Kate Adams is a scratchboard fine artist and illustrator based in the U.S. Her work is inspired by history, myth, and storytelling. With each piece she aims to breathe life into her characters, using imagery and emotion to resonate with viewers. She has created illustrations for books, games, and package design, as well as producing work for her personal collection titled “Nocturne,” which depicts characters and scenes from an original narrative.

Each one of Kate’s illustrations is etched in scratchboard. This is a black board that is scraped away with a knife to reveal the white layer underneath. It’s a traditional technique that allows for subtle shifts of value, and a brilliant quality of light. Kate has worked exclusively in scratchboard ever since she first discovered it at The Rhode Island School of Design, where she received a BFA in Illustration and a minor in English.

Her work has appeared in Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, the 16th International ARC Salon publications and exhibition, as well as magazines such as Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design, with her “Lockwood & Co.” illustrations also being featured in CQ’s 100 Best Annual book in 2014. She was also recently chosen as a finalist in the Traditional Art category of the 2023 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize.