Candice Broersma
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candice-mantis.bsky.social
Candice Broersma
@candice-mantis.bsky.social
33 followers 65 following 57 posts
Book cover artist and currently developing the Shrumans card game.

https://www.candicebroersma.com
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candice-mantis.bsky.social
Prairie States Mushroom Club is an Iowa non-profit doing great work in fungi education. Look at the interview I did with them about my Shrumans card game!

www.candicebroersma.com/news/2026/1/...

Photo Credit: Prairie State Mushroom Club
iowamushroom.org

#forage #indiegames #mushrooms
Macro photo of a human hand holding a tiny mushroom with a long, skinny stem. Photo of human hands holding an oyster mushroom and a foraging knife next to a cluster of fruiting oysters.
January 6, 2026 at 2:53 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Map for Iowa City #holidaymarket THIS Saturday. Find me:

Robert A. Lee Recreation Center, #IowaCity
8am-1pm, Dec 6
🎨 Two floors of crafts
🌯 Breakfast nibbles
πŸͺ™ No cash? Buy with tokens!

Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge, #Coralville
3pm-7pm, Dec 6
β˜• Free Cocoa
🎁 Discounts
🎲 Gaming gifts

#noai
Map of stalls for Iowa City Holiday Market on December 6 pointing out booth for Broersma Studio. Image featuring mushroom-themed illustrations by artist Candice Broersma including a mushroom valentines card and mushroom stickers.
December 5, 2025 at 4:05 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Happy #kidlitartpostcard day!

My postcard features an interior illustration for the upper-middle grade sci fi series "Worlds Apart". I work with a line-based, graphic-novel-inspired illustration style for this book! Find more of my book illustration at candicebroersma.com.

#kidlit #noai
Black and white illustration of a girl sitting in the foreground while watching a crowd of aliens on a bustling street with alien neon signs. There is a clam-headed humanoid, a giant insect leg, a lion made of vines, crab creature, female with bubble arms, hairy blob, and giraffe-like beast. Illustration by Candice Broersma.
December 4, 2025 at 11:35 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Iowa City AND Coralville #holidaymarket events on Dec 6!

Robert A. Lee Recreation Center
8am-1pm
🎨 Two floors of hand-made goods
🌯 Breakfast nibbles
πŸͺ™ No cash? Buy with tokens!

Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge
3pm-7pm
β˜• Free Hot Cocoa
🎁 Discounts for purchasing from vendors
🎲 Gaming gifts
A holiday markets poster for December 6 featuring illustrations of Christmas ornaments, decorations, and candy canes. A photo of a vendor booth at the Iowa City Holiday market featuring greeting cards and mushroom themed stickers. A vendor booth at the holiday market featuring a canvas print with mushroom characters and a rack of fantasy illustration art prints.
December 3, 2025 at 1:44 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Human or mushroom? The world may never know...

Pics from the Holiday Market in Iowa City. Fingers crossed that I will have a second show December 6! Freelance illustration is my main gig, but I would love to travel around to mushroom and art conventions one day.

#mushroom #mushroomart #iowacity
Woman with a mushroom hat next to a booth displaying mushroom character greeting cards and stickers. A booth displaying fantasy illustration greeting cards, stickers, and prints
November 15, 2025 at 11:33 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
See me and my mushroom artwork THIS Saturday at the Holiday Market in #IowaCity! Support human artists, small businesses, and find unique gifts!

Saturdays, November 15 & December 6
8 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Robert A. Lee Recreation Center

Image by freepik

#iowacityparksandrec #holidaymarket #holiday
Illustrated graphic with a red bird, Santa hat, and a candy cane with the event text including "November 15, Holiday Market, 8am-1pm at Robert A. Lee Recreation Center in Iowa City"
November 12, 2025 at 1:08 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Skeletons are seriously amazing! I sketched these in Clip Studio in my quest to explore Photoshop alternatives.

Clip Studio wins at:
- Liquify ability in symmetry mode
- Using liquify directly on canvas
- Organic Vector line drawing and editing
- Perspective drawing guide
- Timelapse

#clipstudio
November 5, 2025 at 1:44 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Made my first card game box prototype! Stop by Game Store Day at Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge in Iowa City on November 1 (tomorrow) for free play testing of local-made games, including my Shrumans!

#gamestoreday #mushrooms #mushroomart #gameart #illustration #mushroomart
Photo of a mushroom-theme card game box titled "Shrumans" against a background of grass and fall leaves. Photo of a mushroom-theme card game box titled "Shrumans" against a background of grass and fall leaves.
November 1, 2025 at 12:37 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Since my first public game testing of Shrumans at Diversions Tabletop Game Lounge, I have been honing my mushroom card game! The next one is happening Nov 1 on the inaugural Game Store Day. Prairie States Mushroom Club will be joining the fun!

www.diversionsic.com/events

#gamestoreday #mushrooms
Game store logo reading "Game Store Day November 1, 2025" Ad featuring artwork from the mushroom card game "Shrumans" with an anthropomorphic Ramaria rasilispora running and a Chorioactis geaster with a surprised expression. Ad featuring artwork from the mushroom card game "Shrumans" with anthropomorphic mushrooms on "action cards" including "steal" and "beetle bust". Ad graphic for Game Store Day featuring a hand clenching a wrench encircled by the words "improved game mechanics"
October 26, 2025 at 1:00 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Are you in town for the Iowa City book festival? Stop by the vendor hall for a sci fi/fantasy convention at the Masonic Lodge called ICON. Open to the public from 11am-5pm.

#iowacity #iowaconvention #iowacitybookfestival #icbookfestival #icon49.5 #icon50 #iowacityevents #iowacityart #fantasyart
October 11, 2025 at 1:28 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Happy #kidlitart postcard day! I am a fantasy illustrator doing creative illustration in publishing, advertising, and gaming.

