Winona Nelson

Anatomy of a Scientific American Cover

Posted by Winona Nelson | Monday, March 13th, 2023

A couple years ago I had the pleasure of illustrating a Scientific American cover on the subject...

Illustrations: If You Sailed on the Titanic

Posted by Winona Nelson | Monday, February 13th, 2023

A new educational history picture book I illustrated is out! I thought I’d share some of the...

Book Rec: “The Secret Lives of Color” by Kassia St. Clair

Posted by Winona Nelson | Monday, January 16th, 2023

Oil paints are fascinating and sometimes frustrating beasts, each with its own personality. When...

Medium experiments: Flashe Vinyl Paint

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, December 17th, 2022

I recently had the pleasure of visiting artist friends at their studio, and as often happens on...

A small taste of IX 2022!

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, October 22nd, 2022

I’m currently at IX 2022 in Reading, PA, and wanted to share some photos. This is only the...

Character Design, Pt 8: Designing Alternatives (Layer Comps)

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, September 24th, 2022

Phew, it has been a busy couple of months, but I’ve got a quick chance to dive back into...

Stop Trying to Prove Yourself: Student Mindset vs Professional

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, August 27th, 2022

One of the things that has become the main theme of my online mentorship is the different thought...

Searching For Swirls

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, July 30th, 2022

Lately I’ve been playing with texture and randomness, to add some of the expressiveness or...

Character Design, Pt 7: Step By Step Hand Render

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, July 2nd, 2022

Hello again! I’m working on this character again. Let’s dive right in to rendering his...

Character Design Pt 6 – Sidetracked (Iterations)

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, June 4th, 2022

This week I’m continuing work on the final render for this character. I like to focus first...

Voice Shutter Self-Reference

Posted by Winona Nelson | Sunday, May 8th, 2022

We’ve had some great articles about shooting self-reference here, involving costumes, tripods,...

Character Design Pt 5 – Starting the Render Phase

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, April 9th, 2022

I’ve just got a tiny bit of time between client jobs to update this character design, but...

Character Design, Pt 4 – Starting Color with Gradient Maps and History Brush

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, March 12th, 2022

Hello again! I’m starting on the color stage for my character design. I’ve decided on...

Character Design, Pt 3 – Creating Variations – Layer Organization and Clipping

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, February 12th, 2022

In the last session, I created a paper doll body base, to provide a frame on which to work on...

CHARACTER DESIGN, PT 2 – THE PAPER DOLL BASE

Posted by Winona Nelson | Saturday, January 15th, 2022

Last session I started gathering ideas for my occultist. Now I’m going to start in on a set...

Hilary Clarcq on Drawing vs. FinalIt's wonderful to see these, thank you so much for sharing them!
Nelson on Studio Safety Pt. 2 – The Facts About TurpentineYes, I use walnut oil as my only medium and wipe and clean my brushes with the walnut oil. I use any dish type soap to clean my brushes after. After w…
Carly A-F on Drawing vs. FinalBeautiful work Rovina, and thank you for sharing your process. Really interesting to see how you put the final art together.
WRITEMYPAPERS on An Art Education in One WeekThis is a good way to learn something new, moreover, it will be simply invaluable for those who study or write about art. In college, I wrote several…
onlinecollegewriting on Continuing EducationIt is a good option to receive continuous education and everyone should strive for this in order to be better every day, learn something new and be ad…

Author: Winona Nelson

Anatomy of a Scientific American Cover

Illustrations: If You Sailed on the Titanic

Book Rec: “The Secret Lives of Color” by Kassia St. Clair

Medium experiments: Flashe Vinyl Paint

A small taste of IX 2022!

Character Design, Pt 8: Designing Alternatives (Layer Comps)

Stop Trying to Prove Yourself: Student Mindset vs Professional

Searching For Swirls

Character Design, Pt 7: Step By Step Hand Render

Character Design Pt 6 – Sidetracked (Iterations)

Voice Shutter Self-Reference

Character Design Pt 5 – Starting the Render Phase

Character Design, Pt 4 – Starting Color with Gradient Maps and History Brush

Character Design, Pt 3 – Creating Variations – Layer Organization and Clipping

CHARACTER DESIGN, PT 2 – THE PAPER DOLL BASE

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Painting Natural Textures

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What To Do When Someone Steals Your Art

Type 101 for Illustrators

Getting Started with an Airbrush

Getting Organized: Part 1

Tips for Abstract Interpretation

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