April Studio Diaries no. 01

My April wrapped up in a newsletter 🌷

Hi! Welcome to my very first monthly newsletter! I hope you enjoy it.

This newsletter came to life because I really enjoy reading monthly updates from other illustrators. It’s so fun to read about what they worked on during the month, what they created, their achievements, frustrations, and even book or movie recommendations. Plus, it’s also a nice way for them to keep a personal journal of each month.

Since I enjoy writing, I thought I could do the same — both to keep a monthly record of my work that I can look back on in a few years, and to update those of you who enjoy what I do.

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April flew by pretty quickly around here. I finally wrapped up a few tasks I’d been putting off for months, like finishing some character sheets and other illustrations I had done. I’m not quite sure if they’ll fit into ​my website​, but I might create a “Games” section to add them, because I really liked how the final pieces turned out.

Aside from that, I didn’t do much more illustration-wise, except for creating the covers for two editions of Letters from an Illustrator, my newsletter on Substack.

This month has also been a time of reflection, since I currently don’t have any income from illustration. So, I’ve decided to look for a part-time job to have some financial stability, while still keeping time to focus on my illustration work.

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Substack

As I mentioned, I have a newsletter on Substack. Over the past month, I published 4 editions of my newsletter there:

• Building an illustration website portfolio - Part 2 → ​read it here​

• What a trip to Latvia taught me about the history of Children's Books → ​read it here​

• Medieval town near Berlin, and the incredible art of procrastination → ​read it here​

• How I create characters: a practical guide for illustrators - Part 01 → ​read it here​

While writing the Latvia piece, I had the idea to create a series of posts about the Golden Age of Illustration, basically a time when children’s book illustration truly took off. This series will be published on Substack, so if you’d like to read it, just subscribe to my newsletter over there.

YouTube

I also published two new videos on my YouTube channel. One is about a trip I took to Belgium earlier this year, where I visited Ghent and Brussels.

The second video is a review of a watercolor set I received from Woomer. I showed the painting process using the watercolors (it had been a while since I last painted with them!).

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A return to the fineliners

I’ve always loved fineliner drawings, but once I decided to become a children’s illustrator, I stopped using them because I thought, “They’re not used in children’s illustration”. But, why not?!

I’ve decided to let go of that limitation and start using them again.

This sketch was done in Bernau. I was sitting in a sunny park, and the tower from the old city wall was perfectly framed in front of me.

Have you ever decided that a certain material or technique didn’t suit your work, only to change your mind later?

Old new style

I fell in love with ​Lana Tihonovich’s illustrations​. Her drawing and painting style reminds me of classic children’s book illustrators like Antonio Lupatelli and Peter Cross, as well as artists from the Golden Age of Illustration.

Rachel Maksy’s YouTube Channel

I’ve been fascinated by ​Rachel’s videos​. She shows how she makes whimsical cosplay inspired by famous characters. Because of her, I’m even considering taking a sewing class so I can make my own clothes!

Well, that wraps up my April newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and that it inspired you in some way.

If you have any tips on how I could improve the format or what you’d like to read more about here, feel free to leave a comment. Your feedback means a lot to me.

See you in the next month!

Charlene ⭐