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 June Edition
Published 7 months agoΒ β’Β 3 min read
Studio Note 06/25
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Hey there!
I hope May treated you well. It has been raining a lot here! The outside plants and bushes are happy about it, but I miss seeing sunlight. There have been more cloudy days than sunny lately.
I've been embracing imperfect productivity lately, and I've felt a lot more relaxed about creating and being "productive" in whatever capacity I can manage at the moment. My pain levels have been pretty high lately, and it has impacted my motivation to do much of anything, but I've managed to do some pen sketching and make progress on two new paintings.
Remember : slow growth is still growth! It's totally fine to go at your own pace, whatever that pace may be. You're not racing against anyone!
Art Notes
The process breakdown for "Wild Berry and Bunny" is available on my free to join Patreon! My Patreon is a place where I go in-depth about a piece's process and I cover materials used, as well.
I have my next Anime X Classical Art piece in progress. I'll be recording the process for this one for a YT video, and will also have a Patreon post about it! Be sure to follow me on Instagram and join the Patreon to watch the process!
I also painted this simple starlight deer. I wanted to try a monochromatic piece with some of the new watercolor paint and paper I received from Grumbacher. You can read more about it here!
I used Grumbacher's Finest Watercolor in French Ultramarine
The pose was loosely inspired by Bernini's St. Sebastian sculpture
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Shop Notes
I am going to try to get a few new prints stocked in the shop over the summer. Fox and Phlox, Wild Berry and Bunny, and perhaps a limited run of Moon Tears and another anime x Classical Art inspired piece I'm currently working on.
It takes longer to list new prints because I have to order a proof print before I launch anything. If I were better organized and perhaps more patient, I'd launch new prints as soon as I revealed the final painting!
Truth is, I don't always know what will sell well and what won't, and I gauge audience response when I make decisions about which paintings to sell prints of. Proof prints do cost a fee to produce, but they're really important in assuring that the prints purchased in my shop look as close to the original as possible.
Speaking of shop, I did add some new stickers recently if you missed the announcement. You can check them out here!
I haven't mentioned what has been going on outside of artwork in a while, so here's what I've been into lately :
I'm trying to rebuild my damaged reading habit. I used to read A LOT when I was younger but now as a busy adult with way too many responsibilities, reading has become a feast or famine situation for me. So my goal for myself is to read ONE CHAPTER a night. I'm currently reading "The Hemlock Queen" by Hannah Whitten. My attempt so far hasn't been great so this is something to definitely improve on - swapping screen time for page time.
I've had some chronic pain flare-ups lately that have impacted my...everything, really. I'm trying to slowly recover from it with gentle movements and more movement in general, even if it hurts. Because honestly, being stagnant hurts even more. I'm in a walking boot for the next 6 weeks to try to recover from plantar fasciitis. Hurrah for getting older!
I don't have much time to play video games anymore, but I've been dabbling in Clair Obscur : Expedition 33 and so far it is a lovely mix of Belle Γpoque meets cosmic horror. I'm not far into it, so maybe my opinion will change, but so far, I really like it! I've had fun identifying all the artsy references they put in the game.
I don't know why I didn't start watching "The Apothecary Diaries" sooner, but I regret it. It's fantastic.
Take a look inside my process on Pβatreon or Youtube, see what inspires me on Pinterest, and check out my latest works and shop art at catherold.com.
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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