Katie Smith

Katie is an artist who enjoys experimenting with many mediums on journals and canvases, including markers, watercolors, mixed media, and oil paints. She learns as she paints and enjoys the process as much as the finished art.

Katie’s paintings will transform you into another world through her personal style, vibrant colors, use of nature themes, and surreal, magical vibes.

Catalysts by Katie Smith
How to make an envelope journal

How to make an envelope journal

Connections Hey y'all! It's Katie here with my tutorial for the Season of Connections! Have you ever had a penpal? I used to have half a dozen of them when I was a...

How to give your figures colourful hair

How to give your figures colourful hair

Colour Hey Y'all, Katie here today to share a tutorial with you! As you know I love drawing and painting, and with it being the Season of Color, I wanted to share with you how I...

A beginner’s guide to drawing faces

A beginner’s guide to drawing faces

Hey friends, it's Katie here today! Your resident doodler! I'm the girl that always has ink on her hands! Really. This year I'm doing a challenge to  draw or paint something...

How to Paint a Geometric Galaxy

How to Paint a Geometric Galaxy

I’ve gotten a bit of a reputation for including watercolor galaxies in my work, but I just can’t help it. I love painting galaxies and starry scenes, so now I am thrilled to be sharing my techniques with you.

Doodling for beginners

Doodling for beginners

Nature Hey everyone, It's Katie here! You've probably heard of zentangles, right? It's a method of line drawing where you create repeating patterns and turn them into designs. I...

Make your own printables for journaling

Make your own printables for journaling

Fairy Tales Hey y'all, Katie here! I'm having so much fun with this Season of Fairytales. I'm actually a huge science fiction nerd, but fantasy is my my second favorite genre...

Masking and resist techniques

Masking and resist techniques

Contrast Hey Y’all, Katie here! For today's tutorial I wanted to share a few different techniques for doing watercolor resists and masking with with a variety of supplies....

Making and Using Gelli Print Backgrounds

Making and Using Gelli Print Backgrounds

Hey there Messians,  Katie here with my first post as a part of the Get Messy Creative Team! I am super excited to be here and be able to share a peek into my art journaling with you....

How to Paint a Watercolor Galaxy

How to Paint a Watercolor Galaxy

Hey everyone, Katie here today with the long awaited galaxy tutorial! You may or may not know, but I'm basically obsessed with space related things, so I often paint moons of galaxies in...

Six fun watercolour techniques

Six fun watercolour techniques

Hey friends, it is Katie from the Creative Team here again! Watercolors are my favorite medium at the moment. I discovered them early last year and just fell in love with how they flow...

Lesson 2 – Facial Features

Lesson 2 – Facial Features

Hey everyone, Welcome to lesson 2! In this lesson I will be showing y’all how I sketch different facial features, such as eyes, mouths, etc. The important features that will make up your characters!

Lesson 5 – Sketching a Face, Profile View

Lesson 5 – Sketching a Face, Profile View

Okay, in this lesson I am going to teach y’all how to sketch a face from a profile / side view. I used to be pretty intimidated by drawing a profile and every time I did it it would look wayyy weird. Like my girls would have a big forehead, or tiny nose, etc. How did I get better? Practice. I was determined I wanted to learn how to draw a girl in profile, so I started sketching girls in profile… a LOT.

Lesson 3 – Sketching Hair

Lesson 3 – Sketching Hair

In this lesson I’m going to show you how to draw a variety of different hairstyles you can use on your faces! In the video I show some different ways to draw both straight and curly hair, and how to use the lesson printable.

Lesson 6 – Watercolouring a Face

Lesson 6 – Watercolouring a Face

It’s time for my absolute favorite lesson of this class! I really enjoy coloring in my sketched faces and I think it’s what really brings these drawings to life. So, in this lesson I’m spilling my watercolor secrets and I’m going to show you how I do it.

Lesson 4 – Sketching a Face, Front View

Lesson 4 – Sketching a Face, Front View

Guess what? In this lesson I’ll be showing you how to sketch a face from start to finish! You can sketch faces at many different angles, but the angle I’ve always found easiest was just a front view, which means the girl is facing directly towards you.

