Hey there,
New Artwork
In February, while I was in Mexico, I woke up to an email from ImagineFX's editor telling me they'd come across my reference photos and wanted to feature me in their magazine. As a general rule I don't do freelance jobs or commissions, but as a long-time reader who spent her early-artist years dreaming about seeing her art on those pages, I made an exception without a moment's hesitation. I also took a step outside of my comfort zone and pitched them the idea of going one step further than simply featuring my reference and allowing me to write a tutorial that would help their readers get more out of their reference images.
Last month, they printed my tutorial in issue 214. I am beyond honoured and grateful to have had this opportunity. Also, if you don't mind me saying so, I think I absolutely crushed it. I feared the personal importance of the job might lead me to over-think, over-complicate and make a mess, but instead, I created one of my favourite paintings to date. I also can't tell you how much it means to me to see Ava, the protagonist of my work-in-progress novel (The Sum of Our Deeds), published in glorious official print.
Reflection
Weekly prompts to encourage self-reflection and help you discover impactful things about yourself, your art and your career.
What do you want people to think when they look at your work?
What do you want people to feel when they look at your work?
What do you want people to do when they look at your work?
Showcase
Each week, I share the work of other people here. Be sure to check out their pages and show them some love! To find out how to get featured, click here.
Resource
Who doesn't love skulls? This pack makes for some heckin' cool studies. The warm and cool lighting, the multiple angles... oh yeah, AND THOSE HORNS. I actually studied from these myself last year:
Feature
Luiza Plutecka (below):
Jacob Guerin (below):
Garnett Wyatt (below):
That's all for this week's free newsletter. In case you’re curious what you missed out on, this week’s premium newsletter contained:
Worldbuilding: the story of one of England's most famous women, whose intelligence, charm and fire forever altered the country.
Visual Inspiration: a fine artist who excels in everything I struggle with!
Reference Image: Free full-res image from my Sweaters reference pack.
Personal Update: A sneak peak at what I've been working on this week.
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Thanks again for being a part of this!
-Rachel