Faces of makeup artist Kim Witte on display at Whitewater Cultural Arts Center

By Kim McDarison

When Kim Witte, a Rockton, Ill., native and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater graduate, was in her teens, she saw an American reality TV game show called “Face Off.” 

The show aired on the Syfy cable network channel between 2011 and 2018, according to information presented online. 

Witte said the show, which showcased special effects makeup artists, captured her imagination, adding: “I didn’t realize that was a job, so I got a body paint palette and started painting on my face.”

As a child, she and her neighbors often shared time drawing together, collecting their creations, which often were characters they created, and writing about their attributes in notebooks. 

“I had monster spirals,” she said, adding that collecting characters in notebooks remains a focus: “I’ve done that the entirety of my life.”  

Armed with her body paint palette, she began practicing, using herself as a model, in front of the bathroom mirror. After she finished painting herself, she said, she would take a photo of her creation and share it with her neighbors. 

By the time she arrived on the UW-Whitewater campus, she and her roommate would bravely bring the characters outside for public viewing. 

Witte said she would transform herself or her roommate into a character and they would walk around campus, attend an event or go together for ice cream. 

Art, in several of its forms, was already in her mind as an idea for a professional career, she said, adding that when she arrived on campus, she considered two professional paths: art or a career in the medical profession. 

After exploring classes in both disciplines, she said, she determined that working in the medical field would be more stressful than she might like, and devoted herself to art. Witte graduated in 2016 with an art degree. She also had a minor, which, she said, was formed using a program on campus that allowed students to create a major. In Witte’s case, the artist said, she chose to pursue an already established art major — exposing her to painting, drawing and sculpting — and a minor of her own configuration, which focused on forming a business and developing skills as a social media marketer. 

Artist and marketer 

Witte described the art and business-related classes she took in college as “critical” in the development of her niche-market business. 

She formed Witte Artistry, LLC, in 2016. 

In the beginning, she said, the business “leaned heavily” on special effects makeup,  but she soon found herself “branching out.” Today, she makes tutorial videos about special effects makeup application and sells photos and prints of herself in character. She also creates acrylic paintings, does commissioned work for clients who are looking for something more specific, performs face-painting services at events and parties, and serves as a guest speaker at various events. More recently, she published a cookbook which is available through amazon.com. 

Describing her business, she said, “it’s not just one thing.”  

Creating a business based on her skills was an idea she crafted while in college, she said.

Witte said her goal was to work at something she really enjoyed as opposed to a standard 9-5 job which might not have offered her a chance to use her skills and grow. 

Starting a business didn’t mean putting in less time at work, she said. A 12-14 hour day, with some character transformations taking as many as eight hours, was not unusual.  

Witte noted that she makes much of her online content herself through use of phones purchased for their quality cameras and a tripod. 

She often uses herself as a model. 

Witte said she also transforms other people into creatures. Both concepts come with pros and cons.  

“With myself, I’m always available, and I know when I’m going to sneeze or twitch. I can hold still for a long time,” she said, adding that a downside is that there are some spots she needs to paint that she cannot easily see. 

On the other hand, she said, models can sometimes be “twitchy,” and they might not be able to hold still for long, but she can see her human canvas more clearly.  

Sharing tips about social media marketing, Witte said she thinks of the platforms as opportunities to “build communities” rather than to “attract followers.” 

The distinction, she said, comes in the manner in which one connects with other individuals using the platforms.  

When building communities, Witte said she presents herself as “an authentic human,” and finds that people who visit her sites and engage with her online content tend to be people who like her as a person, and like what’s she’s doing. 

Through those associations, ideas are generated, and community members seek to engage her professionally to explore her skills. 

Through the various platforms, she said, she has been able to engage with people who sell products, or see that she has a skill set that can be helpful in something they might be building. The contacts have led her to build an affiliate network of products, she said, and also meet people who commission works of art. She also has been hired to attend events using her face-painting skill, and as her skill set is shared online, and her communities became more populated, she is able to make advertising revenue from companies that want to advertise using her content. 

Going viral 

Along with building communities, Witte noted that some of her content has gone viral. 

She calculates “virality” on each platform differently, she said. 

She considers a YouTube video as viral when it achieves 300,000 views. In 2017, she made a series of videos where she transformed herself into each of the characters from the Pixar animation movie “Coco.” Most of those videos each received about 500,000 views, she said.  

