Katie Haas Katie Haas was awarded her BFA in Illustration at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where she graduated with Honors in 1987. During this time, several of her pieces won awards: one of them appeared in the catalogue of the Society of Illustrators and another became a part of the Pasadena's Miller Children's Hospital permanent collection.
When she and her husband moved to Petaluma and began raising a family, Katie continued to work as an illustrator as often as time would allow. But when her eldest turned 16, she returned to her easel with gusto.
In her large format portraits, Katie has found a way to incorporate two art forms she loves; painting and photography. First, she takes many pictures of the person she will paint. This gives both the subject and artist time to get to know each other. And when Katie decides which photo to use, she'll choose one that captures a special moment in time and reflects an essential attribute of the person. The large format (3'x3') allows her to achieve fresh, vivid portraits that show her strong design background and maintain a sense of intimacy.
Not only is Katie technically skilled as a portrait artist, she also possesses a finely tuned sense of intuition. Often, on first viewing the finished portrait, people who know the subject will exclaim: "It's amazing. Katie. You've captured the very essence of that person!"