They had a good life

I would like to have soup with you

Love us, water us.

Poppies

Earth, Love, Tree.

Last year I met a very sweet lady called Nancy who makes very beautiful oil-paintings of (mostly) Dutch scenery's and landscapes (lovely work, take a look overhere). She's a very lovely, open, beautiful, funny and sensitive person.

Ever since I was a kid I've loved animals and especially horses and I was very happy when I met Nancy and her sweet horse named Theo. The first time I met him he was more interested in his green grass than he was to meet me :-), but the second time around he allowed me to cuddle him for a long time in his stable.
A little while ago Nancy asked me to make a little book especially for her. This is the book I made. She gave me a few words/themes that meant something to her: Earth, Love and Tree.
It's an accordeon-folded little book on thick watercolourpaper.

Part of the book.

The little book folded

Just a few little somethings

Just a few little somethings I made the past weeks.

Walk in the Forest

Traveling

I wonder about the travel-themes reappearing in my work...suitcases, maps....

Hello!

The last couple of days I tried to draw several things and they just didn't work out. Lost my drawing-mojo temporarily...:-(.

Finally, last night, I found it back. 

Moving ahead

Did you ever notice I got a thing for vintage stuff and colors? No....? Well, here's my latest moving, four-wheel vehicle and 'proof' of my interest in stories and objects of days gone by....;-). I just had to draw a cute VW-van like this. I was wondering if adding some turquoise for the background would be a good idea... I somehow like it like this myself, but maybe some blue...

I have a feeling there are stories lingering around in my subconsciousness that would be a match with some of my illustrations and need to be told. One day!

Enjoying the ride.

I recently discovered David Litchfield on Facebook. His illustrations are georgeous. I really love his style, the colours he uses and the kind of odd characters he draws. A little strange but not too scary. He calls himself a scruffy illustrator :-).

While looking at his illustrations on Facebook, I was inspired. I can't copy and paste one of his illustrations here  unfortunately, but please take a look at his beautiful illustrations on Facebook. He inspired me to draw this one.

I liked Davids drawing of a man riding a bike a lot and I've been wanting to draw someone on a bike for a while. After messing a drawing  up in ink, I decided to do this one in pencil and colored pencil. I thought about coloring the flowers, or should I leave them in black and white?

You can also take a look at my Facebookpage to see this one and more of my illustrations if you like.

On to the paper, out of my head

Friday is blogging day, as it appears to be....;-)

The illustrated story I've been working on for my drawing lessons is still work in progress. I feel like I've got a couple of nice drawings and  the story in my mind. Only one or two drawings are needed to finish the story. I want to make a little book of this story eventually. First there are a few things I need to do. I have to work on my Photoshop skills to be able to present the story the way I'd like to, the way I have in my mind.  I've been experimenting a bit with Photoshop, but there are things I'm stumbling upon every time, while experimenting. Frustration all over....but....after an afternoon of experimenting, I decided to let things rest and see how this challenge will find it's way to a solution. I didn't have to wait that long; the next morning, I found a solution in my email inbox. An offer for an online Photoshopcourse with a very lage discount! Funny how solutions have a way of presenting themselves to you if you let things rest, having faith answers will come your way, one way or another. :-)

Something else I 'd like to share is that I've started working in -yet another- new Moleskine sketchbook. I have several sketchbooks laying around. Some cheap ones which I also love, some Moleskines. All for different purposes. Watercolour, botanical/nature drawings, ideas/journaling....and so on...A couple of days ago I got the idea to start working in an new a4 size moleskine sketchbook a still had. I want to make this one into an art/illustrative-journal. A place to write and draw and glue things down that are on my mind. Where I can express my thoughts and emotions. Especially thoughts have a tendancy to stay with me too long, so I hope this journaling will help them stay in the book. And out of my head.

Focus

I've been drawing and practising and experimenting with pencil, acrylic paint, watercolor, ink, collage....and so much more the previous year and I still got the te very strong drive to draw and to create. Other things in my life don't seem to get going, so I'm not that happy with every aspect about how my life is right now. But I consider myself lucky with very sweet family and friends, that's what I've got!

