Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaitlund Zupanic.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started as a young child with an undying love for dragons, unicorns, and horses. From movies like Dragon Heart, the Rankin Bass Hobbit, and The Last Unicorn, there were many amazing inspirations to choose from to hone my love for fantasy. Gratefully my parents inspired and encouraged me to continue my passion for art.
When I got older, I realized art. Specifically, fantasy illustration wasn’t mainstream and often looked down upon in an academic setting, and it wasn’t a career you went into to “make money.” Thankfully I was tough to dissuade, and I pursued my art career. Starting, I worked at a local nonprofit, Bad Dog Arts. Being a teacher’s assistant and eventually a Teacher.
I have had many part-time or seasonal jobs that have led to where I am now, with each job giving me a different skillset to add to my artistic arsenal. However, it wasn’t until I met Heather Edwards and Howard Lyon in 2014 that I began to come into my own with illustration and oil painting through their guidance and friendship.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being an artist in itself is a struggle. Creating an illustration is a visual medium and for the longest time, I tied my self-worth to what I created. On top of that, I was in a severe car accident on I15 and had a stroke in 2011 a year later.
The car accident and stroke left me unable to work for two years. With many lingering issues and heartaches that I had to work through. Including learning to re-train my brain and body to move the way, I wanted them to.
Having always been in a competitive mindset with illustration and art in general, the setback of the medical bills and complications led to a very dark time in my illustration career.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My passion has always been mythical creatures, mainly Dragons and Unicorns. I love to evoke a sense of awe and wonder through my ethereal fantasy illustrations. Dragons, for me, aren’t ferocious brutes; they are sentient creatures capable of the good, the bad, and the ugly, just like mankind.
Dragons are my favorite to illustrate, with my favorite pieces being “Ascension of Hiraeth” and “Ascension of Goliath” originally created in graphite and colored digitally I was commissioned to paint each 8’x4′ in oil. They took a year to complete and are some of my best work.
This led to my most significant accomplishment, which was opening my Gallery and Studio, Drawn to Dragons, with my Husband, Charles, at Provo Towne Centre Mall. At my gallery, I can share my love for not just my work but fantasy illustration as a whole as well as teach art lessons. Showing children and adults that it is possible to create your own niche and make a living with it.
Any big plans?
We just signed on for another year at Provo Towne Center, so that is always an amazing outlook for the next year. Truly though I am excited about my upcoming illustrated flash fiction novel that has yet to be named.
With the help of Paul Genesse and Patrick Tracy, I am compiling all of the illustrations I have created into a cohesive novel that shows that not everything is black and white. Through their help, I am creating an ethereal immersive experience centered around dragons and their roles in the books for good or bad.
Pricing:
- Art Classes – $25-$100 per hour
- Prints – $25-45
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kaitlundzupanic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaitlund_zupanic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrawntoDragons
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzx8dcL58kJbONzRmkC96oA
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/kaitlund
Image Credits
Pete Hansen Photography
