Natural History Art & Science Illustration
Desert Flowers and Plants from Joshua Tree National Park. Each page is 11 x 8.5" gouache, pen, and colored pencil (c) Kristin Link 2017.
It is the start of the busy summer season in Alaska. Lupines are blooming, swallows are sitting on eggs, and goslings are teetering about eating grass in Potter Marsh. Before it all gets too crazy I wanted to share some of the things I'll be doing this summer.
Read moreSince last fall I’ve been making cyanotypes from my drawings, which I’ve written about here a few times over the past year. It’s a work in progress, which I am continuing to develop, but I wanted to share some of what I have finished so far, and some of my thoughts behind it. This collection of images, Encounters with the Spirit World, is a series of cyanotype prints of animals and plants that are spiritually significant to me. In creating the drawings that I print from, and the handling of the printing process, I try to connect with the soul and essence of my subjects.
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"Spring Ski" Acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12", (c) Kristin Link, 2017
How it is that I haven’t posted on this blog since mid-February? Sometimes time just slips away, or flies away. So I decided to write a quick update to fill you in on the happenings at Kristin Illustration since then.
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This is the type of weather that feeds me vitamin D and is making my work possible
Like the engineers of the pre-digital age, I was also looking for a low-cost and relatively simple way to reproduce my drawings. I like the idea of blueprints because they still feel handmade and I can use the outside environment (sun and water) to make them. I’ve written several posts about how I started experimenting with cyanotypes during an artist residency with Joshua Tree National Park. In this post I wanted to focus more on the process I’ve been using.
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Installation of my undergraduate thesis in Studio Art
I completed a double major in studio art and environmental studies with a focus in conservation biology in 2008, and decided to do my thesis in art. We could choose if we wanted to do a thesis or not and I was really looking forward to having my own studio and basically getting to do whatever I wanted with artwork for an entire year. That seemed like a lot of fun, and sure it was, but I think it was also one of my hardest classes ever.
Read moreLast year I wrote an end of year post summarizing many of the projects that I worked on, I want to do something similar again because I haven’t been diligent about documenting my work online. In 2016 I got to try some new things (like illustrating a coloring book and teaching in Savoonga) and I’m excited to share that with you. I also have some ideas for this year that I’m excited to talk about.
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December sun above the Nizina River
I want to wish you a happy winter solstice. This is an important day when you live at northern (or southern) latitudes. Some people tell me that I’m weird, but I absolutely love December in Alaska. I especially love Decembers on the Nizina River, where I live in a little off-the-grid cabin, in the middle of the Wrangell-St. Elias. There are limitations that come with this lifestyle and this time of year, but as a creative person, I think limitations can be healthy.
Read moreThis fall I was selected to be one of six artists to spend three weeks as a resident at the Lost Horse Ranger Cabin in Joshua Tree National Park. Let me say here that it would be easier to write an artists blog about successes, and finished pieces. However what I really enjoy reading about is the process and the struggle to get to that point of creating finished work. A part of me wanted to save this post for later, when I had more time to finish what I started during my artist residency. Then you could see the end result and probably part of the story of how I got there. But today I am sharing the story of unfinished work.
Read moreOne of my first tasks was to get back in the studio and finish off two pieces for an exhibit about gold for the Well Street Art Company in Fairbanks. The only requirement for the show, which is organized by Elizabeth Eero Irving, was that the images use shiny gold color. I used a Lascaux Artist Metallic acrylic paint with watercolor, gouache, and drawing materials.
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Sketching on the bow of the boat. Photo by Vince Hempsall
Last Monday I sat down at my desk and thought, today is the first day of my new job. I’ve had an exciting fall. After completing my artist residency at Joshua Tree National Park, (which I promise to tell you more about soon!), I came back to Alaska to scramble like crazy before leaving for another month to raft down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Read moreI am writing to you today from Joshua Tree National Park, two-thirds of the way through a three-week artist residency. I know it has been several months since I’ve updated the blog. Summer in Alaska is incredibly busy and I like to use my spare time (if there is any) drawing and exploring, but I promise an update about summer work soon. Right now I want to take you to the desert.