Stay weird and wonderful like a somewhat feline humanoid fairy queen with a thistle sword!

#illustration #fantasyart #kidlit #bookart #fairyart

www.candicebroersma.com
Character illustration of fairy Queen Titania flying with a thistle sword, flowing gown, and long sleeves resembling insect wings.
October 3, 2025 at 12:58 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Such a great integration of pattern and realism. πŸ¦‰
September 28, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by Candice Broersma
kortizart.bsky.social
Surprise #lacomicon I’m doing a panel in about 20 minutes!

It’s gonna be a fantastic group discussing GenAi and its impacts on creatives!

Come on by if you’re around! It’s gonna be a blast!
Poster for a panel NAVA Creators in the Age of Al Presented by NAVA Tim Friedlander JP Karliak Cissy Jones Phillip BouttΓ© Karla Ortiz Philip Bache MODERATOR Linsay Rousseau Saturday Sept 27 11:00am - 11:50am PDT Los Angeles Convention Center Panel Room 404 AB
September 27, 2025 at 5:41 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
So much attitude! Also, I need try clip studio asap.
September 28, 2025 at 3:58 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
I love the layout!
September 28, 2025 at 3:56 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
My first tabling event for this fall! Come to a quaint sci-fi and fantasy con in Iowa City on October 10-11. Iowa City Book Festival is happening at the same time, so it's a 2-in-1 event weekend! Check out Iowa-icon.com for more information.

#iowa #conartist #iowacity #scifi #fantasy #fantasyart
Image of the outside of the masonic building in Iowa City with text above stating "October 10-1, Icon 49.5, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Half-Season Convention IOWA-ICON.COM"
September 28, 2025 at 2:52 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Did you know that you can paint with coffee? It works similarly to watercolor, but is more permanent once it's dried. Mix up cheap instant coffee with a little hot water and you're good to go!

#coffeeart #illustration #coffeepainting #animalart
Painting studies made with coffee featuring a demon-like sculpture, a pig head, and a lion. Painting studies and illustrations made with coffee featuring a cat wearing a victorian collar, a Weiner dog holding a tulip, and a bird wing.
September 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Here's a fancy witch for the fall season! I illustrated this for an article, trying out a simplified style (or, simple for me). Enjoy!

#witch #fallvibes #digitalart #illustration
Digital illustration of a witch on the right with a big fancy hat and Edwardian dress drawing with a feather pen and holding a magic wand in the other hand. She is enchanting coins to float through the air into a small bag being held by a magpie that is perched on a succulent terrarium.
September 22, 2025 at 2:02 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
I started at Iowa City's Natural History Museum with a mountain lion and a bushy-tailed mouse. I finished at home with a cat and mouse theme. It made me wonder if people can tell right away if a drawing is from life or from a photograph/2d image. Can you tell the difference?

#procreate #digitalart
September 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
I find many of my clients really do want to support human artists, but just don't know it. The same big tech fueling the gen ai craze makes "google" searches on the subject biased in support of gen ai. They are also good at burying the issues with it. Educating clients goes a long way!
September 18, 2025 at 8:18 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
I use 3D models to help with lighting the scene and some of the tricky aspects of perspective. Here is a look at some of my 3D reference so you can get a sense for my process! Also, I NEED you to see my flapper-inspired caterpillar.

#digitalart #illustration #fantasyart #bookcover
Alice from the book Alice in wonderland splashing in the pool of tears with the Red Queen looming in the background flanked by the painted rose trees and toadstools. The smoking caterpillar is sitting atop a toadstool to the bottom left of the Red Queen. Also trapped in the pool of tears are two crabs, a mouse, and a dapper dodo bird. A 3D model composite of Alice from the book Alice in wonderland in a splashing pose with the Red Queen looming in the background flanked by rose tree. In front of Alice are two crabs, a mouse, and a dodo bird with a bowler hat. Close-up of digital painting of a smoking anthropomorphic caterpillar made to look like a flapper from the roaring twenties sitting on a group of toadstools. Close-up of a digital painting of Alice from Alice in Wonderland with pink bob cut hair who is splashing in the pool of tears.
September 14, 2025 at 2:57 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
This is an oldie, but goodie! I did this digital painting as part of a reimagined "virtues series" and was fortunate enough to receive an award in the Infected by Art annual. I love reinventing classic mythological creatures like unicorns and dragons!

#digitalart #fantasyart #characterart #unicorns
Digital artwork of a blue elven youth with silver hair and a robe sitting in a meditation kneeled posture and being circled by two small unicorn-like deer. There is moonlight lighting the scene in a forest thick with vines and an ancient stone head in the background. Lotus flowers surround the elf and are falling from above.
September 13, 2025 at 6:30 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
Iowa City has an amazing Natural History Museum that is free of admission and I don't go enough! Here are some crazy animal sketches I made in #Procreate. @pentacrest.museums

#sketchbook #procreate #timelapse #sketch #digitalart
September 11, 2025 at 2:04 AM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
I enjoy using Procreate the most for sketching this was my first try at drawing in Procreate. Somehow the execution is better than my more recent projects in Procreate which is confuzzling. Or maybe I just really like gargoyles!

#sketch #procreate #drawingstudy #gargoyles #gargoyleart
September 7, 2025 at 2:57 PM
candice-mantis.bsky.social
This is an interior illustration I made for "The Duchess and the Journey Under the Eternal Clouds" by Jeremiah Brennan. Airships for everyone!

#bookart #bookillustration #middlegrade #steampunk #digitalart #kidslit
Greyscale artwork of two young sisters in overalls holding hands at a low angle while looking up to see giant airships bursting through the clouds.
September 6, 2025 at 6:30 PM