Purple Inkwell Studios / Writer · Illustrator · Photographer
April Martin
I write strange stories and draw the worlds they leave behind.
Scroll to enter the studio ↓
The Creative Archive
The Portfolio Ledger
A record of imagined worlds, unfinished thoughts, and the curious things that find their way onto paper.
Illustration, traditional pen and ink, visual narratives, mixed media, and experiments from the working studio.
Purple Inkwell Studios / Creative Education
The Inkwell Academy
A little imagination goes a very long way.
Art is meant to be explored, experimented with, and shared. The Inkwell Academy brings together creative workshops in illustration, photography, storytelling, and mixed-media art.
Designed for curious minds and makers of all experience levels, these classes encourage individual expression, creative discovery, and the pleasure of making something with your own hands.
Classes · Workshops · Imagination · Creative Exploration
Original Worlds / The Development Archive
Original Worlds.
Stories are where I put the things that refuse to stay buried.
Twenty years of writing, illustration, character creation, and worldbuilding live behind this doorway.
Explore the original stories taking shape at Purple Inkwell Studios, from psychological horror and gothic fantasy to speculative fiction.
Six featured worlds · One working archive
Selected book-cover artwork from the development archive
The Girl Who Carries the Storm
An original mixed-media meditation artwork exploring the restless movement of an anxious mind.
Layered textures, repeating circles, and shifting metallic pigments invite the viewer to slow down and look a little longer.
Read the Artist's Note
The umbrella is not a promise that the storm will pass. It is something she carries while learning to exist within it. This work was created to be encountered slowly, whether hung on a wall or held during quiet meditation.
Original Art · Curious Finds · Commissions
The Inkwell Shoppe.
Curious things, lovingly made.
Browse original illustrations, one-of-a-kind artwork, custom commissions, digital creations, and unexpected treasures from the studio.
Fine-Art Photography
The Quiet Archive
Where the light remembers.
A photographic exploration of quiet places, overlooked details, passing light, and the strange intimacy of ordinary things.
Images made through observation, patience, and an affection for what the world leaves behind.
Enter the Photography Archive ↗
Behind Purple Inkwell Studios
A Little About the Artist
I'm April Martin, a writer and illustrator with a background in photography, design, teaching, and eight years of service as a B-1 bomber crew chief in the United States Air Force.
My work returns to memory, identity, imagination, and the things people learn to hide. Sometimes those ideas become illustrated books. Sometimes they become a photograph or an ink drawing with more questions than answers.
I make strange little worlds about very human things.
Stay curious. Make strange things.
Have a story, an illustration, or a creative collaboration in mind? There's always room for another conversation at the studio.