Illustrator Kate Pugsley captures the world around her using gouache, watercolor, and pencil. Based in Chicago, her inspiration comes from her daily walks and travels around the world. “I’ll see a flash of an interesting shape, color combination, plant, structure or face and I’ll try to remember it,” she relayed in an interview with I Do Art. “These little fragments fuel me and make me excited to get back to work. Travel is especially stimulating for me because I have entirely new experiences to get inspired from.”
Her daily observations and recollections (“little bits of ideas”) are assembled in her sketchbooks, to which she later returns for references. But when it comes to her creative process, there’s also a fair share of intuition to it. “I begin with a blank piece of paper and start making marks until it slowly comes together,” she says.
Since earning a BFA in illustration from RISD, Pugsley has been hard at work, collaborating with clients that vary from The New York Times and Bloomsbury Publishing to Tiffany & Co and even the United Nations. Aside from that, she also runs an online shop and Etsy store, where she sells paper goodies and other merch, all sporting her playful illustrations and designs.
“I hope to be lucky enough to have a lasting career doing what I love,” she says. Judging by her buzzing online presence, there’s no stopping her from doing just that.
