WEEK 12
Hey there, thanks for joining us for Week 12 of HOMwork 2020!
This week, we have the amazing Kate Pullen as the guest teacher!
Kate Pullen is an illustrator and letterer based in Melbourne, Australia. Kate loves lettering because she finds what she’s saying just as important as how she says it; design can be so powerful and it can provide an outlet for the almost-daily existential crisis (helloooo millennials) that continually swings between 'You can do it! Aim high! You're wasting precious time!' and 'Put yo' feet up, you deserve a break, have a Kit Kat'.
From Kate:
I can’t help it. Over the last five years I have become one of those people that turns up to a party and looks immediately for the dog. Without asking, I will show you photos of my own pup. I relate to friends’ stories of newborn babies the only way I know how - you guessed it, through my pet (‘I was lucky, I brought little Vinnie home at eight weeks and he slept through the night from the get go).
Through all the (thousands of) dog photos, the truth is a pet has helped build routine into my life (not an easy task as a freelancer); made sure I put on pants, exercised on the reg and breathed in fresh air; and acted as an icebreaker on many, many occasions. As a shy introvert, this has been kinda wonderful. My dog came at a time when my mental health needed a little bit of attention and, although he’s a complete and utter ratbag at times, he’s helped keep me going. (Despite all this you will not catch me watching a movie about animals, because one of them will inevitably get hurt and however happy the ending is my fragile, dog-loving emotions simply cannot handle it).
Unfortunately, because of some not-nice humans who treat their animals terribly, staffies have developed a bit of a reputation for being aggressive, unfriendly dogs. This couldn’t be farther from the truth - they are absolute sooks who like to sit on your lap and soak up all of the hugs, followed by giving all of the kisses. And so my boyfriend and I like to dance around the kitchen with the dog and sing ‘Vinnie, the friendly staffy’ to the tune of ‘Copacabana’ just so he knows who’s the goodest boy. So, this week is for the animals.
Your assignment: Create a lettering piece that centers around an important animal in your life.
It may simply be their name, lettered beautifully in a style that best suits their personality. It may be a thank you to a certain dog or cat (we don’t discriminate around here) that helped you out. Maybe it’s a tribute to our poor koalas who have suffered so tremendously in the last few months. Or maybe it’s a little note of appreciation to that super cute Bernese Mountain Dog you spot at your local cafe every Saturday.
Don’t forget to use the #HOMwork and #HOMwork2020 hashtags and tag @katepullendraws and @homsweethom when you post your work on Instagram. We’ll be sharing our favorites in our Stories all week!
x Kate and Lauren
P.S. I love my dog so much, I decided to make a whole book about him (and all of the dogs). This is the natural next step, right? Either way, it’s called I Am About to Lick Your Human and it comes out on April 1! It’s 126 pages full of colour, illustrations, dog-lover confessions, things I’ve pulled out of his mouth, doggo bingo, and some interviews with some famous internet canines. A warm and fuzzy ode to the furry creatures we humans simply do not deserve.
