Art & Inspiration letters from NIGHTEͶ (Nathan Guilhot)
This is not just a newsletter — it's my personal magazine documenting my creative journey.
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Good morning Reader! :)
I hope you’re doing fantastic this week! I wasn’t planning for it at first, but this week I have something exciting to share with you: my Inktober project! It’s a very special one — and you could even take part in it!
This week I’m telling you all about this and even more; let’s dive into it!
But first!
Quick reminder: this week, like every beginning of the month, one of you will be picked to receive a free print! They should get an extra email from me soon ;)
This is still the only way to get my illustration physically (unless you catch me IRL), and we’ve been doing this every month for almost a year. It sounds so surreal!
Recently my country has put some restriction on shipping to the US, but I hope to continue this monthly tradition for a long time!
I take you on a guided tour of my world ✨
Like I said in the intro, I actually didn’t want to do Inktober this year. Inktober is one of those monthly challenges where artists post new art every day, following a list of themes.
I did it many times in the past, but not anymore.
What I dislike about the “normal” version of the challenge is how temporary it is: once the challenge is over, there is not much you can do with the finished drawing. They are not very relevant outside of the challenge, and because you need to make one a day, the quality is often not good enough to make an artbook out of the illustrations.
I wanted something more useful, more long term! And that’s where someone suggested making a zine; and after thinking about it, I found the perfect idea for me!
You see, all my illustrations are set in the same city/universe, but I never took the time to properly introduce what I have in mind. That’s why this month I decided to show a new location from my Blue Roof City each day, with a quick ink drawing and some flavor text :)
Here are the first few locations so far!
DAY 01 The Wired City
Located east of the country, this city (commonly called the Blue Roof City for its iconic tiles) is quiet and unremarkable for the untrained eye. Except maybe for the proximity of the mountain in the north and the eastern sea.
But beyond its mundane appearance lies a lot of interesting places, and I would like to show you :)
DAY 02 The city Canal
This is where my illustration in progress is taking place!
The canal crosses the whole city from the mountain north west to the eastern sea, and yet many tourist forget it even exist. The reason? It’s very thin!
Only service boats and emergency are able to navigate on it. But its clean water and freshness makes it a perfect set piece for a relaxing walk.
While you’re at it, make sure to bring some food for the fishes living there
🐟
DAY 03 Cookie Coma Bakery
While you are visiting the city, would you fancy a little sugar high?
Then look no further than the Cookie Coma Bakeries, our favorite local chain!
This is the perfect place to sit with friends on a cozy afternoon, and not be able to do anything else for the rest of the day. Don’t forget to brush your teeth!
This bakery made its debut in this illustration 2 years ago!
DAY 04 The East Port
As you follow the canal towards the east, you will eventually end up at the sea, near the city’s port.
Fisherman boats are not allowed near the canal’s mouth to protect the local fauna, so they are neatly packed in the north part of the port.
You might notice the single massive dock on your way: not many ships use it anymore, but it’s the perfect place to enjoy the annual firework!
DAY 05 The Beach
The Blue Roof City is not known for its warm climate, but if you need to refresh yourself or have a pleasant walk then I strongly recommend the beach!
If you look north from here you can see the port clearly, and the lights of the city are beautiful to see at night. A lot of families are living in the nearby district, so it can be quite agitated when school is over!
DAY 06 The Aquarium Center
But what if you are unlucky and visit on a rainy day? Well, it’s the perfect time to go visit the city aquarium!
The giant glass room shows a beautiful view directly from below the canal’s mouth. The aquarium center did a lot to document and preserve the local fauna, so you surely will learn some cool fish facts along the way!
I hope you're enjoy it so far :)
Better yet, you can influence where the tour will go next!
On Mastodon/Fediverse, the social network where I’m the most active, I create a new poll every day to let you choose what location you want to see next. If you have an account, you can follow the thread here.
To be clear, I have a set list of locations, and I drew a lot of them in advance already — so if you’re not able to vote, no worries, you’ll see them all in this newsletter :)
I hope you’ll enjoy this little side quest this month!
Progress on the main illustration!
What takes the longest when I make art is always the line art. Inking details is a lot of work, and this time there was a lot of detail to draw!
So it was a bit scary to dive into the final pass and refine the already detailed sketch I shared with you last week. For example, I would work on the rocks in the foreground for 20 minutes, before zooming out and realizing that it was only a fraction of the image.
But like all my illustrations, it’s made one line at a time. After a while, it finally felt satisfying to see progress and see the sketch come to life.
Here is my progress so far!
Those big buildings still need some time to get ready!
Thanks to the buffer I created for my Inktober project, I’m optimistic that I will have colors to show you next week! I hope you’re as curious and excited as I am to see how this will turn out :)
Stay tuned!
And that’s it for this week! Once again, watch your inbox for extra emails from me, and I’m looking forward to being back next week with even more art to share with you!
Thank you, as always, for following my journey. Have a great rest of your day!
Take care, - Nighten
This email is part of my art Newsletter. Invite a friend to join the club: https://club.nighten.fr