In his technique, he places decreasing focus on producing entirely representational, realistic art to create a more naturalistic appearance of his subjects. He adds extra texture and shading to his presentation of a face to create a slightly two-dimensional image. When he paints live studies, the first and second days are spent painting the individual’s form as is. The third and subsequent days are about adjusting the work to convey the relaxation or energy of the subject.
He has also made shifts in his choice of materials. When Kateete first arrived in Kenya, the acrylic paints that he found were thin and dried too quickly for him to make changes to a painting. Their quality, however, increased in the market in the early 2000s and he found them preferable and safer to use than oil paints. For mosaics, he has used banana fibres, tiles, and now prefers to use glass for its readily available colour range. He works from a stock of glass of about two hundred and fifty shades.
