November Newsletter | Holiday Shop
Gouache & Stickers & illoguild LIVE
Happy November!
If you joined any of the October drawing challenges, are you breathing a big sigh of relief that it’s November? Congrats if you joined even just one day of challenges, and also if you created any type of art in October! (Don’t think too much about Folktale Week quickly approaching…)
Since there were so many challenges last month, this newsletter is filled to the brim with art! There was so much momentum from October challenges and the Illustrating Children’s Book class. It’s motivating to create alongside a community that is simultaneously producing so much art.
So I hope you enjoy seeing all the new work, and also be sure to share some links to your work in the comments. I always love hearing from you and seeing what you’re working on!
What I have for you this month:
❄️The Holiday Shop is OPEN!!❄️
Check out the shop to see all the cards, stickers, and gift tags for this holiday season. And I am so excited to announce new DIY Sticker Cards featuring cats!
What are DIY Sticker cards?
Each “do-it-yourself” set includes 3 cards/envelopes, 60 stickers, and bonus cats for coloring. Accessorize the cats with hats, and decorate the festive cards with candy canes, stockings, and holly!
Here are some reviews about the dog DIY Sticker cards from last year:
“Great quality and a lot of fun. I gifted them to a friend's nieces and they absolutely loved them!”
“Fun sticker cards for the young ones! Keeps them busy and entertained.”
“These are so cute! I'm going to have to get more to give as gifts!”
And remember, there’s always free shipping over $35! Use code FREESHIP35.
Lastly, here’s a reel I made last year to show you how they work. Can you tell I’m really proud of these DIY Cards? I’ll stop talking about them now. I hope you enjoy them!
illoguild Live on November 6
Join the
on November 6 to hear us talk about our experiences making money as artists. We’ll be covering a various of topics on this theme, and you’ll hear from illustrators who have worked with variety of clients from self-published authors to top publishing houses. Hope to see you there!Weekly Artists Newsletter:
Here’s what I wrote about this month:
Making money as an artist (my most popular post ever)
Character Consistency (if you’re in ICB, I’m happy to send you a pdf of this one)
Also there’s a new bonus for paid subscribers: Access to the
Live recordings.Updates about last month:
October Drawing Challenges
In total I joined 12 out of 31 days. It’s a low percentage, but I gained so much from those 12 days. Originally I intended to do all 31 days, but now I have a bunch of ideas and sketches for future challenges. That’s not too bad right? And my main goal was to paint with gouache. Below is my favorite:
And here are the other dogs and cats:
Scroll down to the ghost vignettes for the last 3 of the 12 challenge entries.
Illustrating Children’s Book Course
Because my goal was to practice gouache this month, I decided to just go for it and use gouache for this course. The assignments so far have been: a character page, an emotions page, and a poses page. The last two assignments are a full spread and a cover, so I’ll share those with you next month when they’re done.
Here are some pictures of my desk during the painting stage:
I feel like something has clicked recently, and I’m genuinely happy with my work, which is rare. I feel proud of it, and there are details that I can’t believe I created. Of course there are areas for improvement, too! But I am feeling really excited. Many of my favorite illustrators use gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil, so it makes sense that I’m feeling drawn to the work I’m creating with those same traditional materials. And because I’ve been working primarily digitally for two years, I feel confident with some final edits on the iPad.
I feel like I’m in a good space for growth, and I’m excited to see where this goes!
Also… More Gouache!
Because apparently I became obsessed with it this month! Another story from the Illustrating Children’s Book course is about a girl and a ghost, so I did a 3 day mash-up of those characters with some October challenges. Here they are:
Real life book:
I’m in the coloring stage of this book project, and it should be fully colored by December 1— one month to go! This email has reached it’s length limit, and I’m not able to add too many more photos, so I will share some of the spreads next month :) I have to save space for the most important photo of the entire email, which is below…
The monthly pup-date
That’s is for my updates, and they’re almost all about gouache, so I hope that wasn’t too boring. And again, please feel free to share about your October in the comments. It’s inspiring to see what you’ve all been up to!
See you next week for post about kid book art,
Katie
PS - Remember to sign up for the illoguild LIVE and visit the holiday shop.
My favorite is spooky ghosty kitty, but they're all sooo cute!
Your cards are adorable! And I love the beagle unicorn! :)