A Bridge Back to the Painting Table
Hello friends,I wrote briefly in my last post about being in a creative slump, and to be honest, I don’t want to talk about that very much right now. What matters is that I feel like I’m coming out of it, and that recovery is partly due to committing to an online monthly nature journaling […]
February, and signs of motion
January turned out to be a month of listening instead of publishing. As February begins, I’m noticing signs of motion returning—outside, in the studio, and in my own attention.
December in the laundry room
I’m in the creative laundry room this month, holding up projects like shirts and asking which ones still fit.
Inside my winter sticker sketchbook
A quiet return to drawing this week, working on winter animals and bluegrass charm in a behind-the-scenes peek at how this year’s sticker collection begins.
When a Story Tries to Turn Into Cinderella
A short reflection on how a simple magical-hairdresser story tried to turn into Cinderella, and what it taught me about tropes, honest endings, and staying inside a character’s heart.
Return to the studio: dust, light and the first day back
After weeks in hospital halls, I finally made it back down the basement stairs to my studio. The dust, the light, even the quiet felt like home. Between the hum of the printer and thoughts of a real meal again, I’m learning how healing can sound like paper shuffling and smell like dinner on the stove.
When a zine isn’t a zine…
I recently discovered that some of my beloved “zines” aren’t zines at all—they’re chapbooks! What began as mild embarrassment turned into a delightful realization: I’ve accidentally been running a small press. In exploring the tangled history between zines and chapbooks, I found that their difference isn’t about rules—it’s about intent, and the shared joy of making stories personal again.
From No Imagination to Endless Ideas
Ten years ago, I thought I had no imagination. Now I keep pens in every room just to keep up with the ideas. Somewhere along the way, my creativity grew three sizes—like the Grinch’s heart—and started glowing like a jar of fireflies.
Realmscapes at one year: forging a creative path
A year into Realmscapes, I’ve discovered that the Free Fictional Frontier isn’t just a home for old short stories—it’s become the Dispatch for my zines. Fifteen booklets later, I’m realizing that what began as an experiment has turned into the creative path I’d been searching for all along.
Every Fall Begins Like a Story
September brings stories, mishaps, and new beginnings—lost zines, moody computers, and plans for a bard’s wagon at Zine Fest.
A First Look at the Woodland Watchers
This week brought hospital waiting rooms, cooler autumn days, and progress on my Woodland Watchers zine. One illustration is finished, a second is underway, and the owl beneath the Hunter’s Moon has already whispered his story into the night.
In Praise of the Story-seeker’s Gremlin
A playful ode to creative chaos, mysterious glitches, and the mischievous gremlin who shows up just when you think everything’s under control.
Paper, Ink, and Six Years of Becoming
Paper, Ink, and Six Years of Becoming
The story behind The Shopping List
Sometimes a story begins with something as ordinary as a dropped shopping list — and a moment of wondering who it belongs to.
Mapping the Realms: How This Site is Actually Organized
Realmscapes isn’t just a blog—it’s a mapped world of creative realms. This week, I’m pulling back the curtain to show how it’s actually organized (and why I built it this way in the first place).
Making Waves
Making Waves explores life’s stages through six illustrated messages—pleas, regrets, and acceptance—drawing inspiration from Zen’s empty boat parable and the idea that we are the boats, always moving, always changing. The zine ends with a space for your own message, inviting you to join the journey and pass it along to someone else who might need it.
The myth of the perfect creative space
This week’s zine didn’t make the deadline, but real life did. While catching my breath, I found myself pondering the YouTube myth of the perfect studio—and why creativity thrives in messy, real-life corners instead.
When Coffee and Computers Conspire
Half‑caff mornings mean more time for journaling, art, and apparently talking to my laptop when it stages a dramatic shutdown. Between cold coffee runs to the microwave and a machine dreaming of retirement in Florida, it’s a wonder I get anything done. But hey, I call it a win. Sort of.
You Might Be a Hornblower If…
I don’t usually make fan zines—but then Mat Cauthon raised the Horn. This one’s for the reluctant heroes, the gamblers, and the ones who turn back.
Lines, Tones, and Tiny Victories: A Quick Tour of My Zine-Making Pens and Markers
Waterproof lines, velvety tones, and a few battered marker tips—here’s the candid rundown of the brush pens, cool-gray Tombows, and papers I trust (or quarantine) while cranking out zine pages.
The secret power of mini-projects
Sometimes the secret to finishing creative work isn’t more time or more discipline — it’s thinking smaller. Here’s why mini projects have helped me finish more in two months than I did in the last two years.
Barking at monsters
Dogs bark at rabbits. I bark at Elementor. A funny look at creative chaos, Barkyard Security, and how overreaction might just be our default setting.
