Art & Illustration on Substack
The top 100 Art & Illustration writers on Substack's Bestsellers and Rising boards, with moves between my reads, follower counts, who's gaining recommendations and who recommends them. Boards read once a day.
Board read · moves compare with the read at Oct 31 13:00 UTC
- Writers on the two boards
- 177
- Median followers, Bestsellers
- 15,696
- Smallest on the board
- 1,225
- Mark Jenkins, #77
- New recommendations, 30 days
- 382
- to writers whose main category this is
Rising in Art & Illustration: new recommendations
Writers in this category who picked up the most new recommenders in the last 30 days. A new recommendation puts a writer in front of another publication's readers.
Austin Kleon
385k followers · #7 Art & Illustration Bestsellers
George Bothamley
64k followers · #35 Art & Illustration Bestsellers
Gayety
263k followers · #1 Art & Illustration Bestsellers
Create! Magazine
15k followers · #95 Art & Illustration Bestsellers
Lynn Peterfreund
1.1k followers · #26 Art & Illustration Rising
Katy Hessel
80k followers · #30 Art & Illustration Bestsellers
Beth Spencer
50k followers · #21 Art & Illustration BestsellersNew recommenders per week, last 12 weeks; the orange bar is this week to date. Same scale in every panel. Dated by Substack; only recommendations still live. Outlined weeks are incomplete: Substack lists only a publication's 50 newest recommenders, so for busy writers older weeks can't be counted, and a 30-day count marked + is a floor.
Bestsellers
Substack ranks Bestsellers by paid subscribers. Followers are my daily reading.
Climbed most since Oct 31: Scott Erickson #66 to #65, Katina, Creative Scientist #85 to #84, Toby Coles #86 to #85, Subversive Cross Stitch #87 to #86, Nishant Jain #88 to #87.
| # | Move | Writer | Followers | Recommended by | Paid | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |  Gayety@gayety |
263,206 | 54 +11 | Thousands | |
| 2 | 0 |  Ann TelnaesOpen Windows- Ann Telnaes |
176,229 | 75 +7 | Thousands | |
| 3 | 0 |  Wendy MacNaughtonDrawTogether with WendyMac |
166,254 | 75 +4 | Thousands | |
| 4 | 0 |  HIDDEN.RSRCH@hiddenrsrch |
146,626 | 52 | Thousands | |
| 5 | 0 |  Needlepoint Finishing FairyThe Needlepoint Finishing Club |
15,696 | 34 | Thousands | |
| 6 | 0 |  NashvilleNeedlepointerNeedlepoint Finishing, Painting, and Stitching with Lita |
14,172 | 31 +2 | Thousands | |
| 7 | 0 |  Austin Kleon@austinkleon |
385,430 | 103 +27 | Thousands | |
| 8 | 0 |  Aidan AveryThe Open Call List |
20,944 | 51 +1 | Thousands | |
| 9 | 0 |  EKOEKO LOVES YOU |
33,880 | 53 +3 | Thousands | |
| 10 | 0 |  Zoë YaseminART DIRECTION |
76,926 | 61 +28 | 100+ badge | |
| 11 | 0 |  SequinlalaSequinlala's Substack |
2,892 | 6 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 12 | 0 |  Anna BronesCreative Fuel with Anna Brones |
36,716 | 61 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 13 | 0 |  Animation Obsessive StaffAnimation Obsessive |
90,678 | 64 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 14 | 0 |  Lindsay Jean Thomson#The100DayProject Newsletter |
67,472 | 52 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 15 | 0 |  Peter GalbertPeter Galbert's Chair Notes |
11,056 | 51 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 16 | 0 |  CompositionCompositionally Inclined |
18,743 | 39 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 17 | 0 |  Steve SackThe Art of Sack |
10,281 | 53 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 18 | 0 |  Claire Venus ✨Sparkle on Substack |
41,074 | 75 +8 | 100+ badge | |
| 19 | 0 |  RibCageArtBlast | Art Jobs |
13,393 | 50 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 20 | 0 |  Jenny Lawson (thebloggess)Jenny’s Substack - Let's art together |
25,574 | 53 +4 | 100+ badge | |
| 21 | 0 |  Beth SpencerIntrovert Drawing Club |
49,569 | 61 +8 | 100+ badge | |
| 22 | 0 |  Helen C StarkThe Time Foragers' Club |
32,381 | 59 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 23 | 0 |  Danielle Krysaone minute ART RETREAT by The Jealous Curator |
34,316 | 57 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 24 | 0 |  James GurneyPaint Here |
36,220 | 54 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 25 | 0 |  Samantha Dion BakerDraw Your World |
33,762 | 59 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 26 | 0 |  Tabby BoothCult of Create ✹ Tabby Booth |
8,362 | 25 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 27 | 0 |  Carson EllisSlowpoke |
71,504 | 74 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 28 | 0 |  Amy StewartIt's Good to Be Here |
19,127 | 57 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 29 | 0 |  Sara CoveyAnalog Notes |
