What I created this month // July 2025

We're in the midst of summer and yet another month has passed! ☀️ It was a super creative month for me, and I had a lot of fun trying out new techniques! Here's an overview of everything I created in July ✨

This month's tutorial was on solving problems in your art! I loved making this one, because it was a mix of practical as well as mindset-based tips. It's all about how you can assess your art while you're drawing, and apply solutions once you notice there's a problem. This is one of the most fundamental aspects of my workflow, which is all about going with the flow and course-correcting where needed. Watch the full video here!

Since it's my latest tutorial, it will be available on the $5 spark tier for another month! After that, it goes to the backlog, along with 50 other tutorials. Join the spark tier if you want to grab it for $5! And if you want to access the massive backlog of over 50 tutorials, just upgrade to the $10 flame tier 🔥

This month's challenge was on capturing tension in a pose! It was all about conveying muscles, tendons, veins, redness - anything that helps convey the tension underneath the skin. This was a bit outside of my comfort zone, since I usually prefer soft and floaty poses. That's why it was excellent practice! Here's what I created:

For next month's challenge, we'll be studying iridescence! This is an effect that creates beautiful color variation and is a great exercise for anyone who enjoys color and painting techniques. If you're not yet a flame member, be sure to upgrade your tier to access the challenge - all information will be posted on the 1st!

As always, flame members also got access to the process video and a resource video with tips and advice. This is a 20 minute long video in which I discuss my process, common mistakes, and run through the artwork that you guys posted in the discord! If you want to draw studies like this in the future, you might find it helpful. Watch it here!

This month was all about exploring soft shading techniques! I've been experimenting with the smudge tool, gradient tool and soft brush to create soft, blurred edges and a poetic feel. I used this technique to paint some roses and some chromatic aberration concepts. I'm really loving this new technique and thinking a lot about what else I'm going to create with it!

I also dove back into my sketchbook and made some studies. I wanted to use bolder, more defined lines, because I felt my more recent sketches were too light and careful. I had a lot of fun with these!

This month, I shared the full process of my rose artwork! I got so many questions about how I created these, so I figured it would be good to show you my process for them. I created a screencapture video (part 1 and part 2), and also a video that I recorded with my phone where you can see my hand movements better.

This month's session was another great trip down memory lane! I love getting nostalgic with you guys and talking about the deviantart days. We also talked about a ton of other art-related topics, like canvas size, thumbnailing, and social media! Watch the full session here.

We've got a fun challenge coming up! It's summer (or winter, depending on which hemisphere you're in), and a great time of year to travel ✈️ That's why No Girl is going on a trip in August! Where to, you ask? We don't know yet... that all depends on you! The details will be announced in the server tomorrow, when the challenge launches 💖

Friendly reminder: all paying members have access to the discord server! If you’re not sure how to join the discord, just follow the steps outlined here.

Thanks for your support this month! I had so much fun exploring soft, blendy rendering styles this month and I'm really excited to create more - and even possibly create a tutorial on the topic. I hope you stick around for another month of creating! ✨

Thank you so much for supporting me in creating this month's content and art! I'll be sending out links to this month's google drive folder today! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Thank you for being a part of this Patreon! If you're interested in getting access to all of the above plus content from previous months, upgrade your tier here!

If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to share them with me through a direct message or e-mail to loishh@gmail.com. Any and all feedback is welcome!