2024 Calendars available now! (1 of 4)

Excited to announce my artwork featured in FOUR 2024 calendars! Over the next four blog posts, I'll delve into each one.

Kicking off with Floral Ink 2024: This 16-month calendar showcases exclusively my still life paintings, marking the third edition created for Graphique de France. Collaborating with Graphique has been a delight, and their exceptional calendars truly complement my work. Through meditative strokes, I aim to encapsulate the essence of floral arrangements, bringing the beauty of everyday life to each month. Explore or purchase Floral Ink on Graphique’s website here or you can find it on Amazon here as well.

Pro tip: My mother removes the pages after each month and frames them for wall art. They look great!

I’ll write about the second calendar out now in my next post…

New Tiny Art Show Opens Today!

Today is an exciting day for me as my artwork is being featured at the Tiny Gallery in Montclair, NJ!

There’s a great story about this new gallery in northjersey.com with pictures of the structure and its brilliant founder, Francesca Castagnoli.

If you’re in the Montclair area, be sure to stop by the Tiny Gallery Montclair and check out my work. You can also visit the website at https://www.tinygallerymontclair.com/artists/kendra-shedenhelm.

Please let me know if you get a chance to see it in person!

Sugar Skull With Butterflies linework now in my t-shirt shops

My Sugar Skull With Butterflies line drawing is now available in my online shops.

You can find it as a print or sticker, on a t-shirt or pillow, and in blue/black and multi-color. Please check it out on my Society6, Redbubble and TeePublic stores to find the right products for you!

Line drawing in blue and black (multi-color also available)

Long Live IllustrationFriday.com!

If you haven’t already heard of Illustration Friday, I encourage you to check them out. There is something so friendly and encouraging about their site, and I always enjoy creating art for their prompts.

This week’s prompt was “Game.” I took it as “The Game” or even “Game ON.” Below are my two variations. Have a favorite?

Holiday Card Submission for MATS

Another year, another round (or several) of MATS courses!

This year, agent Lilla Rogers of Make Art That Sells offered a free course to the winner of the Holiday Card challenge. The prompt: Favorite Holiday Drink.

Aside from coffee in the morning, my favorite holiday drink is red wine. I wanted to create a cozy, wintry look for this card, with a not-so-dainty glass of red wine.

Drink up!

Focusing on women and the body

It’s been a very long time since I’ve studied the human body in its nakedness or almost nakedness. I find myself embarrassed in front of a not fully-clothed model, and I shirk away from live sketch nights because of it.

For a recent pitch, however, I was prompted to look more at the female form, looking at her — staring! — and drawing her in all of her shapes and personality. I found it to be so much fun. Not embarrassing at all. Who knew?

Below are some of my recent line drawings…

Portraits and stories from the nursing home

My grandmother spent her last few years in a nursing home, and after my visits with her, I would always wish I'd listened more (wisdom! stories! life lessons! history!). Even though I cared immensely and wanted to make fulfilling conversation with her and her friends, I felt nervous about what to say and unsure how to interact. This really bothered me, and I've been ruminating since on how to be more present and at ease in similar situations.

Recently, it occurred to me that art might be my gateway.

After contacting the nearby nursing home, I arranged to go in for an hour every couple of weeks to draw quick portraits of any residents that would like to sit for me. For now, I'm choosing the all-one-line technique (drawing without lifting my pen), as it is not only fast (5–10 minutes per portrait), it does not allow for fussing over mistakes. The process forces me to stay present and allow for whatever happens to happen. It also gives me a chance to look — truly look — at the face of each person, and listen as she or he tells me stories of falling in love, past careers, and children raised.

Here are some of the people I've had the chance to work with...

Historical Heroines Coloring Book won an IPPY Gold!

The book that I illustrated last summer, The Historical Heroines Coloring Book, has won an IPPY Gold!

More watercolor portraits and faces

After reading Deborah Heiligman's Vincent and Theo a few weeks, I was so inspired, and I began experimenting more with color and portraiture. Here are some of the faces I painted in watercolor...

Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman

Although I'm a little late on posting this, I read Vincent and Theo by Deborah Heiligman for book club in February, and I found it incredibly inspiring. I think it about daily.

I never studied Van Gogh in college, and I really only knew that he was mentally ill, cut off his own ear and was friends with Gauguin. But the story that Ms. Heiligman has weaved together through the letters between him and his brother told of a kind, thoughtful and extremely hard-working artist. He was dedicated to becoming a better and better draftsman and painter, and he consistently sought his brother's feedback on how he could improve. I was surprised to learn that he struggled with color (as do I), and he worked diligently to develop and modernize his palette. I was so impressed.

This book has much to offer — it's a passionate tale and also educational and inspirational. I highly recommend!

The portrait below was my take on Vincent shortly after I finished the book.

I won an Illustration Friday challenge! #stoked

I love Illustration Friday, and I've been using their prompts to create new work since 2015.

A couple weeks ago, amidst a dearth of gray days and a cloudy head, I found out that I won a challenge! It was exactly what I needed to kick start a better frame of mind. Thank you once again, Illustration Friday!

Here is my collage for the "Twins" prompt (as promoted on Instagram):

New Batch of Greeting Cards Available #moocards

I am in love with the quality of moo cards, and I use them almost exclusively when selling my art in card form. Here's my latest batch for the local birding and nature store, Feed the Birds.

This was a custom pack, so I don't have any more on hand, but please check out my cards in my Society6 shop or contact me personally to get your own custom batch. Thank you!

Farm Animal Pillows launched via Creative Co-op

At the Atlanta Market this past January, more of my Watercolor Animal collection was launched — pillows! Thank you, Creative Co-op!

