profile

The John Loren Newsletter

Get info on illustration, books, signings, workshops, and the wonders of art from the desk of John Loren.

Featured Post

The Vernal Journal

Issue 06: April 2025... The Vernal Journal (Ok so, Vernal means spring... I know it's a stretch.) If you missed the last issue, you can read it here. Last time I asked for some questions, a recurring request was Tips for New Freelance Artists. I know many readers don't fall into this category, but for those who do, I put together a list at the end of some of the things I find important in retrospect. I've been reviewing a lot of portfolios lately, and these things are especially on my mind,...

Issue 05: February 2025... The Winter Edition (Pt. II) Hello! If you missed Winter Edition Part I, you can read it here. Everyone around here has been under the weather with winter plagues, so I'm running very late on Part II, but I saved a few pieces of art to make it interesting. I also tried something new and gathered some Q&A questions on socials. I answered the short ones and took some longer answers for the newsletter. Seems like a pretty good system, and thanks for the submissions. A...

Issue 04: December 2024... The Winter Edition (Pt. I) Happy New Year! If you missed the previous issue, you can read it here. So the first year of newslettering has come to a close. I hope you've enjoyed it so far, thanks for the support, and more importantly for your support of art and artists generally. You may have seen that I'm posting work from this past year online after a long long break, which I'll try to continue with some regularity. I also made a new account on Blue Sky if that's...

Issue 03: October 2024... The Halloween Special! Many happy pumpkins to you! If you missed the previous issue, you can read it here. Folks, I love Halloween, and I hope you're reading this while lost in a corn maze or from a misty pumpkin patch. In years past, making an annual Halloween painting (or book) was one of my favorite traditions. That's been beyond my reach for the past few years, but I swear they will one day return. Recovering from tendonitis has also put a wrench in some of my...

Issue 02: September 2024 Welcome to the second newsletter! If you missed the first, you can read it here. Summer was a kinda rough art season, I spent a lot of it dealing with tendonitis problems that have messed up my whole schedule. I'm glad to be getting back to painting finally, and luckily there are some neat things to talk about in the meantime... the newsletter must go on! I also finished the last page of my new picture book manuscript, which is a small but symbolic victory. Here we...

Issue 01: July 2024 Welcome to the first newsletter! I’ve put this thing together because the tumult of other online channels these days makes communication spotty and complicated. My hope is this can be a nice direct source of updates and extra stuff for those who want it. Some of you probably found your way here because of Lorcana, or picture books, or maybe you're artists yourselves, so I’ll try to make the various sections pretty clear (you can skip the sections you don’t like, I won’t...