Each month inside Burn Club we run a Burn Challenge: BC+ members pick a single word, and everyone is invited to interpret it in their own way, in any style, any level, any tool.

This time the word was “New Nib” —> pick up a tip you've been avoiding, or one you've never tried, and make something with it!

and the winner is…

Victoria of @mapleandfire

Victoria took that prompt and made something genuinely unexpected.

Victoria's entry depicts a whimsical cat/bunny/monster creature sitting atop a bungeoppang (a Korean fish-shaped waffle) presented as a dessert, complete with swirled cream, sprinkles, and a striped straw. The piece is so detailed! Not only that, but every scale on the fish body and every line in the swirled cream was built with hatching —-> a technique Victoria learned from a community Open Studio session led by fellow member Chuck, the night before submitting. The nib she used was a rounded shader, new to her, from a pack she already owned.

Victoria didn't just fulfill the brief. She showed up to an Open Studio, absorbed Chuck's hatching demo, and applied it the next day in a finished piece. That's the Burn Club loop working exactly as it's meant to and it fills my heart right up!

Find Victoria's work:

Instagram: @mapleandfire

Facebook: @mapleandfire

To celebrate, Victoria takes home a box of assorted wood slices, stickers and a burn club pin. A fitting reward for someone already planning her next project on better wood.

Give them some extra fire in the Burn Club and join us there for this month’s challenge. The May challenge is running now inside Burn Club, free to join and open to all skill levels.

To learn about the challenges before the public does, win some prizes and get burning: join us in The Burn Club!