Read moreLast October I took an online class with Lisa Call, Working In Series. I painted a series on rocks found on the Nizina River, where I live. I am fascinated by the endless variety of colors and textures found in the rocks. The Nizina River drains out of the glaciers and mountains of an interesting section of the Wrangells (really every portion of the Wrangells is interesting) but you can find fossils, geodes, and stones of every color in the rainbow. I wish I had more of a background in geology so that I could understand them better, but I do appreciate their beauty, and I like to make up stories about why they look the way they do.
Read moreIt is the end of the year: The days are short and I find myself inside at 4 pm, listening to the news and wondering what to make for dinner as it is pitch black outside. By contrast, during the summer, I don’t get to listen to the radio or think about dinner until 8 pm. The dark days are a good time for introspection; I enjoy sitting by the woodstove with a cup of tea thinking about what has happened recently, and where I’d like to be going.
Read moreMy show at Alaska Pacific University is up through October 31st. If you can't make it there to see it in person, here is a bit of a virtual tour.
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Working in the mobile studio, which I set up in my house for a couple of weeks
I spent the month of February working on an exciting project. My work was selected for a public art project for the new AVTEC (Alaska Vocational Technical Center) dormitory in Seward, AK. To be clear, the process started long before February, and began with an initial Request for Qualifications last summer, then a proposal, a series of sketches and drawings, as well as an installation plan. Last month was when I finally got to put paint to paper.
Read moreSparrow's Egg Orchids, Gouache and pen (2014)
I still remember the first time I saw a Sparrow’s Egg Lady Slipper, Cypripedium passerinum. Allison, who was then the kitchen manager at the Wrangell Mountains Center, pointed one out, and I was delighted that such a cool flower grew in the surroundings forests.
Read moreMy solo show, Drawn from the Field, opens on Friday at the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive. I will be at the reception from 6-8 pm. I'm excited to exhibit this collection of over 30 field sketches and drawings, as well as a selection of my sketchbooks. Much of the work is from specimens close up that I found close to home in McCarthy or on the Nizina River. I've been exploring ways of capturing the landscape around me without actually drawing a traditional landscape. If you can't make it to the opening, the exhibit will be up until March 8th, so if you are in Valdez this winter, stop by the museum and let me know what you think.
Read moreAs an artist it feels like table space is prime real estate, as I never have enough space to lay out supplies and work. It was a big step for us to get a new dining room table last week. We moved into the new cabin after Thanksgiving and now we have space for furniture. Actually it is still quite a work in progress but we are moving that direction. When we finish putting the tongue and groove up in the ceiling we can move the bed and will have even more space. Last year we lived in a 16' yurt and much of our activity centered around a little 2x2' camp table that we bought at REI for a rafting trip. Whenever I wanted to draw, I cleaned off the table and set up shop. One of the reasons why I've been working in my sketchbooks is because they are small and portable, and I've been limited by space. By next summer I am going to turn the yurt into a dedicated studio, but right now it is a transition zone, though it does have more table space.
Read moreLittle Red Lighthouse Commission, 22 x 30", watercolor and pen (Photo by Anders Link)
I worked on this commission of the Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse which stands below the George Washington Bridge in upper Manhattan two years ago, but since it was a surprise I'm not posting about it until now. The lighthouse is the subject of a children's book illustrated by Lynd Ward, The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, and is also the namesake the business my dad works for, Red Lighthouse Investment Management. This painting was for his partner, Mark, who I've known my whole life, and hangs in their office. It was enjoyable to work on a project for family and close friends.
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A selection of recent sketches and work laid out on my bed.
This is a sneak preview, but I'm excited to announce that I have a show coming up in January 9 - March 8, 2015 at the Valdez Museum. I'll be showing a lot of my new work from the last year and half, including some of the sketches in the photo above.
I'll post more about it in the month to come, so stay tuned and keep it mind if you might find yourself in Valdez this winter.
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