Kat Powell Artist

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.

 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...)

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. :)

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 ...

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 a...

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.)