A short, sweet, and to the point newsletter from an illustrator, book designer, and all around busy bee. π By day, I work in the publishing industry as a book designer and illustrator. By night, I indulge in my inspirations and grow my creative business with slow, intentional steps. Every month, you'll get insights into living a creative life, what's currently inspiring me, behind the scenes peeks of works in progress, the stories behind the work, and freebies to help nurture your own creativity.
A New Studio Note has arrived! π January 2026 Edition
Published 5 days agoΒ β’Β 2 min read
Studio Note 01/26
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Hello Reader,
Welcome to 2026! To be honest, this is the best part of the year, in my opinion. It feels like a fresh start, a deep cleansing breath after a long and burdensome year, and a renewed sense of "let's get it done". Maybe that's the Capricorn in me speaking, who knows...
I hope the holiday season was good to you. It was kind of bland for me. Temperatures in the upper 60s did not help fuel my Christmas spirit, but I hope next Christmas will feel more Christmasy.
Art Notes
I finished up one last painting before 2025 ended. Sticking with a simple, monochromatic palette was just the lack of decision-making I needed at the moment haha.
Normally I have what I'd like to work on for the year planned ahead, but this year, I'm just going to let ideas come to me as they may.
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"Spirit of Winter" watercolor and acrylic ink on hot press paper
Shop Notes
As a reminder, I've taken off all prints and extras from my website and only sell originals and the Limited Edition prints I have left on it. Everything else has been moved to Etsy. I want to scale back the size of prints I offer to only the most popular sold size, but I'm searching for a new print provider after being unhappy with the ordering process of my current one. If a new provider makes it less of a headache to offer multiple size options, I may keep them.
Until then, I'll deactivate the least bought sizes on Etsy and any new prints added will only be available in one size.
If you want other size options than what is on Etsy, feel free to visit the Inprnt shop.
Extra Notes
Every year for the past several years (at least 5 of them), I've decided on a "theme" for myself that will serve as a north star for what I intend to create until the next year. Curiosity keeps surfacing for me, and I think it's in good alignment when I think about how I've been more interested in slipping back into student mode versus product producing mode. I've also become less interested in spending what precious little time I have in life online, and focusing on (and continuing) more analog activities, like cross stitching, physically writing things down in a paper planner, and experimenting with physical traditional mediums. So in addition to curiosity, I'm adding in quiet creation to my 2026 intentions.
Quiet creation for me means less creating to show it off, and more creating for the sake of it, and creating to improve my skills.
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Until next time,
Catherine
P.S. A Birthday Note
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Shops are always quiet after the holidays, which makes it tricky to have a birthday sale. So here's a lil discount code instead! Discount expires Feb. 5.
from Catherine Herold - Illustrator & Graphic Designer
A short, sweet, and to the point newsletter from an illustrator, book designer, and all around busy bee. π By day, I work in the publishing industry as a book designer and illustrator. By night, I indulge in my inspirations and grow my creative business with slow, intentional steps. Every month, you'll get insights into living a creative life, what's currently inspiring me, behind the scenes peeks of works in progress, the stories behind the work, and freebies to help nurture your own creativity.
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