Art
Custom Portrait: Karma the Cat
by Anne Kostecki
When I was approached by Sky to paint a portrait of her recently passed cat, I was not prepared for how extraordinary she wanted to do her portrait. She liked the trash polka style of tattoo art, which I discovered was a layered, limited color, industrial-style of art inspired by elements of realism, steampunk, and 20th century propaganda-style posters. Since her name was Karma and Sky is a Buddhist, she wanted a Buddhist knot and a lotus flower included in the composition. She also mentioned that Karma often stuck her tongue out, and thought that would be a cute reference to what she did in real life.
In the trash polka style, there is often splashes of red, or textures of water, dots, or smoke. Sky said she would love to see splashes of red, like blood, because Karma sometimes bit and scratched other people, but not her. I drew a composition, and recommended using a silver Posca pen to do the exact lines of the Buddhist knot. I was so excited to share the final piece with her, and she loved it so much, she shared it on social media (multiple times)!
