I got my wish of illustrating animal protagonists! Here are a couple of my illustrations for Catherine Ann Russell's Pearls of Wisdom series. #kidlit #noai #illustration

Sunset of Cockatiel 🌤️ #birdart #cockatiel #digitalart #fantasyart #creatureart

Guess who also illustrates stylized watercolor maps! Me! This is the map I revamped for the re-release of the Pearls of Wisdom series by Catherine Ann Russell. I also did interior illustrations for Books 4 and 5. Looking forward to sharing some of those with you! #middlegrade #mapart #fantasymap

Watch me noodle around in Procreate to sketch out variations for heraldry-inspired family emblems! Be healed by the tranquility of auto-symmetry. :) #procreate #sigil #heraldry #familycrest #heraldicart

There is a crazy rabbit hole to go down for heraldic art. I only grazed the surface, but I loved learning about it! This is a heraldry-inspired emblem I designed for a client with a modern style. #heraldry #heraldicart #familycrest #sigil #sigilart #medieval

Prairie States Mushroom Club is an Iowa non-profit doing great work in fungi education. Look at the interview I did with them about my Shrumans card game! www.candicebroersma.com/news/2026/1/... Photo Credit: Prairie State Mushroom Club iowamushroom.org #forage #indiegames #mushrooms

Map for Iowa City #holidaymarket THIS Saturday. Find me: Robert A. Lee Recreation Center, #IowaCity 8am-1pm, Dec 6 🎨 Two floors of crafts 🌯 Breakfast nibbles 🪙 No cash? Buy with tokens! Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge, #Coralville 3pm-7pm, Dec 6 ☕ Free Cocoa 🎁 Discounts 🎲 Gaming gifts #noai

Happy #kidlitartpostcard day! My postcard features an interior illustration for the upper-middle grade sci fi series "Worlds Apart". I work with a line-based, graphic-novel-inspired illustration style for this book! Find more of my book illustration at candicebroersma.com. #kidlit #noai

Iowa City AND Coralville #holidaymarket events on Dec 6! Robert A. Lee Recreation Center 8am-1pm 🎨 Two floors of hand-made goods 🌯 Breakfast nibbles 🪙 No cash? Buy with tokens! Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge 3pm-7pm ☕ Free Hot Cocoa 🎁 Discounts for purchasing from vendors 🎲 Gaming gifts

Human or mushroom? The world may never know... Pics from the Holiday Market in Iowa City. Fingers crossed that I will have a second show December 6! Freelance illustration is my main gig, but I would love to travel around to mushroom and art conventions one day. #mushroom #mushroomart #iowacity

See me and my mushroom artwork THIS Saturday at the Holiday Market in #IowaCity! Support human artists, small businesses, and find unique gifts! Saturdays, November 15 & December 6 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. Robert A. Lee Recreation Center Image by freepik #iowacityparksandrec #holidaymarket #holiday

Skeletons are seriously amazing! I sketched these in Clip Studio in my quest to explore Photoshop alternatives. Clip Studio wins at: - Liquify ability in symmetry mode - Using liquify directly on canvas - Organic Vector line drawing and editing - Perspective drawing guide - Timelapse #clipstudio

Made my first card game box prototype! Stop by Game Store Day at Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge in Iowa City on November 1 (tomorrow) for free play testing of local-made games, including my Shrumans! #gamestoreday #mushrooms #mushroomart #gameart #illustration #mushroomart

Since my first public game testing of Shrumans at Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge, I have been honing my mushroom card game! The next one is happening Nov 1 on the inaugural Game Store Day. Prairie States Mushroom Club will be joining the fun! www.diversionsic.com/events #gamestoreday #mushrooms

Are you in town for the Iowa City book festival? Stop by the vendor hall for a sci fi/fantasy convention at the Masonic Lodge called ICON. Open to the public from 11am-5pm. #iowacity #iowaconvention #iowacitybookfestival #icbookfestival #icon49.5 #icon50 #iowacityevents #iowacityart #fantasyart

Happy #kidlitart postcard day! I am a fantasy illustrator doing creative illustration in publishing, advertising, and gaming. Stay weird and wonderful like a somewhat feline humanoid fairy queen with a thistle sword! #illustration #fantasyart #kidlit #bookart #fairyart www.candicebroersma.com

Surprise #lacomicon I’m doing a panel in about 20 minutes! It’s gonna be a fantastic group discussing GenAi and its impacts on creatives! Come on by if you’re around! It’s gonna be a blast!

