We are thrilled to start our 13th year with Alex Fleming’s work gracing our cover! Enjoy his work and learn how his realistic wildlife art supports the conservation of the animals he portrays.
If you love polar bears, then you will enjoy our excerpt from the book of the month, Drawing Wild Animals, where Oana Befort and Maggie Reinbold will show you how to create your own in a few easy steps. If you are more into feathers than fur, follow Philip Schorn’s workshop of a winter cardinal, perfect to create while watching the snowfall.
The love for animals doesn’t stop there; Berith Moonen depicts native animals on maps, including her own home in the Netherlands, after seeing a lack of resources as she traveled the globe. For our gallery, readers share their past and present artwork with backstories to inspire you.
If you are considering selling on Etsy this year, Mandy Peltier has all the pros and cons to help you decide if it’s worth it. Benji Thomas intrigued us with his art depicting light and shadow, as he newly discovered colored pencils to draw the view outside his window each day for two weeks straight.
Most of us consider ourselves pencil collectors, but Bobby Truby takes it to another level. Buy and trade with him on his website www.brandnamepencils.com. For fun, we placed a few rare Blackwing pencils inside some print subscribers’ issues.
This month USPS is raising the price of stamps again. I’m not sure how this will affect you and me, but I wanted to let you know of a way to print out digital issues economically. Check out the last article to learn more. It saddens me that so many can no longer afford our print copies, especially outside the USA. I hope this will help you hold our issues in your hands once again while still supporting our publication!
Last, we want to tell you about our new Grizaye colored pencils coming out this month. We have been developing our drawing kits for two years now and are excited to have our own pencils to pair with each kit, as well as a 72-piece set. Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know when they arrive at www.grizaye.com. (Psst, new kits are coming too!)
PS. Local Love Art Challenge deadline is extended until 2/1/23!
Sally Robertson
Editor-in-Chief
Thank you to this month’s sponsors:
Blick Art Materials | Crescent Cardboard Company
Jerry’s Artarama | Quarto Publishing