Describing YouTube videos, she said: “I call them my honey bees, bringing back pollen to make the hive stronger.” 

A viral video on the TikTok platform is more likely to reach a view count well into the millions, she said, noting that in 2019, she made a series of nine videos, with each one featuring herself as a cat. 

“I turned myself into a lynx, tiger, cheetah, leopard, the ‘Cheshire Cat,’ and each of the videos received between 26 million and 36 million views,” she said, adding that the difference in viewership between TikTok and YouTube is somewhat attributed to the purpose and time commitments viewers must make to each video. TikTok is entertainment-based, she said. Videos are shorter, and not educational like tutorials, which tend to attract a more specialized audience and are longer.  

Overall, she said, content must keep “optimizing the search engines” and then a “network that makes affiliate money, or ad money, or brings leads” is built. 

“The platforms now offer pay-per-view options. I build a fanbase, which gives value, and it becomes a big network,” she said, further describing the process as building a “niche audience.” 

Between 2016 and 2021, Witte said she posted a tutorial every Saturday. Today, she has hundreds of videos available on social media platforms for viewing. 

Several of the videos are available in February and March for viewing on a big screen set up in the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center run by the Whitewater Arts Alliance. The video presentation is part of the artist’s first solo art exhibit, and features, along with the videos, 34 pieces of artwork, including paintings made by Witte and photographs of her transformed into various creatures. 

Witte said her tutorials feature a “healthy mix” of characters from books and movies, and some of her own creation or they are a creative interpretation of a character that already exists. Some works feature an individual body part, like an arm, and are creative interpretations of a concept, she said. 

When working with acrylic paints, Witte said she likes to paint on wood. 

Witte said she also has been asked to speak at business conferences and to school children about such topics as special effects makeup, building a business, and social media marketing.  

Making a cookbook 

Among her newest endeavors, Witte talked about the events which led to her development of a cookbook. 

The idea evolved on the internet, she said. 

In 2020, Witte said, she became more active with her interest in cooking. She described herself as a good cook, but only a fair baker. She began organizing baking sessions with her sister-in-law and posting videos, sharing the ingredients of a recipe and taste-testing the finished products.  In time, she said, she built a community around food, and people were telling her she should make a cookbook and share the recipes she was sharing in videos. 

The book, titled: “Noodles and Doodles,” was independently published in August, according to its description on amazon.com, and features 115 pages of “eclectic cooking experiences with Kim Witte.” 

According to the Amazon description, the book brings the reader an array of experiences, “from American favorites to Peruvian and Italian inspired delights, Kim expands her exploration of food by pushing the boundaries of flavor. Using her deep understanding of seasoning and flavor layering, she has developed a variety of unique entrèes to pique your interest and your appetite.” 

The book is complete with “fun doodles by the artist,” the description notes. 

Looking ahead

As she continues to grow her business, Witte said she would like to make more content revolving around advocacy for positive mental health, food, and recipes.

She also plans to continue her video adventures through special effects makeup and tutorials, and creating acrylic works of art. 

As the owner of a time-intensive business, she has come to reevaluate her work-life balance, she said, working on what she described as a “less regimented timetable.” 

The changes have allowed her to tap more deeply into her creativity and produce work faster, she said. 

Witte also has become involved with a second company which makes cosplay shoes that look like hooves, she said. 

During a reception held Friday at the Cultural Arts Center, Witte said she felt well-received by the visitors who came to meet her.  

Comments were very positive, she said, noting that she sometimes worries that her work could be considered pretentious: “I mean do people want to hang pictures of me on their walls?” 

She found that people do enjoy the prints and make purchases. She described her solo show as a unique, new, fun experience, and the people she met at the reception as confidence-builders. 

Always looking for new horizons, she said, her next exploration will involve venturing onto the art fair circuit. 

Witte’s solo exhibit will be available for viewing at the Cultural Arts Center through March 26. 

For more information, including hours when the gallery is open, visit the Whitewater Arts Alliance website: https://www.whitewaterarts.org. 

To learn more about Witte, visit her website: https://www.witteartistry.com/my-links/.

Information about the cookbook written by Witte is here: https://amzn.to/3CEl2hF.