My first tabling event for this fall! Come to a quaint sci-fi and fantasy con in Iowa City on October 10-11. Iowa City Book Festival is happening at the same time, so it's a 2-in-1 event weekend! Check out Iowa-icon.com for more information. #iowa #conartist #iowacity #scifi #fantasy #fantasyart

Did you know that you can paint with coffee? It works similarly to watercolor, but is more permanent once it's dried. Mix up cheap instant coffee with a little hot water and you're good to go! #coffeeart #illustration #coffeepainting #animalart

Here's a fancy witch for the fall season! I illustrated this for an article, trying out a simplified style (or, simple for me). Enjoy! #witch #fallvibes #digitalart #illustration

I started at Iowa City's Natural History Museum with a mountain lion and a bushy-tailed mouse. I finished at home with a cat and mouse theme. It made me wonder if people can tell right away if a drawing is from life or from a photograph/2d image. Can you tell the difference? #procreate #digitalart

I use 3D models to help with lighting the scene and some of the tricky aspects of perspective. Here is a look at some of my 3D reference so you can get a sense for my process! Also, I NEED you to see my flapper-inspired caterpillar. #digitalart #illustration #fantasyart #bookcover

This is an oldie, but goodie! I did this digital painting as part of a reimagined "virtues series" and was fortunate enough to receive an award in the Infected by Art annual. I love reinventing classic mythological creatures like unicorns and dragons! #digitalart #fantasyart #characterart #unicorns

Iowa City has an amazing Natural History Museum that is free of admission and I don't go enough! Here are some crazy animal sketches I made in #Procreate. @pentacrest.museums #sketchbook #procreate #timelapse #sketch #digitalart

I enjoy using Procreate the most for sketching this was my first try at drawing in Procreate. Somehow the execution is better than my more recent projects in Procreate which is confuzzling. Or maybe I just really like gargoyles! #sketch #procreate #drawingstudy #gargoyles #gargoyleart

This is an interior illustration I made for "The Duchess and the Journey Under the Eternal Clouds" by Jeremiah Brennan. Airships for everyone! #bookart #bookillustration #middlegrade #steampunk #digitalart #kidslit

Congrats to Thomas L. Martin's novel release today, "A Silver Cord". Here are the concept sketches! I worked with more stylization both at the beginning and final execution. I am learning the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach to maintain the energy in the sketches. #bookcoverart #kidslit

Part 1 of the mushrooms I found this summer and my desire to poke all of them. #forage #mushrooms

Our Kickstarter launches in two days—don't get left behind! www.kickstarter.com/projects/dia...

I'm getting these Shrumans finished! Corals are done and I am getting through boletes. Here is a cute coral fungi!

 Follow me on my journey to make my Shrumans card game a reality. 🍄 Image credits: © Alan Rockefeller #mushroom #cardgame #shrumans #mushroomart #mushroomforage

Here is a book cover I designed for Joyce Sherry. She trusted my departure of style from my typical portfolio and the result is an exciting new technique for my artistry arsenal. Congrats on a Booklife Editor's Pick! #bookcoverart #bookartist #bookillustrator #fantasyart #bookdesign

Happy #kidlitartpostcard day! This illustration is for "A Silver Chord" by Thomas L. Martin that is part of an epic wraparound cover illustration. The novel comes out in September. Middle grade fantasy is my jam! #illustration #fantasyart #bookart #bookillustrator #bookcoverartist

Happy Portfolio Day! I am a fantasy illustrator for #bookcovers, #characterart, and #gameart. Open to projects needing a quirky assortment of characters and creatures. I create lush, artful environments from scratch. Contact: candicebroersma.com #portfolioday #fantasyart #illustration #animalart

My style of post is wait for a month and then toss in everything! You can see my sketch dump at candicebroersma.com/blog. I also have photos from my Istanbul trip. 🐈‍⬛ It has cats, so you’re welcome in advance. #sketchbook #drawingstudy #watercolor #ballpointpen #drawing #urbansketch #travelsketch

Call your senators asap. (You can do so via 5calls.org ) and ask them to support Senator Blackburn’s AI amendment! We only need 4 GOP senators and all Dems senators to stop this abomination (amongst many other abominations within that terrible bill)! Let’s go get em!

