Big Illustration projects I'm leaving 2024 with; New Illustration projects I'm starting in 2025

Going out in 2024

Honey label for a private client with a small bee-keeping business

Illustration ©️ Kat J. Weiss / Jar mockup by Pixpine

Book cover and print for my fellow artist friend’s photo book Transatlantic — special edition

Illustration ©️ Kat J. Weiss

An installation with an anti-war message. I wasn’t all too happy with my output, but we can only learn by trial and error — making art within the context of my art community, PULPXIX is exactly the room to do that. At the end of the day, I can only hope that my message comes across: we mustn’t accept as a normality, the plight and suffering of children in the world’s horrific wars. 

Photo of my installation ©️ Sebastian Schubmehl, graphic designer

In case you’re feeling charitable, here’s an organisation that I think is doing terrific work in this field:

What's in store for 2025

T-SHIRTS RELOADED...! 

What I had in mind. Illustration ©️ Kat J. Weiss / T-shirt mockup by Mockups-design.com

After a long hiatus in the t-shirt biz, I would like to start something this January!

My lovely friends have been encouraging me to turn my recent doodles in t-shirts. It’s always surprising when something like that happens; that’s how the last t-shirts got started, too. Perhaps there is something about the honesty in expression that people like about doodles?

“Food Fantasy” continued

“Gelato”, Illustration ©️ Kat J. Weiss

I would like to continue my series of placing people and food in surreal contexts, exploring the communal significance of certain cultural foods. For instance, dim sum in Hong Kong or the doner kebab in Germany are foods that bring people across the board to identify with each other. And I think that’s beautiful?

Only problem is, I am a vegetarian (often incorporating veganism into my daily life) and I don’t feel comfortable depicting meat — which a lot of cultural foods still include. Hmm. So the idea might be just to focus on classic vegetarian dishes from different cultures, which I hope won’t be too niche to be relatable.

My ✨ art goals for 2023 ✨

1. Have an illustration published by a (major) news outlet.

This has always been a somewhat superficial goal of mine – I say that because it seems like a cool thing to tick off of my “illustration career mile stone” check list, but I won’t be completely heartbroken if it doesn’t happen. 

Some actionable steps to take in order to achieve this goal: 

• Update portfolio with relevant (political, current events-related) illustrations. I will be working with a topic which appeals to me but is also very relevant: climate change and transitioning to a more sustainable future. I’m aiming for 4 - 6 works. If you are interested in reading further, I wrote about it here: Developing concepts for a political editorial illustration. 

• I’ll need to freshen up my editorial client list, and quite possibly reach out to some old, but hot 🔥 leads.

OMG, old video alert! I made it private because I stopped cold-emailing, but the info seems relevant now.

Ultimately, I realised I had this goal because I enjoy learning and sharing important information, and sharing this via illustration. And how illustration can draw attention to critical social issues, make it more digestible, or else present it from a different perspective. So, either way, if I get published or not – at least I’ll have new pieces for my portfolio which are totally aligned with my values.

Side note – it has happened a few times that a client stumbled upon an illustration I already made and then simply paid me for the licensing. Anything can happen!

2. Cozy watercolour illustrations featuring forest goblins and faeries 

I realise this is almost a complete 180 from the above, and also a topic I have never featured in my current portfolio… but I grew up reading fantasy picture books, and I love a good fantasy read even now. It’s a dream of mine to create a cozy little fairy tale escape. 

My goal is to create at least 4 pieces, so it can feel like a substantial part of my portfolio, not just a one-off (though if this ends up being a one-off venture, I won’t be too hard on myself – it’s OK to explore). 

3. Style changes – incorporate more texture, rely less on lined elements and details

This applies more to my editorial / client projects. I realised that, if I want to be taken seriously in the editorial field, my main concepts need to be more focused, with more room for negative space, less reliant on details. More minimal, but not necessarily easier – it can be hard to come up with strong ideas! Especially for me, I rely heavily on detail and I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a conceptual illustrator. 

Second point, texture: first step would be to create some textures using different media (e.g. charcoal), scanning those in, and creating a texture library I can use for future illustrations. It seems like a fun technique I haven’t used much in my work, and I reckon it could be a quick way to add visual interest in my backgrounds if I’m not going to be drawing them by hand.

Wish me luck! 
What are your art goals? Feel free to share in the comments!