June Newsletter ☀️
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Happy June!
If you’re new to the Monthly Newsletter, welcome! This newsletter is a space to share and reflect about the previous month.
I’ll share my updates from last month, but what I really love is hearing what you’ve been up to. So please feel free to share in the comments!
What I have for you this month:
Newsletter Updates:
Live Event Replays:
Weekly Artist Newsletters:
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Upcoming Live Events:
Art Gym: Environment Workshop | Tuesday, June 24 at 11 AM EDT / 4 PM GMT / 11 PM MYT
(open to paid subscribers)
Join Adam Ming and me in our next Art Gym workout! We have tons of good stuff to share with you about drawing environments. We’re going to recreate a famous fairytale, and we’ll share tons of tips about world building! If you’re a paid subscriber, use the button below to sign up:
Illoguild Live | June 17 - 8 AM EDT / 1 PM GMT / 8PM MYT / 10 PM AEST
(open to all subscribers)
Join the guild as we talk about process for a range of topics, such as… picking a color palette, organizing projects into manageable chunks, keeping characters consistent, and so much more. We can’t wait to see you there!
Updates from last month:
Print Collection: Flowers with an Italian twist
I was thinking of an idea for creating a print collection. I enjoy painting flowers, and I love all things Italian. So I combined those two things by painting flowers in pasta jars, coffee tins, and even an espresso maker.
Which would you want to hang on your wall?? My favorite is the marina jar!
Here’s a peak at my process for the jars. They started out like these little sketches, and then I painted them each on 11 in x 14 in. I really enjoyed working a bit larger than normal!
Cute spring patterns
The warm weather called for a cute, springy pattern, so here’s a collection I made last month!
MATS ICB: Illustrating Children’s Book Course
I really love taking this course from Make Art That Sells. Here’s the character I’m working on this year. It’s a story all about a red panda named Red. Later in the story, Red gets the Blues. Isn’t that such a clever concept? I’m working in gouache and colored pencil again for this year’s course. Here’s my character design:
And below is the emotions page. I tried less saturated fur there. Which do you prefer? The one above or below? I think the lighter fur is a clearer read, but the more saturated fur is brighter and more fun. It’s tough to decide!
Cyanotypes at the museum
Each year kids from all over the city work with a lead artist to create artwork that will hang in the museum. This year’s lead artist is Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, and he taught kids how to make cyanotypes that were then sewn into the shapes of all the Boston neighborhoods. You can see the finished artwork below.
I love the idea of having artwork made by kids displayed in a museum, and it’s so fun to see them come for the opening night. There is a whole presentation, dinner, and art making as part of the celebration! As prep for the event, I got to make a cyanotype using one of my recent pattern designs.
Monthly Pup-date
Nothing like rolling in some fresh grass and dandelions!
That’s all for this month!
How about your month? How did all your art go? What did you create? Share in the comments!
See you next week for the monthly
question,Katie
PS - Remember to upgrade your subscription by June 30 to receive 6 months of free Art Gym when it launches in July:
I love your cyanotype pattern! And your Red character is adorable! My opinion swings to the more saturated one: I think there's more contrast and definition between his fur, clothes, backpack etc.
How does the upgrade thing work? Really glad that you guys have decided to make Art Gym it's own Substack thingy.