How to make a zine habit: four in and still rolling
Online zine-making seems to have gotten easier after only four issues, maybe because I’ve streamlined the process (or at least stopped reinventing the wheel each time). The idea and draft It starts with the idea. Some weeks it comes fast, other times I spend a couple of hours thinking it through. The easiest ideas show […]
June Studio Dispatch
A June update from the Realmscapes studio: a new zine, a new Realm, and a glimpse behind the scenes as sticker kits and tiny books come to life.
The Birth of a Zine Habit
A behind-the-scenes look at creating my first illustrated Substack zine — why I made it, what I learned, and why this might be the start of a new creative habit.
Why I joined New Masters Academy and chose the Illustration Track
Curious about New Masters Academy? Here’s why I joined, how I chose the illustration track, and what Week 1 of their structured art program is really like.
Interviewing characters for my new series
Ever wondered how authors discover their characters? Join me behind the scenes as I use playful AI-powered interviews to bring Core and Nova—two hilarious, heartfelt characters—to life for my new sci-fi series, Realmspire.
Can AI replace creators? Not anytime soon.
AI has sparked fears of replacing human creativity, but true artistry stems from personal experience and metaphor—something AI can’t genuinely grasp. While AI is a useful tool for brainstorming and simplifying tasks, it lacks the depth of human perspective, ensuring that writers and artists remain irreplaceable in the creative process.
Behind the Scenes: Writing and Posting My First Novel Draft
Finishing a novel feels like stepping through one door and reaching for the next—equal parts triumph and anticipation. Sharing my draft online pushed me to keep going, even when the words wouldn’t come. Now, with Aliki Martin and the Chocolate Cartel complete, a new adventure is just beyond the door.
Thriving in the backwater of the online creator ecosystem
Feel like you’re drifting in the backwater of the digital creator ecosystem? You’re not alone. Join me in the backchannel—a space where creativity flows freely, beyond the noise of algorithms. Let’s set our lanterns adrift and see where the current takes us.
My adventure writing a sci-fi murder mystery
Turning spaceships and chocolate into a murder mystery has been a wild ride—but Aliki’s adventure is just getting started.
Aliki’s Next Mess: Chapter 4 is up!
Aliki thought managing a used spaceship dealership would be straightforward—at least as straightforward as it gets on Earth. In this chapter, she finds out otherwise. With the ever-watchful Mitch digging deeper and the enigmatic Zoron keeping his cards close, Aliki’s ability to stay under the radar is put to the test. Not to mention, just […]
Chapter 3 of Aliki Martin and the Chocolate Cartel is LIVE
The third chapter (in draft form) is posted on the web site. Please let me know what you think of the story so far!
How Storyteller Tools by M. Harold Page makes plotting addictive
Lost in the messy middle of your story? Storyteller Tools by M. Harold Page transforms planning into play. With conflict diagrams and clever QABNs, it’s like story sculpting on steroids. Fair warning: once you start, you might not want to stop plotting. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
The power of observation for artists and writers
On a recent trip to Japan, I left my laptop behind to focus on something different: pure observation. By immersing myself in unfamiliar sights, sounds, and routines, I discovered how these experiences can deepen creative work, enriching the worlds we build with authentic details and fresh inspiration.
Navigating the future of illustration (and my own)
I fell off the illustration bandwagon this week while working on a novel. But I did manage some drawing practice, learning “Weight Drawing,” and had a realization while reading Heller’s The Education of an Illustrator about how AI is just another evolution in the industry, much like photography and digital tools were.
Exciting beginnings: my self-taught art journey, week 1
My first week on a self-taught art journey has been filled with unexpected challenges, inspiring discoveries, and a renewed sense of creative freedom. Join me as I explore foundational skills, face new trials, and uncover what it means to truly learn the art of illustration.
Creating a flexible ‘map’ for my illustration quest
Check out my plan to boost illustration skills: improve drawing, composition, and storytelling. Learning at my own pace with no pressure!
SketchAwesome: a new sketchbook habit?
I’ve given up on an online business. But there’s one thing I’d like to do: make sketching a daily habit. SketchAwesome might help with that!
How to make a good art composition: start the right way!
Before making thumbnails, even before making decisions about what you want to include in your drawing, the most important thing a beginner can do to improve a composition is to ensure that the drawing will be made in the same proportion as the reference or view that’s being drawn. A viewcatcher makes this easy.
