Meet Katlego Motaung

We were lucky to catch up with Katlego Motaung recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Katlego, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I think I get it from my up-bringing and the constant desire to one-up myself in my craft. No matter how big or small the work/project, I try to deliver the best version of it. I feel like it stems from the need of having my work being able to speak for me if I’m not in the room to speak for myself.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Greetings to you all \(^-^)

I’m an Illustrator and comic artist.
I go by the pen name Deadkatbarks.

I was always obsessed with drawing as a kid.
This inevitably led me into studying Multimedia Design at the University of Johannesburg.

After graduating, I started working in the world of advertising via motion graphics and storyboarding. My obsession and passion was always on the illustrative side of things.
After about 6-7 years I decided to focus on putting more of my character illustration work online,
and after some time people starting contacting me for freelance & commissioned work.

In the beginning I was a bit hesitant in taking on comic book illustration work from clients, because I felt character art was more of my ‘bag’. I usually did short comic illustrations for personal projects as a means of practicing storytelling in a more deliberate manner. Trying to develop the psychological stamina required for comics.

Admittedly, comic illustration was something I felt like I was avoiding, and would only attempt once I felt like I had developed an aptitude for them. I was mainly focused on trying to create a visual language and stylistic approach for African fantasy/dark fantasy for an eventual personal project.

But on one fateful day an old buddy of mine from my university days called me up with one the most enticing ideas for a narrative that he had crafted. It was good enough to make me toss my hesitation to work on a full blown comic project to the side. That project was called Mount Olympus, by Menzi Mzimela.

This comic project would be the catalyst that would lead me to working with other passionate storytellers seeking to excite people in irregular and fun ways.

All of this would then lead to working on the Imbokodo comic. Created by the awesome folks at Nguniverse Studios, with writers Thabo Rametsi (film-maker) & Thabiso Mabanna, and published by the awesome folks at Dark Horse Comics. It’s an Afrofuturistic narrative touching on the brutality of war. It takes place 1000 years after the great war of the Badimu (Gods). We embark on a journey with the land’s elite warriors. The Imbokodo. They march against the clock of impending war in search of missing girls from villages left in the wake of bloody carnage upon their mysterious disappearance.

Book 1 is already out, with more on the way ^^

The thing that really excites me about this artistic field is the process of giving shape to what was initially an intangible idea. And finding irregular paths of creative expression that excite me as an artist, as well as the audience.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

It would have to be
1) Thinking of focused practice as a means of finding solutions to problems you have yet to encounter.

2)Not having an ego when it comes to collaborative efforts. Being open to listening to constructive critique can inspire you to approach a project in way that will surprise you, as well earn people’s trust (even to the extent of being willing to take suggestions you propose). I feel that this promotes more flexible thinking and growth.

3)Being willing to fail with grace. Because it too is an opportunity to learn what you can get better at. You learn your own limits, and subsequently what you’re good at.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

Noticing my growing obsession with drawing. The moment my mother noticed this and she started getting me access to drawing materials. I felt like she afforded me the crucial opportunity to simply be, and have room to develop something I clearly derived some form of joy and purpose in.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://seven-on-kat-art.artstation.com/
• Instagram: @deadkatbarks
• Twitter: @7OnKat
• Other: Imbokodo Comic
  https://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/3012-675/Imbokodo-1

  Illustration prints
  https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/7onkat/