It's been too long!

…since I've been around here on my blog, writing about the things I'm up to. I have to admit I don't feel like writing long blogposts most of the time, something I've discovered along the way since I started this blog in 2012.  I'm more of a drawer and artist in image then in words I suppose, at least when it comes to writing about what I'm up to. But every now and then I feel like I have to do it, also for myself, to put in words what I'm thankful for.

I think I have to pay some attention to the things I've learned since the beginning of this blog…has it only been a year and a half…?! I remember me writing about things I wanted to be able to do, wanting to be able to work in Photoshop and so on and so on. A lot of things were secret wishes I only wrote about briefly, because there's always a very shy person inside me. In one way I want to show the world what I draw, what I do, what I make, what I think. But at the very same time I often feel sort of ashamed about what people might think of what I do like ; 'it's no good', 'what is she thinking, she has to learn so much' etc. I also often think about all the things I still want to learn and still have to get practice in…before….

Well before what..? Let's just sum up the things I already did learn and accomplish…

- I can work in Photoshop now, to edit and present my drawings and work the way I want to.
- I made my own website
- I had the courage to start a Facebook-page
- I started an Etsy-shop
- I met a lot of inspiring, nice, sweet and creative people both online and offline
- I gained a lot of more practice in drawing and different media such as watercolor, ink and pencil.

And the last weeks/months things are coming my way that gave me the courage to take the next big step: officially registering as a one-woman business: Esther Lankhaar Art & Illustrations.

The things that are coming my way are beautiful people and opportunities! Opportunities for illustrations for a website, designing a wine-label and getting in contact with a nice lady with a vintage-clothing shop I might draw a logo for. All good things for my portfolio and experience!

So all this I'm, very thankful for and I feel I'm on my own way with my art. It feels good and like it's supposed to be this way. I've been very busy lately with figuring everything out for the start of my business, my drawing-commision for the website I mentioned and so on. I have to find some balance in being on and offline, being behind the computer and laptop and on the other hand not forgetting about were it all came from and what I'm all doing it for: my love for drawing and creating.

I will try to post some images of the work for others I did lately this week. I also did manage to do some personal work in between and this is something I made yesterday-evening and finished up this morning. Smart and wise people like Einstein are a true inspiration to me.

I almost forgot! : I've been working on my christmascards!
https://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/169988741/donkey-little-hedgehog-robin-set-of-3?

Portrait of a sheep

One of the things I love so much about drawing is that it makes me pay attention and really see things in the subject I'm drawing I haven't seen before. I'm looking so closely and sometimes become to love my subject for it's beauty or character. For me this can be in a human, an animal, a house, a flower... and often even while using a photograph as reference. Most of the times this happens when I draw a person or an animal. It feels touching and moving to discover a piece of the soul or the essence of my subject, at least that's how I feel it. I feel something for sheep now. :-)....well.... for the one I saw on my photograph that seemed real sweet. I hope I captured a piece of it on my paper :-)

Curly

It's been a while since I've drawn a face. I really love doing this, especially when things work out and someone comes alive on paper. This happened when I was drawing this curly-haired kid. A picture of a kid on Pinterest inspired me to draw this. What's funny is that almost always when I use a picture as reference, someone new appears on paper. Who is not the person I see on the picture. I love drawing people in general and I've always liked faces of mixed etnic backgrounds. It makes me wonder about where people came from and what their antropological background could be. When drawing this kid, everything worked (and this doesn't happen to me all the time, I mess things up a lot!). He (or she?, but to me it's a he) came alive and moved me. He became a real person to me with a story  and a character of his own. I don't know about his story but it defintely feels like he's a boy with a history when I look at him. And maybe a history of his ancestors too.

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.

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!)

