Killackey Illustration
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kjkillackey.bsky.social
Killackey Illustration
@kjkillackey.bsky.social
3.8K followers 1.4K following 540 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
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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.
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#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
kjkillackey.bsky.social
This was A LOT of archaeological research to synthesize into one #visualization. The focus of the research and the image was the long distance transport and its implications for communal gatherings but I also needed to create a complete scene.
2/9
A crop of the illustration described in the first post of this thread, focusing on two of the foreground hunters forging a river and climbing up onto the banks. The two men carry a field-dressed wild boar between them on a pole. They are dressed in hide loincloths and carry bows or spears. One wears a necklace of boar tusks perforated at both ends. The other has a red ochre zig-zag and wip stitch edging his loincloth.
July 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
A new piece, my recent illo depicting long distance transport of wild boars to Asiab in the early Iranian #Neolithic. I’ve reposted a couple articles featuring the illustration but here’s the whole image and some detail crops.
#archaeology 🏺 #SciArt 🐡
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A reconstruction illustration (by Kathryn Killackey) showing groups of hunters approaching Asiab, an early Neolithic site in Iran. In the foreground, one ground is forging a river and climbing up onto the banks. Two men carry a field-dressed wild boar between them on a pole. Another man has his hide clothing bundled and is carrying them on his head. He also has a hide bag on his back with a red deer antler strapped to it. The hunters exiting the river are dressed in hide loincloths and carry bows or spears. One wears a necklace of boar tusks perforated at both ends. The rest of this group has already crossed and dressed themselves in hide leggings, tunics, and shoes. They carry an assortment of baskets and bags on their backs, one with another boar's head attached. Their tunics and legging have decorative detailing with red ochre and small disk beads. They are walking up a slope towards the settlement at the top. A group stands at the top of the slope, greeting the new comers. Behind them is a large rammed earth circular building with a flat thatch roof. There are also clusters of smaller circular structures made of poles and hide, some with wood shade shelters attached. Groups of people are busy preparing food, including cooking another boar, for a feast. Children and dogs are running about. Another group of hunters are also seen arriving in the midground, entering the image from the right side. The landscape is covered in a mix of grass, wild pistacio and almond trees. There are sedges along the river banks. This vegetation is dry and yellowing, indicating autumn. You can see mountains in the background and vultures following air currents in the distance.
July 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
The dog figured out we were leaving about 24 hours before our exit and subjected us to this look for the rest of the time. Oh the shame. How could we be so cruel?
Large black and white dog shitting by a window and looking at the camera. She looks very pitiful. Close up of the head of the large black and white dog shitting by a window and looking at the camera. She looks very pitiful. Her gaze screams “how can you do this to me?”.
June 28, 2025 at 4:13 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
You can find more information about the edited volume here:

www.berghahnbooks.com/title/Collin...

3/3
Detail crop of the cover painting showing the younger woman's head. She is seen in profile, glancing over her left shoulder. Her braided hair is swept forward over her right shoulder to clear her back for painting. She wears several disk bead necklaces and a coiled basketry cap. Detail crop of the cover painting showing the older woman's head and upper back. She has her braided hair twisted into a knot at the nape of her neck and a single strand of disk beads around her neck. Detail crop of the cover painting showing the younger woman's bare feet, seen from the back.
June 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Drawing on Upper Paleolithic research in Germany's Swabian Jura, I’ve depicted two women in the middle of getting dressed up for an important event, with details taken from bead, pigment, and figurine evidence, as well as our current understanding of their textile technologies.

