Killackey Illustration
LightNews LightNews
banner
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Killackey Illustration
@kjkillackey.bsky.social
4.1K followers 1.6K following 650 posts
Natural science 🐡 & archaeological illustration 🏺 by Kathryn Killackey. NEH-Mellon Foundation Fellow ('23 - '24). Available for freelance #sciart. Lover of #books, #textiles, and absurdities. She/her
www.killackeyillustration.com
Posts Replies Media Videos
kjkillackey.bsky.social
My teen edition, found on my parents’ shelves and guarded fiercely ever since.
My copy of the 1989 paperback edition of “Titus Groan” by Mervyn Peake. The book is well worn, the cover crumbled, the pages foxed. The cover has the author and title in black calligraphic font at the top. Below is a scene looking out over medieval looking stone and half timber houses. A castle with many turrets and crenellated walls looms over them and is wrapped in mist. The colors are predominantly desaturated blues and greens.
February 12, 2026 at 2:17 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
I love when artists subtly break with traditional and show a slightly more naturalistic view once in a while. Like Raymond Harris Ching’s illos in “The Reader’s Digest Book of British Birds”. They’re often left profiles and you can still use them for id but they’re more lifelike positions.
Raymond Harris Ching’s color illustration of a sandwich tern. The bird is sitting on their nest in profile to the left but has their wings raised a bit protectively and their head pointing up like they’re monitoring threats in the sky. The surrounding details are rendered in graphite.
February 9, 2026 at 2:47 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Yeah, it’s a general convention though there are exceptions (like insects are usually top down if only showing one view). It makes cross species comparisons easier. Also, Renaissance lighting + facing right = a lot of well lit butts.
Plate 49 from “Mammals of Europe” by David MacDonald and Priscilla Barrett showing 3 species of dormice, from top to bottom, the edible dormouse, the forest dormouse, and the garden dormouse. Each dormouse is illustrated in color showing their profile facing left. Extra details, such as their tracks and nests, are shown in graphite in the remaining spaces around them.
February 9, 2026 at 2:35 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Me with my crew in 2024:
Black and white photo of Kathryn Killackey standing in a winter field with 3 alpacas and a sheep. Kathryn has chin length hair and is wearing sunglasses, a sweater, and jeans. She has a camera around her neck. There are two alpacas with white wool and one with black. In the background is the town of Tiwanaku and the hills that run behind it.
January 31, 2026 at 10:07 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Blurry coyote going about their business, no time to chat, in SoCal yesterday.
A blurry photo of a large coyote trotting across a street just parallel to a crosswalk. The coyote is moving across the picture frame from right to left with their body in profile but their head is tilted slightly towards the viewer.
January 23, 2026 at 4:24 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Sketching in the new year. My one resolution is to finally fill up this old and mostly empty sketchbook.
Photograph looking down at my left hand holding a pencil and sketching a dock spider in a sketchbook. The sketchbook page already has drawings of an earthworm and a moth but is mostly empty. There is a tattoo of a piece of yarn knotted around my wrist and my nails are painted with black polish.
January 1, 2026 at 5:35 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Christmas book! “The Nature of Fashion” by @carrysomers.bsky.social And look at the beautiful cover design by Kimberly Glyder and cover art by Victoria Villasana! Can’t wait to get started.
#textiles 🧶 #fashionhistory #archaeology 🏺 #botany
Cover of the book “The Nature Of Fashion” by Carry Somers. The cover has a black and white photograph of an agave plant (I think), taken from above and looking straight down. The lower third of the image has been embroidered over with red, lime green, blue, orange, and purple yarn following the outline of and filling in the shape of its leaves. This has created a stripe-y abstract pattern. The ends of the embroidered yarns hang down from the image and tangle around each other on a white background at the bottom of the cover. The book’s title is written in white uppercase font and some of the yarn crosses over them and seems to stitch them down to the photograph.
December 25, 2025 at 8:03 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
I slipped out of the TAG York party last night and found this beauty waiting patiently for me, a little blessing on the proceedings.
A terrible photo of a fox sitting on the side of the road, next to a car park sign.
December 17, 2025 at 9:34 AM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Tiwanaku popping up in surprising places, @aroddick.bsky.social spotted the Gateway of The Sun motifs decorating a treasure chest in “Pirates of the Caribbean” while watching with our sick kid. It makes vague sense as the bulk of Spanish treasure was silver, mined in Potosi, Bolivia.
