HELLO and welcome to our series of artist interviews!
Here at Meala HQ, we love finding out about our favourite artists, how they entered the industry, built their craft, maintain their social life, what pets they have, and so on...
Sharing is caring, and we want to showcase some of our current Artists, past Artists, people we admire, people who are doing something unique and all around brilliant folks in our space.
Next up is an incredibly talented Illustrator, Animation Studio Owner and Educator, Kate Escolin!
BIO:
Kate Escolin (she/her) aka tinygreens is a Freelance Illustrator, Arts Facilitator, and Creative Director of Beag Animations. Her illustration work consists of soft rounded forms, paired with bright coloured palettes and playful line art. Some notable clients include: VodafoneX Spotlight Creator, Dublin Inquirer, The Ark Dublin, Dreamfeel Studio, and more. Kate is also known for her diary comics that explore her personal life and navigating the world, that explore her personal life.
Along with visual art, she is an active member in the Irish art community. She teaches workshops on zine and comic making for all ages. She is also on the committee for the Dublin Comic Arts Festival aka DCAF, the host of Sketchbook Club and DIY Life Drawing.
QUESTIONS
1. When your friends ask you what your job is, what do you say?
It’s funny because all of my friends are illustrators or animators but I always say I’m an illustrator despite my many other titles.
2. How did you get into animation?
I met two members of Beag Animations (Kate's Animation Studio) while studying in BCFE and we have remained friends ever since. In January of this year, Cian Killalea, and I decided to start an animation studio. It was as simple as Cian wanting to animate my existing illustrations and we went from there.
3. Where did you study?
I actually never completed an art degree. I studied one year in Ballyfermot College of Further Education and I failed! I barely attended classes (sorry to my lecturers) and I never pursued education further. I say this openly because although education is very important, it isn’t the be-all and end-all. If further education isn’t for you, you should still pursue a career in art! There are many ways to get your foot in the door.
4. What do you use to create your artwork?
I draw digitally on an Ipad Pro 2018 and an Apple Pencil. I use two programmes, Procreate and Adobe Fresco. Lately, I’ve been really enjoying sketching traditionally for both personal and client work, in either coloured pencil or crayon and then inking digitally.
5. Show us your work space!
I currently have no dedicated work space and have completed my past projects on the kitchen table at my home but in the next 2 months I will be moving into a studio with fellow Beag member Cian Killalea!
6. Tell us about your drawing process.
When I draw for clients the process can take anywhere between 5-12 hours. I find that the average time for my commissions will take 8 hours of active drawing time between sketching, final line, and colour. It all starts with A LOT OF THINKING and staring into space. I try to work with a really simple yet playful medium like coloured pencils or crayons to get all my ideas down. Once I like a few sketches I’ll take a photo and clean it up digitally, mess around with colour palette ideas and present 2-3 pieces for the client to choose which direction they want to go with.
7. Before you worked digitally, what did you use as your creative output?
I would just draw traditionally! I did art competitions in primary school, I did watercolour and pencil portraits in secondary school and my TY mini company was a sticker company based on my original art. It has always been art ever since my little hand could grasp a crayon.
8. Do you listen to anything while you work?
I listen to both music or podcasts while I’m working. When I really want to focus I will listen to the same song or album on repeat, it helps to blur the passing of time and really helps my brain focus. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Chappell Roan, Joyce Manor and Pinegrove, which are all very different genres of music. For podcasts I have been really enjoying ‘The Magnus Archives’ (although I am very late to the game)
9. How do you handle work life balance?
This is something that I still struggle with as a freelancer. It is hard to find a balance when you work for yourself. I am very lucky that I have worked with some very understanding clients that give me long deadlines and allow me to ask for extensions when needed. I am also lucky that I love almost every aspect of my job and hosting events such as Sketchbook Club really help me decompress while maintaining a social aspect.
10. What do you like to do when you're not working?
Watching movies and going out to the cinema is probably what I like to do most right now. I wish I had some fun and exciting hobbies but to be honest I just like to bake, read books and comics and occasionally crochet.
11. What's your best bit of wisdom for younger artists?
Try not to focus too much on an art style. Forcing yourself to create a specific art style will only diminish your desire to play and explore within your art, which ultimately will ruin the excitement of drawing! Don’t get too stuck in your head and just keep drawing, an art style will appear in time.
12. Favourite Artist at the moment?
Currently my favourite artist is an Australian based illustrator, Sha’an d’Anthes AKA @furrylittlepeach. Her playful style and bright colour palettes always inspire me to loosen up my lines and be more playful in my work.
https://www.furrylittlepeach.com/
13. Who are your artistic influences?
It is easy to tell that I have strong artistic influences from animated shows, most notably, ‘Adventure Time’ and ‘Bee and Puppycat’. Pendleton Ward and Natasha Allegri have been my inspiration for years now. Art that can transcend a specific age range is always inspiring to me as someone who likes drawing in a playful style for multiple audiences.
14. What else inspires you?
Comics! My love for comics and zines is widely known. I help run Little Deer Comics, a small press comic shop based in Stoneybatter, Dublin. Being able to have access to Ireland’s best indie comic collection is a true gift. Some of my favourite comic artists include Benji Nate, Sophie Yanow and J Marshall Smith.
15.WILD CARD QUESTION - Kate, we love how community focused you are! Can you tell us what inspires you to be a part of DAM and host Life Drawing and Sketch Book Clubs? Also, tell us all about your new independent animation studio, Beag Animations!!
(this is soooo cute ah thank you thank you<3)
I truly take pride in myself for my strong sense of community. I was lucky enough to join the DCAF committee in 2022 after attending many shows as just an exhibitor. I have always admired how they value affordability, openness and inclusivity within their events which is what I strive for in my own events.
Sketchbook Club was just an idea that I started in February of last year. I wanted to create a safe, free-to-attend, and alcohol free environment for artists of all ages and skill levels to gather, make art and meet other artists in their local community. Since then I have hosted 17 events in both Dublin and Kildare. Similarly with DIY Life Drawing, I wanted to create a cheaper alternative for artists to attend figure drawing classes. To keep the events cheap while also making sure that the models are paid a fair wage, the sessions are entirely self directed and I also provide my own art supplies collection along with some donated supplies.
I believe art should be accessible to every single person who wants to draw. Providing a space where you can meet other artists of all levels and backgrounds and not having to pay money to take up space is important to me.
Beag Animations is an indie studio that I co-founded with Cian Killalea. Our current team consists of myself, Cian Killalea @cian_killalea, Remi Rabillat @remram3d, and Nico Rylands @capricreep. Because we are a small team, we all take on many roles and share multiple tasks. We are still in the baby stages of our studio setup but are blown away by the huge response that our first initial name reveal and Beag Bite have garnered on social media. We are thankful for the generosity of our fellow Irish animators who have kindly shared their wisdom with us, namely Studio Meala! We are glad to be welcomed with such open arms to the indie Irish animation scene. We are planning on sharing our newest animation really soon and working on building our portfolio.
https://www.beaganimations.com/
Thanks SO much to Kate for taking part in our Artist Interview series. You can find Kate and her work at the links below -
LINKS:
Instagram: instagram.com/tinygreens
Website: kateescolin.com
