What a great time to get out and get some much needed fresh air, so grab this issue and soak in the sun!

This month we have a lovely bouquet of floral art, including our amazing featured artist Katya Santoro, also known as “The Flowers Artist”.

But first, we start with Esther Van Hulsen, featured back in 2014. You might remember her from her dynamic dinosaurs, but this time she shares with you how she incorporates watercolors with colored pencils in her wildlife works.

Next, Ruzanna Air teaches a workshop on her simple, yet lovely, water lily bud. Learn even more about drawing flowers in an excerpt from the brand new Book of the Month, Drawing & Painting Botanicals for Artists by Karen Kluglein, available in mid-June and up for grabs to one lucky subscriber.

For more practice, get our new Grizaye Painting Kit – The Rose Collection. We are pleased with its popularity as we sold out of our deluxe kit in just 2 weeks. We are also providing a lovely photo of a Pink Dogwood for the Monthly Art Challenge. Give it a try, and you could win one of three prizes totaling $300 from Jerry’s Artarama. To win the random prize, you don’t have to compete – just participate. It is so much fun to draw along with this super friendly and supportive Flickr group!

In the Spotlight is the newly formulated Derwent Metallic Pencils. Print USA issues come with a sample! You can also sign-up to win one of four special 20th Anniversary sets this month at www.coloredpencilmag.com/giveaways.

We asked our readers to share stories of how art affects their daily life. We included as many as we could to inspire you. Thank you to all who participated.

To wrap things up, Dr. Sriram Gubbi stops by with an article on Art, Science, and Medicine and how they are related to each other. Lastly, we are reminded how laughter is the best medicine from Lorna Boryski plus enjoy a relatable comic by Starr Da Mauer. 

Thank you to this month’s sponsors:

 Blick Art Materials | Derwent Jerry’s Artarama  | Quarto Publishing