May Newsletter 🌸

Sketch Party & Book Updates

May 01, 2023

Happy May! 🌸

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 below. Also every Wednesday I send a newsletter specifically for us artists to learn and grow together.

What I have for you this month:

Free Shipping anytime you want to restock on cards:

Last month I launched free shipping, which is really exciting! So if you’re looking for a last minute Mother’s Day card, you could also stock up for summer weddings and birthdays. Use FREESHIP35 for all US orders over $35.

Shop cards here

Free Monthly Sketch Party!!

The Monthly Sketch Party happens on the 3rd Wednesday of every month, so this month it is on Wednesday, May 17 at 11 AM EST.

What is the Sketch Party? A free one-hour Zoom to hang out with other artists. I lead a 15 minute sketching activity, and then we stay on the zoom and chat while working on various projects for the remainder of the hour. I hope you join us for some community and art! All levels are welcome, and it’s mostly about hanging out with other artists :)

The link will be sent on in the Wednesday Newsletter on the morning of the zoom.

Weekly Artists Newsletters

In case you missed any of last month’s newsletters, here’s what I wrote about:

Illoguild Question #9
I’ve been hired for a book!
The next step for selling wholesale is... (part 2 in a series about selling wholesale cards)

Updates on last month:

I was contacted by a publisher last week!

They asked me to create some character sketches for an upcoming book. There are a few illustrators in the running, so I’ll put my best effort forward and see what happens. It’s nerve-racking to know I’m up against other artists, but it’s also really cool to get a brief and direction from a book designer. I feel like I’m really a professional illustrator. So whether or not I get the gig, this experience is a step in the right direction. Two years ago I would have dreamed of being asked to do sample sketches for book. A real publisher liked my work enough to reach out? Wow. That feels good! And I will take it as a win.

Classes:

I’m in a course right now called Arty Book with Make Art That Sells. It’s all about creating an art driven non-fiction book pitch. I, of course, have decided on Italy as my topic! So far we have created mood boards, a summary page, and an illustrated spread.

Last week I deviated from my normal style to try a watercolor spread. It was really fun to use traditional materials, and I hope I have more time to practice watercolors. This week we will submit our final assignment - another spread! Maybe I’ll give gouache a try?

The finished spread with scanned in watercolors.

My workspace with all my color charts. That made choosing colors so much easier!

MFA Artists Project

I work part-time at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and over the past few months I’ve had the amazing opportunity to work with Alex Adamo on her vision for giant felting project. Her exhibition will be installed in just two weeks, and it’s going to be mind blowing. If you’re local to Boston, definitely go check it out! It’s going to span 6 walls and feature felt art from kids all over the city, a massive landscape, and something super cool called fiber bombs. I cannot wait to see the final project all come together!

Book updates:

I have been the best kind of busy this past month: sketching and drawing every day. After one more round of feedback, the sketches for both books will be done. This next month I’ll be adding color. I cannot wait to share the illustrations with you! The golf book will be out in June (eek!), and I can share more about the fairytale book in a few months. There’s also a possible book project in the works for July. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to work on these kid book projects. All the small, steady steps over the past few years are finally coming together.