Challenges for illustrators on Instagram

The way I always keep drawing 🎨

Hey folks!

After my last newsletter where I talked about a course I took to improve the way I applied texture to my illustrations, I realized that it really helped me. I'm taking part in an Instagram challenge for February called Fairyary Mood (it's about fairies) and I've decided to go down the route of applying more texture (as I learned in the course) to the 3 drawings that are part of the challenge. 

Below you can see the first of them, which I'm very proud of and I really like the result. One of the things I liked most about this drawing was the way the light reflected off the tree trunk.

Of course, the way a drawing is rendered depends on the artist, but because I really like the textures that traditional media leaves behind, I end up liking this type of rendering, which is closer to the traditional media. It reminds me that I need to go ahead with my plan to learn to paint in gouache and oil pastel.

Speaking of challenges on Instagram, they're one of the ways I keep myself in motion as an illustrator and keep my portfolio up to date. Every month there are a few illustration challenges on Instagram, such as folktale week (November), inktober (October), mermay (May).

Each challenge has between 3 and 30 prompts. That doesn't mean you have to do them all. Usually, I choose a challenge where I know I'll be able to do all the prompts and it has a theme that I like and can adapt to the children's world. That way I can continue to illustrate without having to overthink about the theme because the theme depends on the challenge. It's also a good way to meet other illustrators and interact on Instagram.

If, like me, you don't know how to find these challenges, you can follow Anna Galitskaya on Instagram. At the beginning of each month, she posts a series of challenges that will take place during that month.

That's it for today, I hope you have a great weekend 💚