Here it is! We are so excited and proud to announce the publication of our Issue 040! Not only is it packed with 14 beautiful stories written by women-identifying authors, but it is also our second-ever themed issue. This time, we’re dealing with Poisons & Potions. We hope you visit our homepage to delve into this lovely edition or (even better), get your hands on a print copy. Either way, we know you’ll enjoy it. And as a bonus, we’re excited to share with you a chat we recently had with our amazing cover artist, Anna Steinbauer about her beautiful cover image, “Veritas.”
LSQ: Please tell us about the cover image “Veritas.” What is the story behind it? On your Patreon page, you mention in your spare time you are working on a passion project called Veritas, an illustrated storybook set in a whimsical world of witches, magic and mystery. Can you explain more about this?Â
Anna: This painting shows Meris, a young witch, right after a potion making mishap. There is an old book propped up with a translation scroll beside it, but the sludge in the cauldron looks nothing like the illustration. Meris opened a window to let out the black smoke and haphazardly wiped the desk, but her mind is already elsewhere as she takes notes and wonders what went wrong.
I love painting details like these, which will ideally encourage observant viewers to piece together a narrative without much explanation. Still, coming up with stories while I paint is inevitable and sometimes it’s fun to write them down. This, in turn, feeds back into ideas for more paintings. Veritas is my way of letting that process happen naturally, for no other reason than my personal enjoyment.
LSQ: Can you explain a bit about the media that you use and how you got started?Â
Anna: While I enjoy working with traditional media, I prefer the convenience of digital painting. I can paint whenever and wherever I want, with no preparation or cleanup. For this painting I used Procreate on the iPad.