CR 061: Karmann Sloane on the Art of Bringing Music to Life
The graphic artist known as Sketchy Goat discusses her work with some of music’s biggest names.
Karmann Sloane, who produces work under the name Sketchy Goat, is only a few years into her career. But what a career she’s had so far. Her colorful, psychedelic designs can be seen on merch, posters, drumheads, and album covers for some of music’s biggest acts, including Heart, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Billy Idol, Alice in Chains, Cyndi Lauper, and Mavis Staples. In fact, her very first client happened to be one of her favorite bands.
“It was the Smashing Pumpkins,” Sloane says. “No pressure. [Laughs] The Smashing Pumpkins’ admin is really wonderful, and she has a great eye for looking at fans drawing stuff online. I had done this psychedelic portrait of Billy [Corgan, lead singer] and it turned out they were putting together a psychedelic time capsule for the album Gish. The timing was perfect. They reached out to me and were like, ‘We want something in this style. Can you meet this deadline?’ And the answer is always ‘yes,’ for every deadline. It took off from there.”
I recently chatted with Sloane about her biggest professional challenge, the artists she’d love to work with, and what it was like to be signed by Heart’s Nancy Wilson to her artist management company.
SANDRA EBEJER: Your work is incredible. When did you begin making art? Was this something you did as a child? Did you go to school to study art?
KARMANN SLOANE: I’ve been doing art ever since I was a little kid. I’d just be drawing all the time. I was obsessed with watching [how-to videos]. I loved cartoon movies, but I loved watching how the 101 dalmatians were drawn. You know, how things were made. I just wanted to emulate that as much as possible. I went to college to minor in graphic design, and my graphic design professor said I would never do this professionally because I wasn’t clean enough. That was right around the time I started getting hired by a lot of the clients I’ve worked with.
How did you come up with the name Sketchy Goat?
I was trying to come up with something catchy. I love goats. I was really into this sanctuary called Goats of Anarchy online. I loved watching all the work they did with animals. And I just thought, “Oh. Sketchy, goat. They kind of go together.”
Did you know that you wanted to create art for musicians, or did that happen organically over time?
It happened organically. In 2020, I was determined to draw one thing every day to keep my sanity. And that ended up being a lot of what I was listening to. What you saw was my playlist, and that worked out because everyone was at home, too. So being able to have people’s attention online, organically, was huge in creating this foundation.
Much of your work has a psychedelic look to it, but it’s still very much your own. How did you develop your style?
Trial and error. A lot of drawing at least one thing every day and having people go, “That looks really cool, but I can’t read it.” Working on legibility and clarity. Seeing a bunch of artists online that I love, that I get inspired by. It just kind of came together. I think it’s still developing. I look at drawings from a year ago and cringe, but it’s an appreciative cringe. It’s constantly evolving.
How do you go about getting clients? Do you pitch or do you get commissioned?
It’s a mix. Sometimes it’s fan art. It’s a lot of continuously drawing the person, or trying to find a release that’s just happened and promoting that. Someone will see it and go, “We’ll take that.” Or having a merch company reach out and go, “We need this by this time.” And then there are cases where my manager and I will reach out and go, “Hey, we’re available. We would love to work with you.”
You’ve worked on projects for a wide variety of musicians, from “Weird Al” Yankovic to Alice in Chains. What is the process to ensure the work you create aligns with what they want?
Being a fan helps. I like to consider myself a professional fan for all of these artists. I’ve been turned on to new music just by working for certain folks, and it all starts with listening to the music or the project that they’re doing, trying to connect that somehow to my creativity and be inspired by that. And I think it comes from just being really honest about what I think that represents to me, how I feel that should be interpreted. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but I always try to turn in something I could stand behind, even if it didn’t have Weird Al’s name on it or Alice in Chains’ name on it.
How involved are the artists in the creative process? Do you revise the artwork based on their feedback?
Yeah. Certain artists are much more hands-on than others. Working with Nancy Wilson, for example. We’re really collaborative. She loves psychedelia, but she has ideas for soft touches and things that are really pretty. It’s definitely an exchange of ideas that comes to a final product. I love when bands take a hands-on approach. The Smashing Pumpkins are a lot like that, too. It’s so cool to see everyone’s artsy side come out.
Are there any projects that stick out in your mind, either because they were incredibly fun or incredibly challenging?
All of them. Really, all of them bring something new to the table. But I think one of the biggest challenges I’ve had are deadlines. A lot of stuff I do, people would be really shocked at how fast it comes together. Sean [Kinney]’s drumheads from Alice in Chains, for example. We did, I think, seven for the 2023 tour. I was really eager to do it. He’s a blast to work with. He has a wonderful eye for art. But I think everything came together in four days. That was high pressure. And I’ve had certain projects like that before where it all has to be done right now, as fast as possible.
