Featured Artist Kristian Gallagher

Artist Kristian Gallagher creates uplifting contemporary art in whimsical and tropical motifs. Discover more of her portfolio on her website.

 

 

I am a self-taught independent artist. I have always sketched and drawn as a hobby. It was only after 25 years as an art director in tech marketing that I considered becoming a full-time working artist and illustrator. That was in 2017.  Since then, I have developed an extensive network of licensing partners and over 700 available works.

 

 

Originally I planned for my second career to be landscape photography. However, after moving to Hawaii, I pivoted to drawing and painting. They are instinctive to me in a way that photography isn’t. I appreciated learning the ins and outs of photography.

 

 

Expanding my knowledge is always helpful and learning the skills needed to produce professional quality photographs has helped me to level up my artwork. I developed a better sense of working with light, as well as improved composition and balance. I try to incorporate this into my art and design.

 

 

While living in Hawaii, I discovered that inspiration is everywhere. The natural world is seamlessly integrated into everyday life. Indigenous Hawaiian and Polynesian art served as an early inspiration for my work.

 

 

Since then, I have developed my own distinctive style, emphasizing decorative plants and floral illustration. I am enchanted by the beauty of the natural world, and often infuse my artwork with the stunning colors found in nature.

 

 

My current toolkit is Procreate on an iPadPro, an iPhone 15 and found materials. As a full-time traveler, the portability of these tools are essential to my work. Using digital tools allows for a depth and texture to my artwork that would be too time-consuming to achieve using traditional materials. A digital workflow also allows for rapid iteration of different versions of my artwork. This is especially important when developing collections with different colorways.

 

 

Over the years, my work has been recognized by several organizations. I am very grateful for this. In 2018, my work The Happiest Flowers was a winner of Minted x Pottery Barn’s “Walls That Wow” competition. Let The Sunshine In was included in Society6’s “Best Of” collection for four consecutive years. I have also been a featured artist at Americanflat, Art.com and Desenio, among others.

 

 

I am appreciative of the artistic community that I have found in the seven years since beginning this journey. A successful career in licensing is not something I could have imagined when I was younger.

 

 

As the industry continues to change, I am adding freelance illustration to my roster of offerings. This allows me to engage in a much broader range of interesting work for organizations whose values align with my own.

 

Kristian Gallagher invites you to follow on Instagram.

 

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