Kate Wadsworth Illustration

“Red Lady #01” 6X6” acrylic, colored pencil on wood "Red Ladies" is a series I created in an attempt to find a solution for marrying the two styles I seem to go back and forth between in my work (illustrative/clean cut/graphic VS. sketchbook/textured/blocky). This series was also an exercise on photographing models and taking more ownership of my reference materials and overall process of my work (dyeing and print/pattern making a real blue scarf, photographing the models, building my own wood panels, etc.)

Additional observation: During the process I also figured out how to visualize/stylize hair in a more structured way —something I’m still struggling with. Drawing hair is tough!

Final photos of my Pow! Wow! Hawaii 2018 mural courtesy of Jasper Wong.

Thanks to my neighbors, Kala and Roy for being the inspiration —they built their boat “River Bandit” when they were 8! And they catch giant barracuda and other monsters in the canal in our backyard. Unfortunately, the rain had me alter my original design, (the boat would’ve been more detailed and Roy would’ve been there too!😭)

I said a million times that Pow Wow is like a summer camp for artists, and I’m sticking to it. Cheers to new friends and learning experiences. The mural is located right in front of Lana Lane Studios and/or behind Honolulu Beerworks. Lana Lane x Auahi Street, in Kakaako.

Kamokuna 16x12” Acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel. This piece is inspired by the powerful and mysterious lava flow of Kīlauea on the Big Island. Lava meets the ocean at Kamakuna Lava Delta, creating a beautiful but noxious plume upon ocean entry.

This illustration is one of several travel/adventure inspired series I illustrated for Local Colors Gallery, located in the Hawaiian Airlines headquarters building!

Vernal Falls 16x20” Acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel. This piece is inspired by a trip to Yosemite National Park. We took a 0.7mile hike through the Mist Trail to a granite staircase of 600 steps to the top of Vernal Falls. From the top of the 317ft falls, you can see a beautiful view of Yosemite Valley. Instead of hiking back the way we came, we continued on the John Muir Trail to see Nevada Falls and Emerald Pool.

This illustration is one of several travel/adventure inspired series I illustrated for Local Colors Gallery, located in the Hawaiian Airlines headquarters building!

Waimea 20.5x36.5” Acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel. This piece was inspired by the winter swell at Waimea Bay that brings in monstrous waves upwards of 40ft --a complete 180 from the flat crystal clear pool found in the summer time.

This illustration is one of several travel/adventure inspired series I illustrated for Local Colors Gallery, located in the Hawaiian Airlines headquarters building!

Third Beach 12x16” Acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel.

This piece was inspired by a beach in Forks, Washington, where the washed up driftwood is full grown trees eroded away from the earth. We hiked 1.5 miles through Olympic National Park, and set up camp in a maze of fallen sitka spruce and western hemlock. Needless to say we had more than enough firewood to keep us warm through the night.

This illustration is one of several travel/adventure inspired series I illustrated for Local Colors Gallery, located in the Hawaiian Airlines headquarters building!

The Guides 16x20” Acrylic, colored pencil on wood panel. This piece is inspired by an 8 mile hike through the scorching Havasu Canyon to the village of Supai, in the Havasupai Indian Reservation. Another 2 miles will get you to a beautiful oasis of turquoise waterfalls. Shortly after we began our hike, I looked up and saw a profile of a face in the rocks. It felt like some kind of special guide leading the way. When we made it to the village, a local told us about Wigleeva, the two rocky red pillars in the canyon that are believed to be protectors of the Havasupai tribe. I incorporated the face I saw in the rocks into my painting, and added another to personify the guides/protectors that led us through the canyon and safely back out. 

This illustration is one of several travel/adventure inspired series I illustrated for Local Colors Gallery, located in the Hawaiian Airlines headquarters building!

Reposting this from the Pow! Wow! website:

POW! WOW! HAWAII IS A GATHERING OF CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS THAT ENGAGES WITH THE BROADER COMMUNITY IN THE PROCESS AND CREATION OF ART.

Supported by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, POW! WOW! has grown into a global network of artists and organizes gallery shows, lecture series, schools for art and music, mural projects, a large creative space named Lana Lane Studios, concerts, and live art installations across the globe. The Hawaii event takes place during Valentine’s Day week in February in the Kaka’ako district of Honolulu, and brings over a hundred international and local artists together to create murals and other forms of art.

After touring the globe and beautifying the streets of ten different cities, contemporary art initiative POW! WOW! takes to its hometown in Oahu, Hawaii for its 2018 festivities. Taking place between February 10th and the 18th, artists and musicians will gather at the Kaka’ako neighborhood and create all new murals and installations. The festival is fleshed out with a block party alongside the Honolulu Night Market, an exhibition curated by Thinkspace at the Honolulu Museum of Art, a print show with Detroit-based 1xRun, artist talks, screenings, foot golf tournaments with Kicks to the Pitch and Paradise Soccer Club, break dancing battles with UDEF, as well as concert with BAMP.

In 2017, the festival was held in the following cities: Honolulu, Hawaii; Washington D.C.; Israel; Long Beach, California; Worcester, Massachusetts; Guam; Seoul, South Korea; San Jose, California; Kobe, Japan; and Taipei, Taiwan.

POW! WOW! Hawaii 2018 Visiting Artist Roster Anna T-Iron (@annatiron) – Germany Bounce (@bounce1029) – Taiwan Cab (@cab_is_) – Japan Daniel Arsham (@danielarsham) – New York Dulk (@dulk1) – Spain Faile (@faileart) – New York Horishow (@horishow) – Japan Icy and Sot (@icyandsot) – Iran James Bullough (@james_bullough) – Germany Kelly Tunstall (@kellytunstall) – California Laurence Vallieres (@laurenceval) – Montreal Lauren YS (@lolo.ys) – California OG Slick (@og_slick) – Hawaii/California Ricky Watts (@rickywatts) – California Royyal dog (@royyaldog) – South Korea Sam Yong (@saminthewolf) – Australia Sandra Chevrier (@sandrachevrier) – Montreal Sean Chao (@seanchaochao) – Vancouver Simone Legno (Tokidoki) (@simonelegno/@tokidokibrand) – Italy SixCoin (@sixcoin_kr) – South Korea Spenser Little (@spenserlittleart) – California Sydney James (@sydneygjames) – Michigan Tran Nguyen (@mynameistran) – Vietnam Woes (@woes) – Hawaii/California

POW! WOW! Hawaii 2018 Local Artists 7Sketches (@7sketches) Asalt (@asalt_one) Cme Cory Taum (@kamehana_o_kala) Devour Gary Draws Fish (@garydrawsfish) Gavin Murai (@reckonshop) Gezu Jasper Wong (@mrjasperwong) Jeffrey Gress (@pro_gress) Jesse Velasquez (@dakine.dak1ne) Kahiau Beamer (@mungmonster) Kai Kaulukukui (@artworkofkai) Kamea Hadar (@kameahadar) Kaplan Bunce (@kapache1) Katch (@katch1) Kate Wadsworth (@wadsworthink) Kealakukui (@kealakukui_) Kris Goto (@kgotoart) Lucky Olelo (@luckyolelo) Maek (@hydeclyde) Marko Livingston (@markotattoos) Nicole Naone (@nicoleforever) Oera (@uglykid_o) Prime (@808prime) Puff (@pufftronic) Retsy Solomon Enos (@solomonenos) Unomas (@unomaser) Wooden Wav​e (@wooden_wave)

Getting my craft on. Made some stamps out of cork and a bottle cap. Feeling like a regular Martha Stewart ;)