Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
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cyraofthesea.bsky.social
Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
@cyraofthesea.bsky.social
Artist, author, lover of silly things ✨
she/her/they, 23
Aspiring book illustrator 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🥄
Cryptid World Tour webcomic 💌👣🌎
[in pre-production]

Open to freelance/commission work!

rachelhendel.com
lnk.bio/cyraofthesea
Pinned
Happy #portfolioday!! I’m Rachel, a queer illustrator open to commissions + contract work, esp for #middlegrade or #youngadult projects. LGBTQ, disability, & fantasy themes are my fav. I’d love to bring your characters to life!!

🎨: rachelhendel.com
✉️: [email protected]
#artistforhire #kidlit
Happy Halloween 🎃 Bigfoot, Mothman, and Nessie are celebrating by carving pumpkins at Dee’s house. Thank goodness the shrinking spell worked or Ness wouldn’t have fit in the door! And hey, who’s that lurking outside…?

Cryptid World Tour - coming soon 👣🌎💌

#Webcomic #CryptidArt #ArtSky
October 31, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I think I’ve said this before but why is photographing prints and stuff such a hassle 😭

Least favorite part of being an artist
October 29, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Doing my first outdoor market tomorrow, come say hi if you’re in Des Moines!! I’ll have my usual wares plus a new Halloween themed Cryptid World Tour print 👻🎃🍫
October 29, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
The Traitor & The Wretch is a grim fantasy with a surprisingly tender romance between two minor villains trying their best to outrun their terrible fates.

Written by me
Illustrated by @skulkingfoxes.bsky.social
Cover art by @fusspot.rip
With editing by @cknightwrites.bsky.social
October 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
For my friends in Iowa, I’ll be tabling at the Van Meter Visitor Festival this Saturday! Come out and celebrate Iowa’s very own cryptid.

You can get tickets upon arrival or right now at www.chadlewisresearch.com/shop but be careful, they might sell out!
September 24, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
Free Palestine forever 🇵🇸
September 16, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Market prep is so exhausting tell me why I just spent 3.5 hours hand stamping blind bags and I'm not even done yet 😭
September 17, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
train-crossed lovers 🚃💕
August 21, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Finally got the prologue and first chapter of my webcomic drafted!! Hoping to get the prologue pages done and ready to post by end of September 🤞
July 11, 2025 at 12:52 PM
A queer wedding gift #commission - my client’s friends are getting married this week!! Congrats to the brides, so happy to be part of their big day 🌈💕

#ArtSky #QueerLove #LesbianWedding #Illustration
July 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
I've never run a single ChatGPT prompt. Not once, not even to see what it said. I've never generated a single image, either.

And I have no regrets about this. I don't need to do it to know that I don't want to.
May 7, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Some new stickers, all your favorite Little Guys!! Mothman, Fitz, and… that Spider Guy, too 🕷️

#artsky #artshop #smallbusiness
May 6, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
Everyone in the past was neurotypical, which is how we got things like this single-author, eight-volume encyclopedia of ferns
May 6, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Fun fact: aliens are queer! Show off your extraterrestrial encounter with these silly pride stickers I made 👽🌈

#artsky #artshop #lgbtq #prideflags #stickershop
May 5, 2025 at 10:08 PM
A #commission for my client's daughter's birthday!! 🎂🥳

I had a lot of fun with the prompts "reading comic to small dragons" and "enjoys Pokemon". So happy to be part of her special day!

#commissionsopen #artsky #kidlit #illustration
May 2, 2025 at 11:03 PM
My sticker photographing assistant for today was Very Helpful as you can see (he tried to lick all of them) #morkie #artshop #artbusiness
May 2, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Learned about a cryptid called the Hugag recently, still thinking about them… weird moose thing with no knees, so true 👍
April 29, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
Some little illustrations of dogs reading to use up the last paint on my palette.
#art
April 20, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
👉🏻👈🏻
March 14, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
Apparently Adobe popped to Bluesky like a flower in Spring.
And then ended like that.
April 12, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
Team Duck, Chick or Chicken? 🦆🐔🐤
Clay pins perfect for Spring are waiting for you on the shop! ✨️ www.inestheunicorn.com
April 12, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Every time I plan a booth layout I make a digital collage mock-up first, I think they’re funny (and also very helpful!!)

This one is for a cryptid themed event in September - gotta fill those holes with new work over these next few months 💪
April 8, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
Happy International Asexuality Day!!!🖤🩶🤍💜
April 6, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Rachel Hendel ( ᐛ )
It’s here!! My first ever Book Birthday!! You can now find Avery and the Fairy Circle"" In actual, real life stores!! I hope you all enjoy this sweet little story of fairies, botany, and friendship and I can’t wait to hear what you think!
bookshop.org/p/books/aver... #art #kidlit #newrelease
April 1, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I realized lately that I’m bothered by the lack of word count info in book spaces. Page count is harder to understand when I’m gauging length/reading time

Page count can change based on format, word count is always the same - I wish listings had word count alongside page count is what I’m saying 😭
March 31, 2025 at 4:31 AM