17,323 | 55 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 30 | 0 |  Katy HesselThe Great Women Artists |
79,524 | 59 +8 | 100+ badge | |
| 31 | 0 |  Lisa Hanawalt@lisahanawalt |
10,019 | 52 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 32 | 0 |  life i design | Artist LoungeThe Artist Lounge with Nicki Traikos of life i design |
8,986 | 28 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 33 | 0 |  Dina LitovskyIn the Flash with Dina Litovsky |
33,934 | 56 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 34 | 0 |  Kevin KAL KallaugherKal Draws The Line |
11,850 | 56 | 100+ badge | |
| 35 | 0 |  George BothamleyArt Every Day |
63,733 | 54 +19 | 100+ badge | |
| 36 | 0 |  Sarah C SwettThe Gusset |
10,019 | 51 | 100+ badge | |
| 37 | 0 |  Creative Work WeeklyThe Creative Plug |
8,973 | 37 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 38 | 0 |  Laura KemshallArt Club with Linda and Laura Kemshall |
2,989 | 35 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 39 | 0 |  Joanna FuscoUnsupervised |
35,259 | 58 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 40 | 0 |  Catherine RaynerMy Studio - behind the scenes... |
24,485 | 52 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 41 | 0 |  Esté MacLeod's ColoricomboColoricombo Creative Prompts |
8,549 | 50 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 42 | 0 |  Ceramics NowCeramics Now Weekly |
36,246 | 50 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 43 | 0 |  Isa CattoIsa Catto's Swimming at Altitude |
3,949 | 29 | 100+ badge | |
| 44 | 0 |  Val WebbDrawing the Natural World |
10,750 | 45 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 45 | 0 |  Mason CurreySubtle Maneuvers |
63,354 | 63 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 46 | 0 |  Paper Arts CollectivePaper Arts Collective Newsletter |
16,626 | 50 | 100+ badge | |
| 47 | 0 |  Shea AlexanderAmidst the Shavings |
3,213 | 37 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 48 | 0 |  The Illustration DepartmentNotes on Illustration |
19,684 | 54 | 100+ badge | |
| 49 | 0 |  Andy AdamsFlakPhoto Digest |
50,024 | 59 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 50 | 0 |  Hillary FiskHiFi Makes |
3,280 | 14 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 51 | 0 |  Anthony MorgantiAnthony Morganti on Photography |
12,294 | 51 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 52 | 0 |  The Art Bystander@theartbystander |
5,347 | 48 +7 | none shown | |
| 53 | 0 |  Patrick VisserWatercolour Workout |
24,998 | 40 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 54 | 0 |  FASOThe FASO Way |
98,873 | 50 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 55 | 0 |  Jo BlakerScribbles in the Sky |
2,639 | 15 +1 | none shown | |
| 56 | 0 |  Hector CampbellThe Shock of the Now |
5,191 | 51 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 57 | 0 |  jill badonskyThe Muse is In |
9,765 | 50 +4 | 100+ badge | |
| 58 | 0 |  Rob StephensonThe Neighborhoods |
26,706 | 55 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 59 | 0 |  Heather Rae@heatherraeatelier |
1,618 | 8 | 100+ badge | |
| 60 | 0 |  Marco SecchiThrough the Lens 📷 |
7,458 | 49 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 61 | 0 |  Rachel SagerThe Ruins Project |
5,461 | 49 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 62 | 0 |  TuttoUomini@tuttouomini |
4,367 | 36 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 63 | 0 |  Gordy BonkerBonkers Cards Newsletter- Vintage Sports Cards & Memorabilia |
3,091 | 20 | 100+ badge | |
| 64 | 0 |  Darya ZorkaFrom My Heart |
5,727 | 52 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 65 | 0 |  Scott EricksonImage Pilgrimage w/ Scott Erickson |
31,944 | 53 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 66 | 0 |  Ali EdwardsEchoes + Evidence |
4,251 | 37 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 67 | 0 |  Pom Pom PublishingPom Pom |
3,474 | 6 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 68 | 0 |  SamThe River House |
11,482 | 51 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 69 | 0 |  Adam MingTen Minute Artist - Daily Creative Joy |
24,715 | 54 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 70 | 0 |  christopher sexton@christhecocreator |
13,207 | 51 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 71 | 0 |  Craftsmanship MagazineCraftsmanship |
17,180 | 51 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 72 | 0 |  Chelsey 🔮 Tarot for CreativityThe Shuffle with Chelsey Pippin Mizzi |
9,006 | 50 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 73 | 0 |  Andrew JamesCoffee in drawings out |