#archaeology
Screenshot from the film “Pirates of the Caribbean”, showing a fold treasure chest sitting on a pile of gold coins and other treasure. The chest is decorated with Tiwanaku motifs taken from the Gateway of the Sun. The Staff God is repeated four times across the side and boarded by their attendants. A change has been made to the meander like motif along the rim, replacing the Staff God’s face with a skull. Detail screenshot from the film “Pirates of the Caribbean”, showing a closeup of the chest decorated with Tiwanaku motifs taken from the Gateway of the Sun. The Staff God is repeated four times across the side and boarded by their attendants. A photo showing the center of the Gateway of the Sun with the main Staff God carved in high relief. They are flanked on either side by rows of attendants, half with bird heads and half with human heads. The bottom is linked with the meander like motif with the Staff God’s face. A photo showing the left side of the Gateway of the Sun. You can see the rows of flanking attendants, half with bird heads and half with human heads. The bottom is linked with the meander like motif with the Staff God’s face.
November 29, 2025 at 4:21 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
And another coincidence, The illustration @biodivlibrary.bsky.social shared is by Alcide D’Orbigny who also visited and drew Tiwanaku in the 19th century, the Bolivian archaeological site that’s been my focus for the past couple years.
#archaeology
D’Orbigny’s illustration of Tiwanaku, looking east over the site. You can see the Akapana, the Kalasasaya’s pillars, and the foundation of the Putin. A farmer is plowing part of the site a Shepard with their sites nearby.
November 19, 2025 at 11:26 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Hey, it’s #WorldAnteaterDay and I’m coincidentally working on a digital painting of a giant anteater (as well as some relatives).
#SciArt
A crop of a digital painting showing the front half of a giant anteater entering the frame from the left. They are seen in profile to show off their long face to best advantage.
November 19, 2025 at 11:04 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Taking a moment to recognize how lucky I am, someone is paying me to paint sloths.
A screenshot from the Procreate app showing an in-progress painting of a brown-throated slothhanging from three limbs. The head and right arm have some detail blocked in, while the rest of the body is a solid grey-brown fill.
October 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
A major perk of being a science illustrator is constantly learning new things. I recently got to delve into the world of North American mastodons while creating this editorial illo to accompany new research from @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social Ancient DNA Centre.
1/2
#SciArt #paleoart #illustration
An editorial illustration, in portrait layout, summarizing new DNA research into the North American mastodon’s family tree and migration. In the foreground, a mastodon rears up on their hind legs and reaches up with their trunk to grab a branch on a nearby black spruce tree. Some of the surrounding forested wetland landscape, like ones found in Nova Scotia, is loosely painted in. The background darkens to a dark purple grey, with faint silhouettes of black spruce trees. The silhouette of North America in a light desaturated transparent purple is superimposed on this dark background. Ghostly sketches of mastodons roam across the map, some moving towards Canada’s Maritime provinces, and others sweeping up from Alberta to Alaska. A lone mastodon stands in central Mexico.
September 18, 2025 at 3:42 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
The goldenrod and one of the pollinators in question. I think it’s a brown belted bumblebee?
A beautiful and large patch of goldenrod growing along a fence in a parking lot. A bumblebee hanging upside down and collecting nectar from a group of goldenrod flowers. You can see the black dot on it yellow thorax and a brownish stripe on its black abdomen. It is probably a brown belted bumblebee.
September 15, 2025 at 4:32 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Me reading another headline saying “Spending as little as 5 minutes outside with nature improves quality of life”: “yeah, yeah, yeah”

Me tearing myself away from my computer to walk the dog around the neighborhood and spotting a large clump of goldenrod with pollinators buzzing:
September 15, 2025 at 4:27 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Some tickets make use of both sides, the Madison et Jardins Claude Monet ticket suggests other cultural and historic places to visit nearby and the DC Tourmobile has its route mapped with all the attractions. The beautiful Predjama Castle ticket becomes a postcard after use.
Front and backs of paper entry tickets to the Madison et Jardins Claude Monet (from ~1992) and the Washington, DC Tourmobile (from ~1988). The back of the Madison et Jardins Claude Monet ticket suggests other cultural and historic places to visit, outlining a Normandy-Vexin tourist route. The DC Tourmobile has its route with all the attractions on the back. The tickets are all printed on colored paper (yellow or pink for the Monet and yellow or blue for the DC) with black ink. The beautiful Predjama Castle ticket becomes a postcard after use. The front has a detailed pen drawing of the castle printed in sepia, cream, and white. The back has the standard postcard layout, an area for writing on the left and for the stamp and address on the right.
August 11, 2025 at 2:58 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
My life-long compulsion to save every scrap of paper that crosses my path is finally paying off, I’ve just found a stash of other paper objects w/ outreach potential!

Such as entrytickets w/ imagery that can serve as souvenirs (places & approx. date visited in alt text)
🏺 #archaeology 🐡 #SciArt
A collection of entry tickets to museums and historical sites, including the Château de Chenonceau (from ~1996), the Athens Acropolis (from ~2001), the Sheldonian Theatre (from ~ 1987), Tiwanaku (from ~ 2024), a combo ticket for 5 churches in Verona (from ~ 1997), the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations (from ~ 1999) and the United States Capital (from ~ 1988).