I received a couple samples, and they look great. Excellent quality pillow, too. Yep, stoked again.

Awards and Reviews for The Historical Heroines Coloring Book

My cover illustration for Historical Heroines is now a finalist for the da Vinci Eye Award! You can learn more here. Thrilled!

I also recently caught this awesome review of Historical Heroines by Lois Henderson. Stoked! Thank you, Lois!

“...the extent of work that has gone into writing and illustrating the work shows that it is a true labor of love (as behooves any work that ardently supports the feminist cause, even in the most subtle of ways)” BOOK REVIEW by Lois Henderson

Author Elizabeth Lorayne seems to be on a roll, winner or finalist of several other Indie Book Awards, such as the fabulous Moonbeam Award and the Eric Hoffer Award. Read about them here: https://www.historical-heroines.com/press/

Have a review of the HH Coloring Book to share? Please let us know!

Homeschooling and The Historical Heroines Coloring Book

Homeschooling and looking for engaging lessons about history and science? Try The Historical Heroines Coloring Book!

A dear friend recently contacted me about his sister who homeschools her daughter and has incorporated the book I recently illustrated into her lesson plan. (Love!)

(My friend's response upon seeing this coloring page by his niece):
"Yay!! And do you quiz her about the people that she colors after? I’m curious if it helps with learning."

(Her reply)
"Yes, I make her tell me about them and she recaps. I think it does help because it breaks up the plainness of most book work and lets her be creative while learning."

I'm so thrilled about working on this Historical Heroines project. I've had several messages from friends like this one. The information really seems to sink in with this coloring activity, and there's curiosity for more.

If you have a story or an image you'd like to share with me about your experience with The Historical Heroines Coloring Book, please feel free to email me or tag me on Instagram. I'd love to hear from you!

What is an #alloneline drawing?

I took an excellent online course with Von Glitschka awhile back, called the 21 Day Drawing Challenge. One of the prompts is to draw an image without lifting the pen. Just one intuitive, free-flowing line. It has been such a fun activity for me, and it really captures the something-from-nothing feeling that I can get when I create. If you ever feel stuck or concerned about perfection, I encourage you to try it.

Some of my recent all-one-line drawings are below. To see posts of other artist's #alloneline drawings, search the hashtag on Instagram. Cool stuff.

All-one-line drawing of a girl saying grace (image referenced from the Internet Archives), ink pen, Copyright 2017 Kendra Shedenhelm

All-one-line drawing of a woman with headpiece, ink pen, Copyright 2017 Kendra Shedenhelm

All-one-line drawing of ladies having coffee, ink pen, Copyright 2017 Kendra Shedenhelm

What's been happening this year: Update 4 of 6

Update #4: The Historical Heroines coloring book!

This was hands down one of the coolest projects I've ever been a part of. I couldn't be more grateful to have been chosen as the illustrator.

Crowd-funded and quickly labeled as a "Project We Love" on Kickstarter, this coloring book was conceived by the brilliant, eco-conscious and science-minded author Elizabeth Lorayne.

As explained from her site, "The Historical Heroines Coloring Book: Pioneering Women in Science from the 18th and 19th Centuries was born out of a desire to inspire and empower children, teens, and adults with coloring pages celebrating 31 women in science who followed their passions and let their brilliance and hard work speak for themselves — making significant impacts in our world."

For several months, I was fortunate to spend my days researching, drawing and painting these various STEM heroines. I read their histories, their personal letters, their eulogies. Because of this project, I now study bugs as they crawl by, I pay attention to the leaves and their growth patterns on my walks, and I look at the sky with much more curiosity. Elizabeth's desire to inspire worked!

I'll update my blog soon with some excerpts of the completed book, but here are a few of the sketches I made along the way...

Portrait of Mary Somerville, pencil, Copyright 2017 Kendra Shedenhelm

Portrait of Alice Ball, pencil, Copyright 2017 Kendra Shedenhelm

Portrait study of a young Beatrix Potter, watercolor, Copyright 2017 Kendra Shedenhelm

What's been happening this year: Update 2 of 6

I started licensing my work! So stoked!

Last fall, after an extremely helpful call with Giuseppe Castellano of The Illustration Department, I decided to revisit the resources in SCBWI's "The Book." I focused on a small group of art directors and agents that I'd like to work with, and I sent out emails to all of them. I am now fortunate to be represented by Lori Nowicki and Liz Wain of Painted Words licensing, and I couldn't be more grateful.

Watercolor of a scarlet ibis. One of the images picked up by GreenBox Art + Culture for 2018, watercolor and pencils, Copyright 2017 Kendra Shedenhelm

Debut of my licensed watercolors with GreenBox Art + Culture for 2017 (image posted on Instagram by my agent, Liz Wain of Wain's World and Painted Words Licensing

Back to "When in doubt..."

In 2013, when I first started illustrating, I wrote a post titled, "When in doubt, cut it out," which emphasized how helpful cutting paper can be for shaping my characters. Since cleaning up my studio space a couple weeks ago, another perk for paper scraps would be free, no-pressure experimenting.

Although the difficult-to-cut corners, accidentally-torn details, and bends and warps of the paper can frustrate the heck out of me, these same problems liberate me. I've been treating it as a big Who Cares exercise. And, as the composition is whisked away by my cat jumping on my desk, I feel unattached and able to try something else.

Illustration Friday, "Ice"

I waffled over this composition, about how magical to make it. My husband felt the horns were too much... yeah, ditch the ears too... So I submitted both for this week's Illustration Friday challenge, Ice.