Meet the artist
My name is Katie-Sue! I’m a Chicago-based artist who loves to paint what I'm passionate about, and share that excitement with others. I grew up loving art, but I wasn’t introduced to oil painting until I took a class in high school. From then on, I knew I wanted to be an artist. Flash forward to 2022, after two non-art degrees and a number of unsatisfying jobs later, I quit my full-time corporate job and decided to actually make a go as a professional artist. My preferred medium is oil, but I’ve recently added digital art to my repertoire.
I’m a nerd at heart and thanks to my husband introducing me to Marvel and DC and other fandoms, I found a space where I felt like I truly belonged. Walking through Artist Alley at my first ever C2E2, I couldn’t believe people were actually making art that featured my favorite characters: Sam and Dean Winchester, Agents Mulder and Scully, the Avengers. And not just creating it, but selling it; there was actually a market for this! I had found my passion in fanart.
What inspires me the most are complex characters; I truly become invested in their emotional, sometimes messy, story arcs. Whether it’s Dean Winchester from Supernatural, Black Widow from Marvel, or Nick and Charlie from Heartstopper, basically any character that sticks in my brain, long after I’ve finished the movie or book, will earn a spot on my easel.
Why ‘fanart’?
Why fanart? Why not landscapes, abstracts or still lifes?
Painting fanart gives me an outlet for all the emotions that are brought about by these characters. I put my joy, my heartache and sometimes even my irritation into colorful portraits and moving scenes. Everything I create is imbued with feeling, and my hope is that each painting conveys that to the viewer.
My mission is to connect my two passions: oil painting and fanart. I feel that, in general, fanart is not treated as a serious subject matter by the greater art community, but rather is viewed as something silly - relegated to comic conventions and spaces for "nerds." I hope to challenge these perspectives and to change the conversation around fanart. It belongs with portraiture, abstracts, landscapes and still lifes. By using oil paint - a very traditional art medium - and focusing on scenes and images that are more emotional and dramatic, I’m trying to change the minds of those who would otherwise write off fanart as unserious and not belonging in finer art community. To me, as long as the focus of your art comes from a place of true passion, it’s a valid subject of study.