Taking on Inktober
I started the month of October with the goal of completing the Inktober challenge this year. I’m now reporting that I didn’t make it past the first week. By the time I got to Day 5 it was already feeling pointless. On Day 6 I didn’t try very hard, and on Day 7 I was […]
Walking Makes You More Creative
Did you know walking makes you more creative? It’s true! Adobe did a study (https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf) with college students, putting them through a bunch of tests to see how walking influenced their creative thinking. Specifically, they looked at “novel” idea creation, meaning ideas that are unusual and/or new, and “unique” idea generation, meaning no one else […]
How Cancer Changed My Art, part 1
Part One In June 2021, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. After abdominal surgery and a lengthy hospital stay (I’d also had an intussuscepted section of small intestine that had to be removed), I had four weeks of recovery time prior to starting chemotherapy. During that time, I could barely walk and needed a lot […]
Ink It!
Why practice? This week’s post is going to be short. Instead of going through a tutorial explaining how I used this week’s limited supply list, I’d like to start a conversation about the P-word.You know what I’m talking about. PRACTICE My inner voice says: I don’t have time to practice. Every artwork I make has […]
How to Make a Randomized Materials List
Hi there! Today I’m going to show you how I make my materials selections for the art adventures. If you want to try an adventure of your own, you might want to make your own selection generator. It’s nothing more than a series of three lists and a way to randomly choose items on them. […]
How to Make an Artist Trading Card
Last week I posted a brief essay on the history of the artist trading card. You can re-read that here if you like. Briefly, Artist Trading Cards (ATC) started back in the 1990s when an artist from Zurich decided to catalogue his art on trading cards that could be swapped with other artists. It’s become […]
What Are Artist Trading Cards?
If you’ve seen my Instagram lately, you know that I’ve been focused on making “little” art: 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch cards created with watercolor, ink or colored pencil. These are Artist Trading Cards (ATC), a fun hobby I stumbled across in 2018 and have recently returned to. Today I thought it would be […]
Did You Know It’s World Watercolor Month?
Hello there! Are you enjoying your summer? We’re in our mid-summer weather pattern now, full blast, with beautiful sunrises and sunsets and thick humid heat in between. But our morning walks have been lovely – there’s just enough of a gentle breeze in spots near the creek that make me wish I could stay out […]
Hello everyone! Today I want to share a few things with you. The weather is just gorgeous here in Tennessee, too beautiful to pass up an outdoor sketching trip, so I thought I’d share some pics from that. I’ve been working on improving my watercolor skills and have a whole list of free online courses […]
How Storytelling Can Help Your Art
To me, storytelling and art go hand in hand, but I didn’t always think this way. In fact, I never heard of storytelling prior to three years ago when I moved here. It was in 2017. We’d been searching for a new home that would suit us for life in retirement and found a beautiful […]
How to Find Your Lost “Why” in Art
Are you struggling with your art? It’s fun to draw and paint, no doubt about it. It’s nice when your artwork can also earn a few dollars. But what do you do when your creative work is no longer satisfying? Worse yet, what can you do when your creative time becomes a source of frustration? […]
Derwent Graphitint Experiment (My Search for the Perfect Colored Pencils)
Hello again! February is here already and the days are flying by faster than I can count. I have a hard time believing January is gone, but then I spent most of it traveling, and that always seems to pass quickly. I managed to get a good bit of writing done while I was gone, […]
Choosing a New Studio Name
What’s in a name? A lot, actually. Or not enough. Or maybe, if you’re lucky, nothing much. That’s when you know you’ve got a good imagination. I can hear you asking: Anni, what the heck are you talking about? I’m talking about pen names. Store names. Art studio names. Blog names. If you’ve ever had […]
A Portrait Prep Challenge
In art, as with most hobbies or sports, or really just about anything, I believe it’s important to have challenges. I’m not referring to competition; I’m referring to the kind of challenge that tests the perception we have about our personal ability to do something. The kind of challenge that makes us prove to ourselves […]
Learning to Illustrate a Story
Last week I wrote a short story about a koi and an otter. I think it would be fun to illustrate it and put it on the blog. I already have a few ideas in my head about what I want the pictures to look like. But how do I get those ideas out of […]
Friday Fundamentals
Fundamentals: a central or primary principle on which something is based My intent for this blog isn’t to include a bunch of tutorials. I think there are many well-qualified experts who have already produced enough tutorials, and I’ll list some of them when applicable. However, I do think it’s important to have some guidance when […]
The 100 Day Project
The 100 Day Project https://www.the100dayproject.org/ This is the fifth year for a social collaboration called The 100 Day Project. It’s goal is to get you into the habit of making something for 100 days in a row. What can you do in 100 days? Just about anything you want. Every day after you create your […]
Planning the New Blog
Hello! Confession: I am not the kind of person who feels compelled to blog regularly. I like using the web site as a journal, and I’m eager to explore different ways to use the medium creatively, but I have no motivation to update it regularly. I’ve used the past couple of months to explore various […]