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PORTFOLIO

by Katie SmithROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE OF ART+DESIGNBFA, ILLUSTRATIVE DESIGN 2024

TaBlEOf cOnTeNtS1CHILDREN’S DESIGNILLUSTRATIONCHARACTER DESIGN1117

InTrOdUcTiOnMy name is Katie Smith. I’m an Illustrator and Graphic Designer earning a BFA in Illustrative Design from the Rocky Mountain College of Art+Design (2024).I started college as a physics major, before eventually earning a BA in Psychology. I’ve worked in early childhood education and as a children’s librarian, but art has been a lifelong interest. I enjoy working with a wide variety of traditional and digital media. I especially love working with color.My work often centers around children and imaginative themes. In this portfolio, I showcase digital and traditional illustration, as well as graphic design projects that exemplify my use of color, anity for children’s illustration, and attention to detail.

1ChIlDrEn’SDeSiGn

2Springtime Froggies: Illustration2024Digital, 1747 px x 2000 px

3Springtime Froggies: Surface Design Mockup2024Digital

4For this project, the goal was to create an “industry specic” illustration with the theme of “ora and fauna.” I chose to create a surface design for children’s fabric and toys. I began by sketching frogs, bugs, and mushrooms individually. Then, I laid out each element in Photoshop using the Pattern Preview option to give myself a rough template.IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIPART 1: SEAMLESS PATTERN

5Once I had my layout, I went back to each individual element and created a nal line drawing using Procreate. I arranged these elements into a standalone composition in Photoshop.IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIIMPLEMENTATIONTo make the seamless pattern, I placed the nal elements over the original sketches.

6I digitally colored each element individually, using a wide variety of textured brushes in Procreate to give my work texture and color. I placed each colored image over the original sketches in Photoshop using the Pattern Preview tool, then created a digital pattern swatch. I uploaded this swatch to Spoonower.com and ordered a quarter yard of the fabric design.IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIIMPLEMENTATION

7IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIFINAL

8IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIPART 2: DRESS MOCKUPFor the second part of this project, I used my seamless pattern design to create a mockup for a child’s dress. I began with a stock image of a child’s white sleeveless dress to create my apparel template. Then, I created a dress mockup using a wide variety of masks and tools in Photoshop.

9IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIPART 3: TEA SET MOCKUPThen, I placed the nal illustrations on the tea set pieces, using Smart Objects, warp, and masking to achieve a realistic eect.To create a prototype tea set, I spray painted a store-bought tin tea set white. I took photos of the painted pieces, masked, and adjusted the photos in Photoshop to create a mockup template.

10Geisha Pizza Party20241667 x 2000 pxDigital and mixed media

11IlLuStRaTiOn

12PROJECT BRIEF IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIINgai is inuenced by Japanese prints and draws inspiration from a mixture of Eastern and Western art. I thought I would combine those two things together in a woodblock-inspired scene of geishas eating gooey cheese pizza, because cheese pizza brings me joy!The prompt for this project was to create a composition on the theme of “Joy” using a mix of traditional media and digital techniques. My work was inspired by the work of Victo Ngai.

13IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIIMPLEMENTATIONI started by making an acrylic wash background. I photographed it, then layered a canvas texture on top of the painted background.

14IL3895 ILLUSTRATION IIIIMPLEMENTATIONI used Procreate for inking my rough sketch, then colored the lines in Photoshop. I also made my own pattern brushes from drawings and used scans of Japanese paper to create textures.The gures’ hair has a patterned paper texture and a newsprint texture, which was modied using the “liquify” feature so that the type conforms to the hair contours.

15I adapted this artwork into an acrylic print utilizing a gel plate. First, the line drawing was printed with a laser printer onto copy paper to create a relief for the gel print process. The gel plate was loaded with acrylic paint, then the line drawing printout was applied and lifted, to create a base layer. Subsequent colors were rolled onto the gel plate. Finally, the print was transfered onto heavyweight paper.EXTENSIONGEL PLATE PRINTGeisha Pizza Party202414 in x 11 inAcrylic on paper

16Ethel Wildwood: Tween Artist20232400 x 3300 pxDigital

17ChArAcTeRDeSiGn

18PROJECT BRIEF IL3655 CHARACTER DESIGNFor this class, we were tasked with developing an original character concept.I began this assignment by sketching an 80s artist character, concentrating on cute and friendly circles to create a child gure with big hair.From this sketch, I drew two more poses and wrote a backstory.

19RESEARCH IL3655 CHARACTER DESIGNBased on critique of the original sketches, I drew two more versions of the character. I emphasized a 1980s wardrobe and hair, referencing teen fashion from 80s & 90s TV shows like Full House and Saved by the Bell.

20IDEATION IL3655 CHARACTER DESIGNWe also needed to provide an alternate render styles for the character. I adapted my sketch to a “rubber-hose” style, reminiscent of Disney’s 1990s Saturday morning cartoons.From the second sketch, I developed alternative outts for the character, in keeping with 1980’s style.

21I sketched multiple color variations of this character before settling on a vibrant 80s palette of magenta, cyan, and blue, with a light skin tone of similar value.IDEATION IL3655 CHARACTER DESIGN

22I adapted the sketch to be more youthful and studied 90s Saturday morning cartoons for shape language inspiration.I drew the character in Procreate and colored it in Photoshop. I designed the background in Illustrator.IMPLEMENTATION IL3655 CHARACTER DESIGN

23Following the advice from a previous portfolio review, I redrew the character’s hands (paying attention to anatomy and proportion) and placed the new version into the original background.

katiesmithdesigns.netm.katie.smith@gmail.com