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Detail crop of the cover painting showing the older woman's back with her beaded bandeau and body paint designs of red stripes and black dots and zigzags on a white paint background. Detail crop of the cover painting showing the older woman's right forearm and hand, with pointer finger extended, in the act of finger painting a red zigzag onto the younger woman's back. Detail crop of the cover painting showing the younger woman's right forearm and hand hanging down and grasping her bandeau. She has two bone bead and braided string bracelets around her wrist.
June 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
“Culturing the Body: Past Perspectives on Identity and Sociality” came out last year and I had the honor of painting the cover image. The volume is edited by Benjamin Collins and April Nowell, with a forward by
@rajoyce.bsky.social

#SciArt 🐡 #Archaeology 🏺 #textiles 🧶 #FashionHistory 🪡

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A painting of two women on a white background. The younger woman stands with her back to the viewer with her face turned to look over her left shoulder and her hair swept out of the way over her right shoulder. The second, older, woman is seen from behind in three quarter view. She is standing to the first woman’s left and in the process of painting a red zigzag line across the younger woman’s back, which has already been covered in white body paint. Both women are wearing string skirts with twined woven waist bands decorated with double perforation bone beads. Their upper bodies are covered in white, black, and red paint in a series of stripes, dots, and zigzags. They both are wearing coiled basketry caps and have necklaces and bracelets of disk and animal teeth beads. They both have darker skin and hair, though the older woman is greying. Both their hair is braided into many small braids; the younger woman has her braids hanging down, while the older woman has hers twisted into an intricate knot at the nape of her neck. The older woman wears a twined woven bandeau that wraps around high on her chest and has a strap over each shoulder. The younger woman holds her bandeau in her right hand as she waits for her body paint to be finished. Both bandeaus are embellished with beads. The cover of “Culturing the Body: Past Perspectives on Identity and Sociality”. The cover shows my painting taking up about half of the vertical space with one woman’s head overlapping the large white uppercase letters of “Culturing the Body”. The subtitle is in smaller black text and the editors’ names are below the women’s feet in white. It is all on a desaturated teal background.
June 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
A blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) from 2012, painted in gouache. I need to get back into the gouache game, I haven't used it for a while.

#SciArt 🐡 #birds #birdsky 🪶 #illustration
A gouache painting of a blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata). The bird is portrayed in a perched position, from the side and facing to the left.
June 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Like 50% of Nevada would be for sale! Most of the land around Flagstaff, AZ, for sale! Including portions of the San Francisco Peaks and surrounding area, which are sacred to several Native American tribes!
Screenshot of a map showing the state of Nevada. At least 59% of it’s area is overlaid with green fill, denoting USFS land, and yellow fill, denoting BLM, land that would be available for sale with the Senate Reconciliation Bill. Screenshot of a map showing Flagstaff, AZ and surrounding land. Large areas are overlaid with green fill, denoting USFS land, and yellow fill, denoting BLM, land that would be available for sale with the Senate Reconciliation Bill.
June 17, 2025 at 2:25 AM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
In the areas I know well in Southern California, this includes a large chunk of the San Gabriel Mountains and all the area around Big Bear…
Screenshot of a map showing the land north and the greater Los Angeles area. This includes much of the San Gabriel Mountains which border San Fernando, La Cañada, Pasadena, etc. Large areas are overlaid with green fill, denoting USFS land, and yellow fill, denoting BLM, land that would be available for sale with the Senate Reconciliation Bill. Screenshot of a map showing the land north and east of Riverside, CA. This includes the popular ski and wilderness area around Big Bear Lake. Large areas are overlaid with green fill, denoting USFS land, and yellow fill, denoting BLM, land that would be available for sale with the Senate Reconciliation Bill.
June 17, 2025 at 2:25 AM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Just in case you need a sign for tomorrow! Feel free to download and print (for non-commercial use). High-res version here:

www.killackeyillustration.com/s/no_kings_p...

#NoKings
An image of a crumpled child's gold foil and cardboard crown sitting on a melting block of ice. The crown has shed some decorative orange and pink pompoms, which are floating in the melted ice water puddle. Part of the puddle pools into letters that spell "No Kings".
June 13, 2025 at 9:23 PM
kjkillackey.bsky.social
Here’s my parents’ mix on the right. She was wonderfully sweet and smart, came with a stump of a tail. Ideal dog. Their full Aussie is on the left.
A hand holds up a color photo of two dogs sitting on a balcony. The dog on the left is a red tri Aussie and the dog on the right is an Aussie/spaniel mix. She was s mostly liver colored with a while chest, paws, and snout.
June 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM