Interesting person of the month: Kat Hogan

I like talking with people, and by golly, Kat Hogan is a person. Does the name sound familiar? It should if you've been following Duck and Cover Studios for a while. Kat's been a regular contributor on Tales of Night Life and was the artist for our Twitter mystery Lost to Chaos last summer. Let's get to know her a little better, shall we?

Marty Nozz: Alrighty, first off, thanks for volunteering to be my first interview for the blog. Let's start with some basics for those who don't know you: what do you do as far as day job?

Kat Hogan: I am that laziest of creatures, a college student. I'm afraid I don't have gainful employment just now, except for studying to be a history major.

Student by day and artist by night?

Indeed.

Let's talk about your nighttime artistic activities. You've been drawing live of Livestream, correct?

Occasionally, yes. If I'm drawing on Livestream it generally means I've made a thread about it and invited a small community to come and take a gander at what I'm doing.

Is this an invitation only thing or can anyone come and check it out?

Oh, it's definitely a thing to which anyone can come, it's just usually not a thing too many people know about.

And where can folks find you on there?

Here. I've usually got this show about bikers running when I'm not livestreaming. Not entirely sure how to turn it off, actually. It's still a pretty new program for me.

What type of things can viewers expect to see you working on?

Mostly little sketches for the people in the forum threads I make, occasionally commissions for Gaia; basically line art and the occasional more finished work with coloring. I'm hoping to do more painterly pieces in the future, though. Effective color use has been something that escapes me.

So what are the weapons of choice for your artistic endeavors?

Um, I vary things up a little. On the rare lovely occasions I get to do life studies, I prefer charcoal for its speedy expressiveness, but if it's just me doing little doodles, I use pencil and ink, and watercolors when I need to make things a little brighter. Lately I've started becoming a dab hand with a tablet, and digitally my weapon of choice is Photoshop. Ink-wise I used to mostly use dip-pens, but brush inking has grown on me lately.

Sounds like quite an artistic arsenal. What's been your most challenging commission thus far?

Um, hard to say. If I'm having a problem with a commission it's more that I'm having difficulty generating interest in a subject than any kind of technical approach. It's unprofessional of me, but there it is. I suck at drawing things that bore me. So, er, my most challenging commission has been this realistic portrait of a princely avatar. But I haven't had terribly many commissions in my brief career.

What work have you been the proudest of?

Oh wow, that's a tough question. God. Well, perhaps one of my final projects back in the days when I was still an art major. We were required to do a "masterwork" for our drawing class, picking an established artist and trying to mimic their style. I convinced my teacher that Mike Mignola, the artist who got me started drawing seriously in the first place, was a worthy choice for this assignment, and got started. In retrospect it was probably the most serious I'd ever been about an art project. I went out and bought props, and I made this poor boy I was friends with stand for at least an hour posing so that I could get the drawing just right. He even drove me out to get the apron I needed him to wear. A real sweetheart. I still love the underdrawing a bit more, but the end result I still have and enjoy.

OH NOES HE HAS A RAZOR D: by ~anoneemoose on deviantART
Right, I'm reminded that it was THREE hours, and he was one hell of a dude to put up with it. Here's the final project itself:

Sweeney Todd by ~anoneemoose on deviantART

"God, that's good!" You mentioned Mignola. Which other artists do you draw inspiration from?

Well Mignola was my first major influence, that really shocked me into trying to draw for myself. Beautiful design and German Expressionistic tones. He and Jamie Hewlett kind of defined my high school art career, along with Gustav Klimt and later Egon Schiele. Back in the day Jamie Hewlett's influence was pretty incredibly apparent, but I like to think I kind of found my own style since then and I don't seem to mimic much of anyone. There are so many artists that I find amazing and inspiring, that it's hard to pick out any but the earliest. I suppose recently the artist who's been inspiring me most is this European gentleman who goes by the name of Sublimate in some channels. He's running a webcomic over on his Furaffinity account that would knock your socks off. Lovely page design, intriguing world-setting, and compelling story-telling.

We've delved into the past. Let's look at the future. Got anything in the planning stages for us to look forward to?

Well the only thing I'm really trying to fashion into a story revolves around this character of mine who, through various internet vagaries, transformed into something completely different than what I originally meant him for, and thus became a lot more interesting.

Is this possibly going to be a webcomic?

If it ever sees the light of day, then yes, it will definitely be a webcomic. It'll be set in the early 1920s or right beforehand; I'm obsessed with research, so I have a lot more reading to do before I come up with a plot I'm entirely satisfied with. The lead is a veteran of World War One dealing with "shellshock" and going on with life after the traumatic experiences of war. Unfortunately, I've always been more interested in World War Two, so this has been a real undertaking for me study-wise.

It almost sounds like being a History Major is a cunning ruse to do research for your project.

You would think, but alas, it doesn't seem to coincide with what I'm researching too often. Although that Pirates and Smugglers course should come in handy on the whole bootlegging angle.

Wow. The things you can study for college credit nowadays. Ready for the Lightning Round?

Hoo, okay. I think I'm all warmed up. Hit me with it.

Preferred Aquaman: beard or no beard?

Definitely beard. As long as it's an OUTRAGEOUS! beard.

If you could pick one person, living or dead, to kick in the nuts, who would it be?

An intriguing notion, and I suppose, er. Henry David Thoreau.

Your preferred apocalypse?

I think as apocalypses go I'd be cool with mutually assured nuclear destruction. Less disturbing than zombies, more realistic, and no religious qualifiers entering into the business. It'll be one hell of a screw-up, but by God it'll be our screw-up...also I really want to play Fallout sometime, it looks awesome.

Breakfast for dinner: what's on your menu?

Cereal, eggs, or toast. It's nice to have a little variety I find.

Favorite online hangout?

I tend to have lots that I flit form back and forth, but IRC channels, while slow, tend to be a good gathering when they aren't chock-full of inanities.

What's in the CD player right now?

I'm listening to it on Youtube, actually, but it's George London singing "Abendlich Strahlt der Sonne Auge", from Wagner's Rheingold. I'm not usually one for opera, but this guy had such an amazing voice. Tears to my eyes most every time.


Final question: what percentage of your soul would you give to Guillermo Del Toro to be in the next Hellboy movie?

Oh lord. ...well, I love both Del Toro and Hellboy, but... is. Is 25% stake too much a claim?

It seems like a solid offer, but this is soul bargaining, not Texas Hold 'Em.

I'll just have to leave it at that. Unless they offer Ron Perlman into the bargain somehow.

And if the deal involves makeout scene with Perlman in full Hellboy make-up?

....all bets might be off. Non-make upped is fine. God, I am such a creepy fangirl. Whatever, Ron Perlman is magnificent.

Thus concludes the interview. Any final thoughts?

Nothing coherent in nature, I suppose. Thanks for the consideration, it's really been an honor.