March Newsletter

Some big news 🎉 📖

Happy March!

Is it starting to feel like Spring where you are? Or maybe you’re in the southern hemisphere and the air is starting to feel cool. Either way, this month is bringing some changes, and for my artwork, too. There are some exciting new projects that I can’t wait to tell you about…

If you’re new here - this is the Monthly Newsletter where I share updates about the past month. It’s also great when I get to hear about your month, so feel free to leave a comment :)

---

What I have for you this month:

FINALLY - a new wedding card! And of course the cake card is always available since it’s one of my favorite designs and yours too (thanks for making it a best seller!)

I received a huge shipment of cards last week, so these cards are all hot off the press!

Commissions: I just started on a new commission that is going to be so cute when it’s done. If you’re looking to book a spot for a custom project, you can sign up here. I’m taking just one commission a month now, because there’s another project I’ve started. Keep reading to see what it is!

Monthly Zoom Meet-up

It’s already time for the third zoom meet-up! It was so great to see returning faces for the second one in February. Now that I have hosted two of them, let’s pick a consistent day, such as the third Wednesday of every month. Join us in the Subscriber Chat to vote on the time and to access the past sketching prompts! (Click here for instructions about joining the chat)

Weekly Artists Newsletters

Here’s what I wrote about last month:

• When I feel bad about my art

• A Quick Tip for Children’s Illustrators

• I just discovered this!

---

Updates on last month:

I got hired to illustrate a book!!

Last month I updated you about leaving my teaching job. And not even a week later, I was approached about illustrating my first book. I can’t say much more about the project at this point, but it should be done by the middle of summer. I hope I can share some sneak peaks with all of you over the next few months. So far I’ve started designing the characters. It’s a fairytale story, so I am just bursting with excitement about illustrating it!

Wholesale Cards

If you’re in Boston, you’ll have to go visit Sunny Florists! They just placed an order of my cards for their store, and they have some of the most gorgeous plants for your home. Back during the early stages of the pandemic, I picked up a snake plant and pothos from them, and they’re still thriving! Sunny Florists also created the flower arrangements for Prince William and Kate’s recent visit to Boston.

Classes

I have been taking a watercolor class at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I am learning so much, and it’s so motivating to take an in-person class. I am following the curriculum and learning the techniques and rules, and in the future I hope to apply more watercolor to my children’s illustrations. Some weeks I feel like I did a great job, and other weeks I get really stuck. I figure it’s a sign of learning!

A watercolor from class last week at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

I am also in MATS Bootcamp, and this month’s assignment was a book cover. The brief specifically said to not illustrate a children’s book cover. There was a fun prompt to come up with a unique title, and we were encouraged to think about the themes, time period, location of the book, etc.... I, of course, decided my book should be a summery novel set in Florence. Last month’s project was also about Italy, so I might as well make a whole series!

A book cover for the February assignment of MATS Bootcamp

At first I wanted to paint a scene of Cinque Terre, so I got out my gouache. I had so much fun painting it and adding little details of plants and balconies all over. I got really lost while creating it. But then I realized that this scene wasn’t really telling a story, which is the purpose of a book cover. So I set the painting aside to create the cover above. It was a lesson in thinking about the purpose of the art before getting started. The piece below will make a great art print, but not such a great cover. I’m sharing this in case in resonantes with any of the artists here!

A work in progress that started as a book cover and is now going to be an art print

Monthly pup-date

A lovely Saturday walk along the water!

See you next week for the monthly

illoguild

question!

Katie