Do you ever have creative blocks? Are there ever moments where it’s just not coming together in the way that you’d hoped?
Oh, all the time. And that burnout really hits, especially, when you do a project like that that’s [completed] very quickly and then it’s over, and you’re left in limbo. I remember at the beginning of last year, after the holidays—things are kind of dead, there’s not a ton of art commissions going on—it felt too quiet, and I didn’t know what to do. I went to a Tool show and seeing that really sparked something. It brought every feeling of creativity back. The visuals were beautiful. There were no phones allowed, so it was just focusing on the imagery. And I’ve learned to cope with blocks that way. I’ll find something that inspires me and just inundate myself with it, and it comes back pretty naturally from there.
It seems as though the field you’re in is very male dominated. Have you found that it’s been welcoming to you as a young woman, or do you feel like you’re having to break through more blocks to get noticed and respected?
I completely agree with what you’re saying. It is a very male-dominated industry. There’s so many amazing women who do this, Art of Hazmat [Carin Hazmat] being one of my favorites. It’s mostly men who do this, but Art of Hazmat, WolfSkullJack [Michelle KamMei Harvey] do amazing concert posters for Metallica and A Perfect Circle, the list goes on. But everyone’s been extremely friendly to me and very kind and welcoming. So for all that it is male dominated, I do find it a warm place.
Alice in Chains, especially, is a great example of a very dude band, dude fans, [that] sets the bar for how I feel I should be treated professionally and personally. They’re very nice and very warm and very professional. And those kinds of relationships I appreciate, because it shows what you should and shouldn’t put up with. I found everyone to be extremely professional and not tolerating people being mean. All around I think people in this business just want to be polite, want to get through it, want to make something cool and that really translates.
That’s really nice to hear. Who are some of your influences? Who do you go to when you need some inspiration?
Oh, gosh. I’ve loved Shepard Fairey since he existed, pretty much. Anything he does is riveting. There’s so many. Any kind of old-school posters, like psychedelic posters—The Doors or Jefferson Airplane. Sometimes I’ll spend hours looking through those. Honestly, a lot of Headbangers Ball reruns. I love the art and the flashiness of everything. Watching Rob Zombie paint their background was huge. Just anything bright and colorful. A lot of really trippy movies. A really weird thing I’ve started to do is I’ll just buy flowers and look at the colors and try and draw them. I’ve noticed that ends up spiraling to shapes or ideas or concepts. Basically, I’ve taken it upon myself to not get creative blocks as much as I possibly can.
Are there any musicians that you haven’t worked with yet that you’d love to work with?
All of them. I tell my manager, anyone and everyone is who I want to work with. A dream would be the Eagles. I would love to do something with them. There are some amazing artists that they’ve had do stuff for their Sphere residency [in Las Vegas], and it’s so beautiful. So definitely them or Joe Walsh are on the top of the list.
Is there anything you haven’t done yet in terms of the products that you make or the art that you do that you would like to try?
Yeah, actually. I’ve always wanted to wrap someone’s drum kit. So that’s basically when, if you’ve seen Danny Carey’s kit from Tool, every drum is hand painted or has a design on it, and it’s a cohesive element. The thought of doing something on anyone’s drum kit, where there’s so much movement and a lot of weird sounds that come from the different aspects of it, a lot of moving pieces—I would love to design and wrap anyone’s drum kit.
You were recently signed to Roadcase Management, which was founded by Nancy Wilson of Heart. She is an absolute legend, as far as I’m concerned. How was it for you to be signed to her company?
It was amazing. I didn’t know what to expect because I’ve never seen a graphic artist be managed before. And when we were talking about it, this seemed new for them, too. This is a different venture, and we went into it together. We’re always communicating. I love the collaboration in it. I don’t feel like there’s a bunch of people over me. It’s so collaborative. It’s always a conversation and watching it go from the planning process to then it’s happening and it’s out there in the world. I know the work that Nancy and the team put into it. It’s years of behind-the-scenes effort and having an idea that she wants to stick up for women or for young people who might not know how to navigate this.
Do you have any advice for those who might want to follow in your footsteps?
Draw every day and don’t listen to anyone who says otherwise. I think Tom Morello coined the term “putting in 10,000 hours into what you’re passionate about” and that is so true. It might not be instant. Definitely don’t listen to the trends. Just continue to do it and find a way to put it out in the world by any means necessary.
To learn more about Karmann Sloane, visit her website.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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