.

Art-a-thon
Cloud, my friends pet in WOW and the second half of this piece. Blue lead on Canson tracing paper.

Art-a-thon #17: Night Elf Sketch

Art-a-thon
A present I'm working on for my friend Sally of her WOW character. Bleu lead on Canson tracing paper.

Art-a-thon #16: Zoo Poster Sketch

Spent most of the day cleaning the studio but I also found some time to get some work done on a present for my friend Sally. She getting married at the end of the year but her birthday is also coming up.

On a different note, on Saturday one of my friends at Dickens told me that his daughter at her young age can’t tell the difference between Dickens fair and Disneyland. To her they’re the same and thus to her I (as Little Bo Peep) are essentially a Disney princess. But with my big blue cake dress and big stuffed sheep who could blame her. Hearing this put a smile on my face all day. If you want to see the dress you can find it here

Art-a-thon
A Zoo Poster sketch left over from the Wildlife illustration class I took.

New Art

Been working on some new art and character designs for a web comic I hope to do in the near future. I was going through a rough patch in my life but it seems to be getting a little better so that means more art! Was contacted for a project but that fell through, such is life I guess.

Portfolio Prep

Still plotting along and trying to keep my head up. Trying to finish some work before heading to Folsom for the last faire of the season. I have to send out my items for the sampler on Monday and go into the city to drop off my portfolio for a review.

Here’s some more pieces from the project I was talking about the other day.