7,133 | 50 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 74 | 0 |  Andy J. PizzaAndy J. Pizza's Audio / Visual Newsletter |
27,772 | 56 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 75 | 0 |  Journal As AltarCut & Paste For Life |
6,277 | 50 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 76 | 0 |  Benjamin WilliamsonBenjamin Williamson Photography |
10,612 | 52 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 77 | 0 |  Mark JenkinsDisCerning Eye |
1,225 | 11 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 78 | 0 |  Joyce Carol OatesJoyce Carol Oates: A Writer's Journal |
63,937 | 58 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 79 | 0 |  Animation JobsAnimation Jobs Newsletter |
34,267 | 50 | 100+ badge | |
| 80 | 0 |  Pelican Quilts@pelicanquilts |
4,166 | 44 | 100+ badge | |
| 81 | 0 |  Melanie ChadwickSeasalt and Serpentine |
4,687 | 50 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 82 | 0 |  Darius BasharThe Artist Morning™ |
2,140 | 50 +2 | none shown | |
| 83 | 0 |  Phoebe WahlThe Wahlflower |
16,340 | 52 | 100+ badge | |
| 84 | ▲1 |  Katina, Creative ScientistCreative Health with Katina Bajaj |
18,040 | 50 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 85 | ▲1 |  Toby Coles@tobycoles |
4,899 | 5 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 86 | ▲1 |  Subversive Cross StitchSubversive Substack |
36,054 | 51 | 100+ badge | |
| 87 | ▲1 |  Nishant JainThe SneakyArt Post |
35,681 | 60 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 88 | ▲1 |  Alberto @ Adorable TimesAdorable Times’ Newsletter |
3,632 | 38 | 100+ badge | |
| 89 | ▲1 |  Jason P. Odell 📷The Photographer’s Perspective |
4,433 | 50 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 90 | ▲1 |  Christopher P JonesArt History Explained with Christopher P Jones |
9,344 | 50 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 91 | ▲1 |  Belkıs AksuSpontane Polemik |
2,439 | 20 +1 | none shown | |
| 92 | ▲1 |  Sandy AllnockSandy's ArtStack |
20,593 | 18 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 93 | ▼24 | Adam MingTen Minute Artist - Daily Creative Joy |
24,715 | 54 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 94 | ▲1 |  Ammie Y’allAmmie Annotated |
1,737 | 17 | 100+ badge | |
| 95 | ▲1 |  Create! Magazine@createmagazine |
14,917 | 50 +10 | none shown | |
| 96 | ▲1 |  Taylor RandalOff Leash |
4,412 | 50 | 100+ badge | |
| 97 | ▲1 |  Jenna ParkEverything is Liminal |
10,155 | 52 | 100+ badge | |
| 98 | ▲1 |  Circus Living@circusliving |
6,806 | 18 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 99 | ▲1 |  D. Michele PerryThe Wonder Habit™ with D. Michele Perry |
18,478 | 50 | 100+ badge | |
| 100 | new |  GAYLETTERGAYLETTER by Tom & Abi |
20,986 | 50 | 100+ badge |
The top 20 on every read
Rank on each read of the Bestsellers board. Darker is higher. A gap means the writer was outside the top 100 on that read.
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gayety | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ann Telnaes | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Wendy MacNaughton | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| HIDDEN.RSRCH | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Needlepoint Finishing Fairy | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| NashvilleNeedlepointer | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Austin Kleon | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Aidan Avery | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| EKO | 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Zoë Yasemin | 10 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Sequinlala | 11 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| Anna Brones | 12 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| Animation Obsessive Staff | 13 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| Lindsay Jean Thomson | 14 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| Peter Galbert | 15 | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| Composition | 16 | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| Steve Sack | 17 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| Claire Venus ✨ | 18 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| RibCage | 19 | 19 | 19 | 0 |
| Jenny Lawson (thebloggess) | 20 | 20 | 20 | 0 |
History starts on Oct 31, 2026. Each day adds a column.
Who recommends Art & Illustration writers
Publications with the most live recommendations pointing at writers whose main category is Art & Illustration. If you write in this category, these are the readers' lists worth being on.