A Quick Talk With Eartha Klitt
Making a name for herself through multiple mediums, artist Eartha Klitt reinterprets, reforms, and adds an abstract context to portraits. She creates in a way that allows appreciators to get lost in all of the detail of her pieces, and it's easy to see she already has a great grasp on general color theory when it comes to distortions. Her work is intriguing because there is no race in her portraits at first glance, all figures exist independently and with depth. Below, Klitt shares her favorite artists at the moment, one being an RYB Gallery featured artist and an array of details on her beginnings and her future:
RYB: Tell us about yourself.
EK: I'm 19 from long beach. I go by Eartha Klitt. I've been making art since I was a little kid. My mediums include oil, acrylic, watercolor, oil pastels, graphite, ink and digital graphics. I really want to expand my use of mediums and perfect my craft. I want my life to be completely consumed by art. Right now I'm really striving to create my own lane in the art world as well as inspire others. Honestly, I wish to be the next Picasso, in fact I want to surpass him. I want to be great, not just well known.
RYB: How did you begin graphic design?
EK: I wanted to step my shit up and broaden my skills last year, I felt as though I had become really good and sort of "mastered" a lot of the other mediums when it came to painting, sketching and drawing and I felt kind of stifled. I needed to evolve and do more so last fall I began to work on graphic design (with great help from my friend/mentor Cheick whose one of the most creative people I've met).
RYB: At what point do you feel a piece is complete?
EK: I can't really tell you when I feel like a piece is finished. To be frank, a lot of my pieces are unfinished (to me) but of course the audience or whoever wouldn't be able to tell. Sometimes I leave my pieces unfinished to add some sort of sense of anticipation and ambiguity. It's strange. In a lot of my pieces, less is never more. I can't just always stop stop adding lines or figures.
RYB: Are there any contemporary artists who inspire you at the moment?
EK: I have soooo many artists in mind but I'll keep the list short; so it's David Rappeneau (FAVE ILLUSTRATOR EVER), Spinosteve, Darius Moreno of course (amazing brush strokes and use of colors I love him), Kristen Liu-Wong and Jamie Hewlett (Gorillaz illustrator).
RYB: How important is color in your portraits?
EK: Color is so important to me. Without it my art is really nothing. It adds a powerful tone, even if there's just a smidge of color to accent my piece... There's just this immediate flow of energy and movement that I need in my work. I mean it's kind of my motto... "Energy through art"- with energy, indeed my color.
RYB: What’s your favorite color and why?
EK: My favorite color is red. It's just so beautiful and broad. It's full and rich... There's so much to that color, it's heat, it's warmth, love, anger, hunger. It's complete passion. It's kinetic, there's nothing static or stifling and about it, it's always moving.