Lesson 4 – Watercolor Milky Way

Lesson 4 – Watercolor Milky Way

Yay, welcome to lesson four! In this lesson I am showing you how to paint your very own Milky Way galaxy with watercolors! My process for this is pretty much the same as lesson 1, the abstract galaxy, however I work off of a reference photo so that it ends up looking like the Milky Way!

Lesson 2 – Abstract Galaxy

Lesson 2 – Abstract Galaxy

In this lesson I am going to show you how to paint the easiest of watercolor galaxies! We won’t be using reference photos or anything, we’ll just be splashing watercolors around and experimenting to create a gorgeous, abstract starry scene.

Lesson 5 – Acrylic Galaxy

Lesson 5 – Acrylic Galaxy

We’ve already made it to lesson 5 and in this lesson I am going to show you how I paint a galaxy using acrylic paint! This is a totally different medium than watercolors, and while watercolors are my personal favorite (I love how the flow and blend!), acrylics paint can make some really cool galaxies and they are often more vibrant and richer colors than watercolor paints

Lesson 3 – Watercolor Moon

Lesson 3 – Watercolor Moon

What goes well with galaxies? The moon! I love anything that has the moon on it, If I see a collage with the moon, I will instantly love it, or if I see any sort of moon accessory- it’s mine!

A guide to working with themed art journals

A guide to working with themed art journals

Hey Get Messians, Katie here! How many art journals do you have that you work in? Right now, on my desk I have 5 that all have a different theme: My general art journal, an art journal...

Bonus – How to Use Sketched Faces in Your Art Journal

Bonus – How to Use Sketched Faces in Your Art Journal

In the class I teach you how to draw faces from start to finish, but for this free lesson, I wanted to share a printable with y’all and demonstrate how you can use faces in your art journal. So I’ve created 4 different printable faces for you to use (whether or not you take the class!) in your work.

Closing Thoughts

Closing Thoughts

To wrap up this course, I’m going to give you a little tour of some of my past art journals to show you a few examples of how I’ve used my girl sketches in my page spreads.

Lesson 1 – Supplies

Lesson 1 – Supplies

Let’s start by going over the supplies I will be using in these lessons! I will tell you what brands I use and prefer, but feel free to use whatever supplies you have on hand!

Closing Thoughts

Closing Thoughts

Thank you so much for taking this class with me! I hope I have been able to spread a bit of the galaxy love and you have learned how to create your own starry scenes!

Sketching Faces

Sketching Faces

Dive into the world of portraiture with Sketching Faces. Experienced illustrator, Katie Smith, will teach you her method for drawing beautiful faces no matter your skill level. This class starts at the very beginning with supplies, then walks you through, step-by-step, in easy-to-follow videos, drawing a variety of facial features, different profile views, and hairstyles. You will also learn Katie’s secrets for coloring in sketched faces with watercolor paint. The class includes multiple printable templates to help you practice and grow your skills, as well as guides, video tutorials, and ideas and challenges for using your new artwork in your art journal. Take your artwork to the next level with the ability to draw lifelike faces with Sketching Faces.

Painting Galaxies

Painting Galaxies

Wouldn’t you love the ability to create beautiful, vast starry night skies in your art journal? Resident galaxy painting expert, Katie Smith, shows you how in this guide to painting the cosmos. In this technique based class, you will learn how to create stunning starry scenes using watercolours and acrylic paints. If you’re new to working with these mediums, Katie will guide you through learning and mastering these tools, including turning household items like a toothbrush into a star wand! Following Katie’s simple teaching style will have your pages shining like the Milky Way in no time. This class is designed for anyone who has looked up into the night sky in awe and longs to translate that beauty into their artwork.

Day 20 Nature

Day 20 Nature

Remember: Bring your messy self, take what you need (no such thing as being behind), and remember that more than zero is enough. Here's the prompt for today's Messy May:Take your supplies outside and create inspired by the world around you! Follow the...