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 March Edition
Published 10 months agoΒ β’Β 2 min read
Studio Note 03/25
β
Hello again friend,
Welcome to March! I can't believe we're approaching the end of Q1 already. January felt like an entire year, February went by in a blink. Flower bulbs are sprouting in my yard and leaf buds are appearing on trees. Spring is right around the corner in my area! I hope you're staying warm in this lingering winter weather.
Art Notes
I finished up this Sailor Moon Classical Art crossover piece called "Moon Tears". A full process write-up plus color mixtures and materials used is available on my Patreon. I also changed up my signature recently, and I find it suits the current direction of my work better than my old one. It's also as easy to paint as it is to write out, which as someone who struggled to paint their signature, I really appreciate.
β
I've gone back into student mode with silly little studies and practice pieces in my sketchbook. I say silly, but they really aren't - they're vitally important to artistic growth and leveling up skills! Negative Painting has always made my brain hurt, but I find it a fascinating technique to use, and I'd like to experiment with it more in my own work.
I don't know what I was trying to do with the green experiment. An attempt was made to paint leaves, and then I played around with color pencils. The texture was too toothy for my tastes, but I think I'm on to something here.
This is your reminder to make space in your day (and sketchbooks) for messy experimentation and playtime!
Social Notes
The process video for Dryad is live on Youtube. If you want more insight into the process, including what paints I used and the color mixtures I came up with, head over to the Patreon!
Click the image to watch on YouTube!
β
Shop Notes
I'm planning shop updates for the year and I need your help! I've put together a short survey to gauge interest in new shop items, and it would help out a lot if you could fill it out! It's only one question so it won't take long. I'll nudge you again about it in the future.
As I'm spending more time in my sketchbook lately, I've been reflecting on why practice is important and why it hurts (not physically, at least. Maybe.).
I recently shared some hair studies on my Patreon and briefly touched on the inevitability of practice. Practice is like strength training. You don't get better at a weak area with your art without the discomfort that comes from practice.
You'll probably feel like you don't know what you're doing for a while, but eventually you'll feel more confident in your approach to painting something that was once hard and even intimidating to paint. It could be hair, hands, anatomy, colors, etc.
Discomfort creates growth, so go and get uncomfortable!
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.
β
β