Hey friends. Enjoying Iowa City for the summer? Come see a wonderful collection of artists at Bitchin’ Market just across from the Farmers Market this Saturday from 10am to 4pm. Thanks to organizing from @bitchinevents! #icevents #iowacity #downtownic #icevents #iowacityevents #greenhouse

Introducing coral fungi Shrumans! I like to sketch in Procreate, but painting in the style similar to how I work in Photoshop is more challenging. If and when Procreate introduces vector paths, that would be super helpful! One big perk is the timelapse feature. :) #procreate #shruman #cutemushroom

Happy Mother's Day!
 #possumillustration #mothersdayart #fantasyart #animalart

Happy Mermay I guess. #mermay #digitalart #artprocess #mermaidart

Introducing my new Shruman stickers! This time, we even have shiny holographic ones. ✨ Find them on my website at candicebroersma.com/shop. #catprinted #catprint #mushroom #fungi #mushroomgift #mushroomart #mushroomsticker

THANK YOU!! Amazing, 11k already? This platform is something else. Thank you to everyone who interacts, it's brilliant 🥰 💜Share your art WITH ALT TEXT!! 💜Spread the love! ❤️ 😀Share this post for more visibility 👀 🚫No AISlop,nf/ts. Keep it SFW. #art #artshare #dragon #dragonart #watercolour

Here is my book cover art for #portfolioday! I love, love doing book covers. I design both typography elements as well as illustrations. Most of my work is in #middlegrade and #ya fantasy. contact: [email protected] #bookcover #fantasyart

Newly opened Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge in Coralville, IA is featuring my art! Come check it out on April 19 and go to Diversions' grand opening on April 12! #mushroomart #cardgame #cardart #mushroomgame

Better late than never! Here is my postcard for #kidlitpostcard day. I love illustrating fantasy characters for middle grade, YA and more! #kidlitart #kidlit #illustration

Happy April fools! That stinky egg you found on your egg hunt could be fooling you. It’s a fungi! Stinkhorn fungi use smells that often resemble decaying animals or poop to attract insects to help disperse their spores. #shrumans #mushroomart #fantasyart #mushroomgift

To the artists just starting to make their way professionally or considering whether to start at all with the flood of genAI. Know this: genAI models are not yet trained on the art that is to come and is riddled with cliché and bias. It is more important than ever to develop your voice. #noai

Shruman drop coming at you! I am finishing the rendering for all of my stinkhorns. Also, Iowa City’s Film Scene is letting me have a table before the showing of Fungi: Web of Life on March 25. This movie is pay-what-you-can. Come see me before the movie! #shruman #fungi #iowacity #mushroomart

Hey everyone! My new blog post is out for the month where I talk a little more about the Shruman card game I am making! I also make mention about a free fungi movie that will be showing this month. 🍄‍🟫 👀 Find my blog at candicebroersma.com/news #mushroom #mushroomlove #mushroomart

The winning entries for Infected By Art Volume 13 came out and I barely "squeaked" by with "The Messenger". Image credit: top to bottom and left to right: K. Bolan, A. Brack, D. Brasgalla, B. Brenneise, C. Broersma, J. Bruce, D. BUIRON, B.Bullion, D. Bullock #fantasyart #illustrationannual #iba

One Book Two Book children's book festival is here! I will have a booth at the Book Fair on February 22 from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. With me will be a display of book cover mock-ups and Shrumans merch! www.iowacityofliterature.org/event/one-bo... #kidslit #bookfair #iowacity #iowabooks #iowaartists