I unfortunately have not entirely vanquished the Procrastination Demon and do spend some time on Bluesky, but it did inspire a beautiful piece of artwork, so let’s say it’s ok.

The skeet that sparked my inspiration came from Professor/Sociologist/NYTimes Opinion Columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom, one of my favourite people to follow there & to read in general (her piece about blondes is a must-read about the link between aesthetics and power).

While I do not needlepoint, I thought this phrase would be perfect to test my book-cover illustration skills, as I’d love to get this type of job this year.

I’m quite happy with the result:

The composition and sketching took forever and a half, so I was particularly happy when I finally got to my favourite parts of the process: inking and colouring.

As always, I did a little bit of research beforehand, and headed to the digital collection of the Louvre, as I had a specific painting in mind: the flowers on a black background I’d seen last time I went there in person. I remembered the artist in question had an adorable name, and was happy to find him quickly: Abraham Mignon (“mignon” is French for “cute”, so my memory was spot-on.)

I also found a painting of his that baffled me, because he had for some reason made the decision to paint a cat’s face like a tiny human’s. It obviously isn’t a skill issue, so it begs the question: why?

I will probably never get the answer, but, once again, museum-scrolling has proven to be a fantastic use of my time.

My random library picks, which were a mix of books I meant to buy when they came out but didn’t, and books that caught my eye while browsing the comics shelves. I always take out a huge pile, so I’ll limit the list to my two favourites:

In Limbo by Deb JJ Lee - A beautiful coming-of-age memoir, I’d recommend this book to anyone who’s had to navigate a complex identity (kids of non-white immigrants will probably recognise themselves in a lot of the author’s thoughts and experiences), and, more broadly, to anyone who’s ever been a teenager.

Tommi Parrish’s The Lie - This book is the perfect Venn diagram of everything I love in comics: Queer stories, honest depictions of friendship, and gorgeous artwork.

This armchair and ottoman, which are the first thing I’ll buy when I’m loaded and go live in a chalet in the Pyrénées, which is definitely going to happen.

And that’s it for this month! Thanks for being here. If you think this newsletter would be of interest to somebody else, feel free to forward it to them. 

Till next month, take care,

Cath