August 11, 2025 at 2:58 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Here's one of my old graphite drawings of outdoor spaces at Çatalhöyük showing a stamp seal being used on bread. If I remember correctly, the idea was to show them as more of a maker's mark but I love the idea of a decorative border instead.

#archaeology 🏺 #SciArt 🐡
graphite sketch of an outdoor space at Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic site in Turkey. One woman is pounding something in a large wooden mortar, another is sliding a piece of flatbread on a stone into a large mudbrick oven. A stampseal, a bowl of bread dough, and some stretched out pieces of dough sit on an animal hide near her. The stretched dough has stamp seal impressions. Two children entertain a baby lying in a coiled basket. In the background, a man works on making and stringing some beads near a dung fire and another person is passing by. Detail crop of the previous image, showing a woman sliding a piece of flatbread on a stone into a large mudbrick oven. A stampseal, a bowl of bread dough, and some stretched out pieces of dough ready for the fire sit on an animal hide near her. The stretched dough has stamp seal impressions.
July 29, 2025 at 3:05 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
This is may sound weird/morbid, but I encourage my brother to send me photos of dead animals, roadkill or sometimes dead of unknown causes that he spots mountain biking. They make good #SciArt drawing references!

Anyway, he sent me this one yesterday.
A squirrel stuffed animal, lying on its side and abandoned on some dry grass.
July 17, 2025 at 3:28 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Part of the interior with more, very tiny, handaxes…I think I purchased this at the BM during my MA.
An illustrated timeline of the Pleistocene in Britain. It includes information on climate, archaeological sites, Homo species and their associated stone tool technologies.
July 16, 2025 at 7:29 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Adding isometric coloring books to my collection of simple paper outreach products and ideas, such as these trading cards (made by the Science Museum of Minnesota for Çatalhöyük), paper model postcards, and foldout timelines. Also thinking about pop up books & paper dolls.
#SciArt 🐡 #archaeology 🏺
A collection of paper products for archaeological education and outreach. On the left are several cards fanned out. The cards are in a comic book trading card style, each with a picture of an artifact from Çatalhöyük and a brightly colored border. On the right are 3 postcards from Paris, France that can be cut up to create paper models of famous architecture. The top card is for Notre-Dame. A thin booklet, titled “The British Time Scale: Half a million years illustrated”, is in the center.
July 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Finding a view point that showed what we needed took some time. Looking over the river towards site did this best. I'd love to fully develop an image of people washing up & primping before making a big entrance. There's hints here, this guy has pulled out his best tunic & is tying his shoes.
6/9
A crop of the illustration described in the first post of this thread, focusing on a man a little past the river bank. He has crouched down to put on his shoes. He already dressed himself in hide leggings and a long sleeve tunic with a red ochre strip and white disk beads from the shoulder to cuff. He has a large basket on his back with a chest strap. He is balding and has shoulder length grey hair and a beard.
July 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
We’ve also included other details such as a necklace made from boar’s teeth collected during a previous hunt and a red deer antler, another type of faunal material found along with the boar crania deposit (the source of the long distance transport data).
5/9
A crop of the illustration described in the first post of this thread, focusing on one of the two foreground hunters carrying a field-dressed wild boar between them on a pole. He is dressed in a hide loincloth and has set down his spear and basket behind him so he can better lift the boar up the bank. He wears a necklace of boar tusks perforated at both ends his loincloth has red deer fur trim. A crop of the illustration described in the first post of this thread, focusing on the man with his hide clothing bundled his head as he crosses the river. He also has a hide bag on his back with a red deer antler strapped to it. He has a disk bead necklace and bone ring. His dark brown curly hair is gathered in a ponytail.
July 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
We looked at other sites for inspo & settled on a flat roof for the communal building and more impermanent materials for the domestic structures. These are only seen in the background & could easily have been the subject of their own illos showing all the possibilities & #uncertainty.
4/9
A crop of the illustration described in the first post of this thread, focusing on the small hide and pole buildings on top of the slope. The have open entries where hid flaps have been tied back and a hole in their roofs for smoke to exit. People are preparing food around them.
July 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
This meant peppering the researchers w/ questions about seasonality, vegetation, material culture, etc, etc. Asiab’s structures were one sticking point as most of the Neolithic surface has deflated & only the floors and pisé foundations of the semi-subterranean communal building remained.
3/9
A crop of the illustration described in the first post of this thread, focusing on the large communal structure on top of the slope. The structure is circular and made of rammed earth. It stands about 2 meters tall and has a thatched rood topped with earth. In front, There is a group of residents greeting the newcomers and other groups roasting a boar over a fire and preparing other foods.
July 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM