Katie Harbord

Hi, I’m Katie and I’m currently studying UAL Level 3 Art and Design, specializing in Fine Art, in my second year at college. I am planning to stay on for another year at college and complete the Foundation course at Level 4 in September. After I complete the course, I'm hoping that I'll have gained more confidence and independence in my work, and will feel capable enough to study a degree course at University the following year (hopefully Illustration). I have a few learning difficulties due to my epilepsy but they don’t stop me from still trying my best in the work I do whether it is at college or at home.

I have a particular interest in drawing animals, and this is something that has always been a passion of mine in art since I was very young. My art journey started with me creating a black and white comic book with biro illustrations named "The happiest and friendliest puppy ever" about the life of a spaniel dog with just illustrations and I based the story on my every day life experiences - for example if I went to a new place to walk my dog at the weekend with my mum, I would later add that experience to my comic book and draw pictures of the dog visiting that place, using my creative imagination, making it look similar to the place that I went to - this comic book story was an example of work where I was never too precise about making my drawings look perfect, and I drew whatever came into my mind.

After spending many years creating the comic book on my own at home, I started having proper art lessons at school, this was when I started to take more interest in realistic art. I still had the passion of drawing animals but I had switched to using a variety of different mediums such as; different pencils (HB, 6B, 8B etc), watercolour, oil pastel, acrylic, coloured pencil and many more! I moved away from the comic strip style into more realistic portraits. I also began to create my own greeting cards for family and friends,  some in a cartoon style, others more realistic.

Nowadays, after becoming interested in realism, I spend lots of my own time drawing animals in a realistic style. My passion for pet portraiture started back in Christmas 2022, when my labrador passed away. I wanted to find ways to still remember and see him in the house, so its like he's still part of the family. I drew a memorial portrait of him, which was the beginning of my pet portrait journey and I have been working on mostly pet portraiture since. I also enjoy drawing other animals and wildlife usually from photographs I have taken or that friends have sent. Back in December 2023, I ran a pop up shop with people in my class at college, where I made my own products using a few animal and pet portrait designs. I made coasters, greeting cards and notebooks - my greeting cards were the most popular and sold out. As well as running the pop up shop, I have also been asked to do commissions for people of their pets. My art teacher at college asked me to do a commission of her dog, which was an exciting opportunity for me as it was my first and also a chance to push myself and show my skills as a portraiture artist. I was very pleased with the outcome, as was my teacher.