45 Days Of CCS, #26: Anna Sellheim

Anyone who follows Anna Sellheim on Instagram knows that her sketchbook drawings are wildly entertaining and show the breadth and depth of her talent. The Birth Of A Sketchbook Zine covers 2002-24 and sees Sellheim mostly concentrating on what she does best: drawing the female form. That extends to her ability to draw clothing and exaggerate gesture and expressions. The cover story, featuring a pair of sketchbooks getting into a tryst that leads to some unexpected consequences, is hilarious. When Sellheim commits to a particular style and lets her art do most of the talking, her drawings are particularly effective. Sellheim's use of color strongly balances decorative and expressive elements, and I especially like the way she uses deep, rich reds and purples. 

That's a reflection of Sellheim's aggressive style that tends to get in the reader's face. So many of her drawings are seething with emotion--anger, attitude, desire, and many more. While her naturalistic drawings show off her skill, her real virtues shine when she draws in an exaggerated fashion. Her 2023 Inktober Zine took that month of drawing prompts in order to learn how to draw directly from ink without other underdrawing. The results are mixed as Sellheim tries a variety of line weights and styles. Some attempts at adding more detail are muddled, but more clear-line approaches are more effective. There's also a hilarious bit where she came up with a potential story with a pair of young, gay teenaged boys and her boyfriend roasts her as one of many women her age interested in stories like this. Sellheim's nude drawings pack a lot of expressive power and I love the way she spots blacks. I really like it when she uses a thick, chunky and sketchy line, but her thinner line is every bit as expressive. At this point, Sellheim just needs to pick the right style for the right project and stick with it.