Drawing in the Sun

During the last two weeks of december I was in Florida, Bonita Springs for a holiday with my family (my parents, sister, her husband and my two nephews). My parents were married 40 years last year, so to celebrate, they took us on a vacation. Florida with its sunny weather was a very wellcome change of scenery, because of the rainy and dark winterweather in the netherlands where I live. We enjoyed ourselves very much, we enjoyed the sun, went to the beach, went shopping and took a boat-tour through the Everglades. My little 4 year old nephew had two favourite things this vacation: the pool at our vacation house and the mini-golf place near our house. :-)

I brought my drawing equipment, but i didn't draw that much: too busy being lazy ;-).

I did make two drawings though. The first drawing is of a very good thing: a decent cup of coffee (empty mug in the the drawing ;-)). when I was drawing this, I went to the toilet and when I came back, my little nephew helped me a bit with the drawing. He added the line around the drawing ;-). My sister was a little mad he did this to my drawing without asking. I could hear a conversation about it when I was on the toilet and was curious what I would find my drawing like when I came back;-). It wasn't that bad as I saw it and I said: Well, that's o.k., but just ask the next time." My nephew said to his mother: "Aunt Es says that I can do it." I found this quite funny and now the drawing is a collaboration, I kind of like that. I asked my nephew to write his name on the drawing, so it's clear we made this drawing together :-). The second drawing has no story, it's just something I felt like drawing ;-).

Sunday Drawing

I'm in my pencil and coloured pencil phase. :-)

Drawing and determination

Faces always seem to keep inspiring me. I still feel that I am in my practicing and experimenting phase with my drawing. I've always loved drawing since I a was a little girl. You could always find me drawing or reading ;-). It's only since the beginning of this year that I really got the drawing-craziness, I have to do it all the time, where in the years I grew up and was grown up, it was just something I did ocassionally. Somehow, I always had the idea that people who could draw, just did it, put a few lines on paper, and voila, there was a perfect drawing. Now I know it takes a lot of practise and determination to get better at it. Except maybe for the real great artists like Rembrandt, maybe he could really capture something in just one try. But still, he practised, by drawing too.

I look at other peoples work that inspires me a lot and I try to draw similar things myself. I always keep Leonardo Da Vinci quote in mind:

"If one knows how to copy, one knows how to do it."

I only begin to get the feeling right now, that experimenting and practising is becoming to pay off. When I draw I start to be able to "nail it"  in a drawing directly, where before I liked the drawings I made, but it was still a coincidence when a dawing was right and there where always things I saw, that I could become better at, and I thought about: well, this or that you could do better in a next drawing. Now, I start to get lucky more often and get it right in one time. Still, I want to develop my own style, that's my next wish! :-) and become much better in all kind of techniques, because there's still so much to learn. I'm also following very inspiring drawing and concept lessons at a studio in the town I live in.

When I was working on this drawing, I was amazed that I really did it in this one, and the drawing just happened, without much 'sweat' and erasing, it's just there and I like it!

The first picture is a photo, the second one a scan. My scanner isn't quite big enough for a drawing on A3 size,  I discovered and my photographing and photoshop skills could be much better. This is what I don't like, I want to quickly be able to post a drawing on my blog, but it takes time and adjustments to get it about right, but still, the presentation could be better. I have to find a way to fix this problem because I don't like to spend a lot of time figuring all these things out, adusting etc etc. I just want to draw, not photograph, photoshop, scan etc etc! :-)

Deer

Drawing a Deer. A Deer, for me symbolic for innocence, pureness and vulnerability. And writer Emily Dickinsons said the smartest and most beautiful, true things.

Started a series of nature drawings in a little moleskine sketchbook.  For some drawings I used an old biologybook my father gave me as a reference.

A few sketches for the second week of visual journaling. Character development! More to follow!

Coco Chanel

Result of the last few drawing lessons for now. I learned a lot! I took a picture from a magazine of Coco Chanel as an example. Not an exact copy, but just an example to work by. I like how the shading on the sofa worked out and I'm satisfied with the overall result.
By the way, there is an error in the text of the magazine, it should be :" leS secrets de Coco" or "le secret (without S) de Coco"......

Two results of my drawing lessons.

 I drew the eye first and came up with the idea for the text after that.
Discovered a stupid mistake in the spelling, should be:"tHrough" ! Will change this in the drawing!