Kathy Christian

Kathy Christian is an American artist currently living in Australia. Her current medium of choice is colored pencil and gouache; often mixing the two. Kathy specialises in working dogs and wildlife. She is a self taught artist relying on her hands on animal experience to guide the direction of her art. She has always been compelled to draw what surrounds her in everyday life and or what she has experienced on a personal basis. She has been privileged to work hands on with big cats in a wildlife rehabilitation compound and has spent quite a bit of time in East Africa. Now farming in rural Victoria, Australia she also trains working sheepdogs. Kathy believes that there are two important aspects that come into play in depicting animals realistically. The first is one must study the anatomy and structure of the animal they are painting. Knowing what is under the skin is as important as what is on the outside. Without knowledge of anatomy paintings appear flat and lifeless. The second is the ability to draw and not trace photographs as seems to be the current rage. Tracing does not teach one to observe, only to copy. She enjoys depicting animals in their natural environment and don’t romanticise them. Sometimes this means painting them “warts and all.” Her work has won multiple international awards including inclusion two years in a row in the prestigious “Strokes of Genius” book of 130 artists drawings selected from a highly competitive international field.    

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.