Pickman's Apprentice
Pickman's Apprentice began in 2012 and has become a highly competitive and exciting art competition! Some of the best Mythos artists have only 90 minutes to complete a Lovecraftian masterpiece of visual art based on a wacky combination of a setting and a Mythos monster! Come be a part of this interactive art race and watch the birth of madness spawn before your very eyes.
Each finished piece will be auctioned off during the remainder of the festival, with all the proceeds going to Hurricane Relief.
Liv Rainey-Smith's original art is created through xylography, the practice of carving and printing wood. Rainey-Smith draws upon both European and Japanese techniques to create her work and favors working with natural materials as much as possible. She finds inspiration in early European prints, esoteric traditions, folklore, weird fiction, and the natural world. She won the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist in 2025. Rainey-Smith's woodcut art illustrates The Starry Wisdom Library Catalogue of the Greatest Occult Book Auction of All Time, and accompanies her story in The Dagon Collection.
Heather Hudson has been a professional illustrator since 1994, working in the fantasy and hobby gaming genres. As the owner of Studio Wondercabinet, she creates traditionally-inspired artwork in traditional and digital media. Heather Hudson received degrees from San Jose State University and the University of Washington in the area of Theatrical Design and production. Subsequently she pursued art studies at the Gage School (formerly the School of Realist Art), Seattle's School of Visual Concepts, and TLC workshops. She is a member of ArtPACT and the Women In Fantastical Illustration on-line community. During her career, Heather Hudson has created artwork for game companies including Wizards of the Coast, AEG, Chaosium and Beamdog. Her work for the game Magic; the Gathering extended to nearly 200 cards. Today she focuses largely on personal projects, including the successful "Cthulhu Christmas Greeting Card" Kickstarter project of winter 2015. Heather is currently working on a Mythos-inspired illustration project and a personal project involving faeries. She lives in Seattle, Washington.