About the Artist
My name is Katie Zurakovsky and I am a pet portrait and wildlife artist based in Kent, the Garden of England. Growing up in the countryside of rural Kent, the natural world has always been a big influence on my life and is something that has always inspired me to draw and paint.
This interest in wildlife eventually led to me working out in Africa as a conservation volunteer. In helping to rescue and rehabilitate wildlife that had been snared or poisoned, I was greatly motivated to focus my artwork on animals as well as to continue to volunteer at a more local level. I paint using oils as I love the play of the paint and the luminosity that can be built up using them. This allows me to blend and build up layers to create realistic portraits of wildlife. My paintings usually begin with a spontaneous idea or simply when I am inspired by something I see. I then produce a few compositional ideas and once the composition is finalised, I sketch it onto the canvas. Areas are roughly blocked in and slowly detail, colour, and contrast is built up and refined until the painting is complete. I particularly focus on colour and light to try and bring the subjects of my paintings to life. Through my paintings I try and capture moments of natural beauty as well as a more personal focus of individual animals’ lives. Wildlife conservation often needs to be directed towards population numbers, as a contrast, I try to focus on more intimate portraits to give a more personal connection for the viewer towards wildlife. Animals in my paintings are placed in natural settings, largely away from man-made features, to give a feeling of wilderness so that the viewer is peering into their world. I hope to express my passion for nature through my paintings and hope that I am able to share some of the inspiration and enjoyment I get from the natural world. You can follow me as I create my paintings & drawings as well as my nature ramblings on my blog. |
How I create my paintings
I mainly work using oils on canvas as I love the luminosity of the paint that can be achieved with this traditional medium. I am particularly focused on the play of light and colour in my work and try to use this to bring my paintings to life. I primarily work from photographic references and sketch the image directly onto the canvas using diluted oils. Areas are then blocked in and more and more details added in layers until completion. Paintings typically take 5-8 weeks to complete as oil paints are a slow drying medium and each layer has to dry before starting the next one.
Example: Portrait of Buddy
During the first stage I will roughly sketch the animal or animals onto the canvas using diluted paint. This is usually a very rough working stage where elements are often moved, re-sized, and adjusted until I am happy with the composition. I then begin to block in the mid-colours working from the eyes outwards.
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As more areas are blocked in I begin building up the highlights and shadows. Following this the background is then also blocked. I work in different areas at this point to try and make sure I can paint some areas when other areas are drying.
The background is softened by adding other complimentary tones and the texture of the fur is built up. Fine details such as whiskers are added last. Finally when the customer and I are happy the work is signed and dated and the painting complete. |