Katie Hone – Vibrant Colourful Abstract Artwork

Katie Hone

Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Mediums: Acrylic, Watercolour, Pen

Style: Abstract, Portrait art

I live in Cambridgeshire in the UK with my fiancé and our very soon to be born daughter. I am a freelance artist and designer and have always got many projects on the go. Acrylic has been my main medium of choice however I’ve been experimenting with watercolour and discovered how much I enjoy it. I paint in all sorts of sizes, don’t really like constraints!

crazy college katie hone

Crazy College © Katie Hone

I suppose this is another self portrait really, using my many faces and colours to convey how much I loved college!

Please say something about your first time creating:

Wow now that was a long time ago, I’ve been splashing paint on paper for as long as I remember! Perhaps my first memory of specific pieces of work was when I used to have still life classes with my Nana, first time I’d ever used watercolour and I really loved it!

How long have you known you were an artist?

I would say all my life, I always got told in school by everyone that I’d be an artist and my parents always encouraged the artist in me. I’ve only considered myself a commercial artist in the last 5 years, I was never confident my art was any good for it to sell – but it did.

What are you looking to convey to others viewing your art?

Given that my art varies so wildly this is hard to answer. With my portraits I am trying to show skill, I’ve been honing portraits ever since college. With my abstracts I want people to see I’m cheerful and bright.

katie hone zombie against psycho

Zombie vs Psycho © Katie Hone

These little critters live on my bed, they were hand made following a pattern and now immortalised in a painting.

Can you tell us about your process of creation?

Usually I come up with the idea in an extremely unlikely and inconvenient situation, (before I go to sleep or on long journeys for example). When I finally get down to doing the art I like to know I can complete it all in one session, I find that if I wonder off for too long I may have lost the initial motivation to keep at it. Perhaps this is why I don’t use oil paint! I like to take photos of my progress for viewing afterwards. I also stick on some loud music, I hate working in silence and music just keeps my energy so high. When the piece is done I might display it for a little while just so that I can feel proud and inspired to do the next piece.

Inspirations

I find I’m most inspired when people are around me suggesting what to paint/draw next. I never sit there and try to think of things to paint, I let the inspiration come to me and I try to grab the opportunity when it comes up.

library columbia katie hone

Library of Columbia University © Katie Hone

A current ACEO I’ve done – part of a collection I’ve done of New York.

Exhibitions

I have had several exhibitions, all of which are education related. After every year at college we had to showcase select art done that year. I’ve also been to a few fares for charity purposes.

Have you sold many of your pieces?

I have sold quite a few pieces, I started when I was 14 – I would paint and my Mum would list on my behalf. Very good pocket change and considering the lack of bills I’d recommend this to anyone! I now also sell again using Ebay and Etsy. I’ve also sold on commission, I like to keep an ear out for what people like and make accordingly.

How do you market your artworks online?

I use Ebay and Etsy for selling purposes. I have a Facebook page and I will frequently look around for other like minded artists and mutually share pages. I am in a Facebook ACEO group where I’ll put my Ebay listings up, I’m also in the corresponding Ebay group. I have a blog which I intend to use more often. I also network with Pinterest as well.

Influences

I have a few artists I love, such as Salvador Dali (I only wish I could paint like him) and Joan Miro for the abstractness. However most of my family have very much influenced me, my Mum is an artist, as well as my Nana and great aunt. Greatly influenced by a couple of other fellow artists such as Adam Kirton who taught me some really surreal methods of art. Of course a special mention goes to all my college friends, we were all studying art so there was always a massive creative vibe.

Please tell us about an artist you admire.

zombie portrait katie hone I mentioned him before but Adam Kirton has some fantastic art. I never knew quite what he drew but it always involved his signature which he’d duplicate into weird and wonderful shapes. Often he works in black and white. One of the pieces I remember distinctly was an enormous painting/drawing of a tree (I believe it had his signatures as leaves but this was a while ago and can’t remember).

Zombie Commission

© Katie Hone

A friend of mine saw another zombie portrait I’d done and had to have her own done.

Please tell us something interesting about yourself.

I keep journals, the original blog! I’ve kept a journal since I was 14, to start with they were ramblings and entries were far and few between. In fact I never thought I’d ever finish my first little book. Then I moved onto the next and very much got addicted. Now 10 years later I’m on my 15^th diary, all of them are packed with photos, doodles and other memorabilia. I love them to pieces and I would hate to see them perish. Hence why I’m now undertaking a mammoth task of scanning in every page!

Has anyone ever said anything annoying about your art?

My tutor once told me that no self respecting Graphic Artist would use a standard byro pen to draw which aggravated me intensely since I’ve managed some really effective portraits with a byro. I thought it was very narrow minded of her personally, I don’t think anyone should be constrained by what society expects.

katie hone portrait

Do you have regrets?

There were a few pieces of work I wish I never sold for as cheap as I did. I also regret losing my first ever portfolio – between age 11-15, some of my watercolour still lifes are lost forever.

One of my byro portraits, on A5 I did a few years back. I always put a watered down wash over the top to add some depth.

Future Plans

I would of course love to be well known and sell lots of work, I realise that is not always entirely easy to get but I’m pretty optimistic. I also want to continue discovering new styles.

Advice for Emerging Artists

katie hone Always talk about yourself, it might sound arrogant but when I worked in a coffee shop I got a good handful of commissions because I spoke about me a lot! How vain!!! Use free image hosting sites to display art and tell all your friends and encourage them to tell their friends.