Hi, I'm Kaitlyn Heger. I'm an artist and graphic designer from Philadelphia, currently living in Venice, Los Angeles. You might also know me as Peach, or Peach MoDel, a name I've been using since 2014.

I've been drawing people for as long as I can remember. I especially love people with attitude, whether it's in their clothes, makeup, shoes, or just the way they carry themselves. I've always loved living in cities, partly because there's so much people-watching to do. Philly has no shortage of grit and character, and Venice has its own, slightly more glittery version.

I work in printmaking, painting, and drawing, and my background in graphic design finds its way into pretty much everything I make. I like moving between drawing by hand and working digitally. For my prints, I usually start with a sketch, turn it into a vector design, and use a laser cutter to cut the individual shapes. Then I mix my inks, roll the colors onto the pieces with a brayer, and print them by hand on an etching press, or my clamshell press at home. It's a pretty involved process, but I really enjoy it.

Color is a big deal to me. I tend to remember particular combinations of colors long after I've seen them. Sometimes it's something as ordinary as a candy wrapper, a pencil case from childhood, or the way the sun hits a building. Often, a smell will bring the memory back. I love mixing colors and seeing how they interact with each other, especially in different lighting.

I also like playing around with proportions and hiding things within my images. I'll simplify a figure or exaggerate something about it, and sometimes there's another image tucked into the composition. I like giving people something to notice if they spend a little more time looking.

Peach MoDel actually started as a Tumblr page in 2014. I used it to collect things that inspired me, look at art, and learn more about art history. Eventually, I started posting my own work on Instagram under the same name. I connected with artists around the country, and people started calling me Peach.

The meaning of the name developed over time. Peach has become a way for me to explore femininity and the expectations that come with it. Peach isn't really a character I play, but more of a spirit that runs through the figures I draw. The name is a little tongue-in-cheek. There's the idea that you're supposed to be sweet, attractive, and pleasant to look at, but also the uncomfortable reality that feminine people can be sexualized or treated as something to be consumed without their consent. I like using humor and exaggeration to explore those ideas.

As my work has developed, I've started thinking of Peach more as a character within it than as my own identity. I still love Peach, and that name will always mean something to me, but I'd rather be known as Kaitlyn Heger.

Though if I'm signing something small, I might still write Peach.