And, something very important too: I really found the thing that makes me most happy to do: creating and drawing. This could only have happened during the period I didn't have a job and I had to find another way to keep myself busy and inspired. And this is something beautiful that happened, even though other things in life aren't going smoothly, this creative thing is really going very smooth and flawy! Even though it's been hard work too, practising, practising and even more practising.

Could it be that this is a sign? Isn't it funny that while some things in life are difficult, other things seem to get better and clearer?

At first I didn't know what to write about the subject 'Focus' for Andrea's blogchallenge (http://dreamheartsmartart.blogspot.nl/2013/02/blogchallenge-focus.html). But It's quite clear now, while I'm writing this. I found the thing I love to do most, at this moment, I would love to get some focus and clearity in which way to go with my creativity. I've discovered that what I really like to draw is little characters and make up stories for these characters. This is what I allready loved to do as a little girl. But now, after practising the last year with all kind of techniques, I feel I can now draw, as I see things in my imigination.

I think I might want to draw and write a childrensbook maybe. Could it be that here's where my focus needs to be I wonder? 

These are a few examples of characters I've been drawing recently. The last drawing is the first of a drawing for an assignment for my drawing lessons, where we had to illustrate a story and make up a character. I suppose I have to keep on following my heart, in my drawing, in my whole life actually. Don't you think so? :-)

(Thank you Andrea! Wouldn't have written this blog without your blogchallenge and now I wrote this, I feel better and things seem a little clearer by writing things down!)

Amazed

In my previous bogpost I described my interest in fairy-tale like illustrations in vintage colors.
I'm continuing experimenting with colors that I'm attracted to and with ways to achieve a kind of dramatic, fairy-tale like effect. I saw a drawing somewhere of a little figure looking at large trees. This seemed to me like a good idea to experiment with. The little woman and the giant trees give me a feeling this could be part of a story where the woman suddenly sees herself confronted with these very large trees and is standing there for a while, amazed about these giant trees/woods, wondering which way to go.

Winter Time Fun

I've been having some fun with a photo-app on my Iphone. Look at the the result, with my own 'Winter Time' illustration. I like it! The app I did this with is called DecoSama.

The Sun was just Yellow Energy

                                   

Yet another Moleskine

I started working in -yet another- Moleskine today. This time it's a little watercolour Moleskine book.
I have several going on. Every book has a theme, and I'm planning on working in each one every now and then. I find it hard to concentrate on one medium for a longer period, because I find so many things interesting to do and learn about. So I guess I"ll just have to skip from one to another, however I feel like.
This one is about watercolour. I also used a little pencil, stabilo fineliners and collage. Oh, and Indian Ink,
I've enjoyed working on these two a lot!

Lily's Magic Books

A while ago I finished a class that I followed: Visual Journaling. I followed this course at http://camp.pikaland.com/. The assignments were about character and idea development and as a result I came up with Lily, a 7 year old girl, living in the seventies, with her parents and cat Peppermint above the bookstore they own in Amsterdam. (If you would like to read about earlier posts about this, click on the tag/label 'visual journal' on the left side of the page.)
These are my final results. The assignment was to pick one scene and draw different versions of this; in black and white, two colors, and an abstract one. As the story also takes place in New York, where Lily magicly goes when she opens a book one night, we had to draw food related to the story and place.
I should finish the complete story because I have the idea in my head. Now I only have to follow through...;-).

My Cup of Tea

I bought a watercolour sketchbook yesterday, and some waterolour paint. When I see other peoples work in watercolour, I like the effect you can achieve with it. I'm not experienced in working with it, but I thought: let's give it a try. And it's always so much fun to go to the art-supplies store and buy some new stuff to experiment with.
So this is yesterday's watercolours result! I must say I like how it worked out. It's done in watercolour, Chinese Ink for the text and some coloured pencil and Faber-Castell Artist Pitt pen.

Experimenting

I'm experimenting with a lot of different illustration- and drawing styles. Still didn't develop 1 particular style yet. There is so much I like!
This is a drawing I did today.
It's done in ink.