abouT

Hi! I'm Kim Witte (pronounced Witty), the artist behind Witte Artistry. I grew up in Rockton, Illinois, and now call Madison, Wisconsin home.

Ever since I was little, I was completely obsessed with monsters, Halloween, and anything macabre. I had a collection of notebooks I called my "monster spirals." Every creature I designed had its own name, origin story, powers, and personality. My love of character creation only continued to grow from there, and looking back, I think those notebooks were the beginning of my journey as a creature artist.

My love of creating started even earlier, spending countless hours making crafts with my mom, grandma, aunt, and friends in our basement craft room. I also grew up adoring '80s monster movies, creature effects, and practical makeup, long before I realized people could build those creations for a living. Movies like Gremlins, Terminator 2, and Aliens had a chokehold on me and honestly, they still do.

Everything changed when I discovered the Syfy competition show Face Off in high school. I remember thinking, "This is a job?! That's what I want to do!" Being from a small town in Illinois, there wasn't much of a special effects industry around me, so I turned to YouTube, books, and an enormous amount of trial and error. I started with body painting because the materials were affordable and accessible, then expanded into sculpting, molding, and fabrication while taking art classes in college.

In 2015, I founded Witte Artistry, and it has continued to grow and evolve right alongside me. What began as a special effects makeup business has expanded to include my other creative passions: traditional painting and drawing, face painting, prop fabrication, and body art. I even fulfilled my childhood dream of selling my art at art fairs! In 2026, I rebranded the children's entertainment side of my business as Witty Kitty Face Painting, giving Witte Artistry the freedom to fully embrace the spooky, creature-filled work that inspired it from the very beginning.

Today, I'm fortunate enough to make a living making monsters and making smiles. I've created special effects makeup for films and video games, sculpted and fabricated props for haunted attractions and the entertainment industry, transformed myself into everything from aliens to piles of food through body painting, painted thousands of faces at festivals and private events, and created custom artwork for clients around the world.

No matter the medium, my favorite part of every project is the same: bringing imagination to life.