Thank you 2014 and welcome 2015!

my chubby companion all full and filled up :)

I really wanted to shout this out and let the Universe know how much I appreciated this year. It was truly awesome in so many ways that I can hardly grasp it in this busy Holidays time. I will have to sit down in the beginning of January and take in all the goodness that happened for me and around me this year because I need to savor it a bit longer. I'll also write a special blog post just to honor it properly. Luckily I've been good and kept my journal so I can really dig out all the highlights of this amazing year.

I already have a feeling 2015 will be just as awesome :) Why? Well, for at least three reasons:

1. The response to my 12 pages in 2015 Project. So many new creative friends are coming my way that I'm blown away. I'm even going to have a special Sweet Pouch swap with one of them because of my 12 pages :)  Isn't this amazing? Thank you Monika for dropping in and making it happen! ♥

2. Number two has everything to do with my old on-line friends; those I met for real for the first time this year and am hoping to see again in 2015 and those who I am about to meet in 2015 for the first time. I can hardly wait and I only wish air-tickets were cheaper, much MUCH cheaper :)

3. Lila Roger's 2015 Assignment Bootcamp (thank you mom for this wonderful gift ;) ). I'm hoping to get my art to a higher level. I know I don't blog as often as I should/could but those who know me know, I like to illustrate a lot and I would really like to do it professionally again. 

So, my dear friends - new and old ones. Thank you for being here for me and with me and I'll toast tonight to an awesome 2015 for all of us again! See you and read you in 2015! :)  

with much ♥ 

nini

12 pages in 2015 - Free Project

I might be too excited about this but when I was thinking about what to do with my super neat and pretty recycled art journals I had a lighting bulb go off and I got "12 Pages In 2015!!!". Nothing big you might say, certainly not a 365 Project or even a 52 one but hey... there are other things to do too :)

Here's why I am so excited: I'd like us all to join in on this one. I'd like us to make ourselves a 12 pages booklet and each month, draw on one page of it so that at the end of the year, we'll have a pretty and very valuable piece of art just for us and to remember 2015 by. What say you?

I'll have a special FB group just for this, I'll keep it a secret one once we are all in and we will share our pieces there and enjoy each other's company - because when we share, things get so much better. We will have a different prompt each month to work with but if you won't like it you'll of course be free to draw whatever you'll want - it's your book after all. I will probably make it a bit difficult for myself and will challenge myself to draw 12 faces while still keeping them aligned with the theme.

I'll post a blog post with the theme each month and I'll link to tutorials or anything I'll find useful for us. I'll also post these things in the FB group so I'll have everybody covered - those of you who are not on FB and those of you who are.

So, if you like my little plan for 2015 and if you'd like to participate do let me know. I'd love you to join me and make it happen.

Here's how my newly made art book for this project looks like:

 
Some links and important things:

• Facebook group - please ask to join in or I can't let you in otherwise - 12 pages in 2015 FB group
• my tutorial on making an art journal from cereal boxes
• here's a lovely tutorial on making a sewn together book (you'll need 3 sheets for our 12 pages and 1 sheet for the cover) - 3-hole Pamphlet Stitched Book/Journal
• or a 5-hole pamphlet journal
• here's me on FB if you need to ask any questions - Nini Ninina
• cover sticker should you like to use it as well

Small Sketchbook Challenge - update III and a winner of the giveaway

Here is my last update on this subject as I'm already finished with the little book and thinking about what to do next.

"Sleep" for Sandra

"Circles" for Alexandra

"Merry" for Pavinee

"End Of Summer" for Verla

"Fika" for Kathleen

"Fox" for Katrin

Curious about the winner?

Number one was chosen by random.org and it belongs to Yvonne! :) Yay Yvonne, I'm really happy about this. You'll get your spread mailed to you asap!

Another big thanks to all who participated, it was fun to draw for you so I just might do it again in the future.

And here are the links to the previous posts with pictures from the little sketchbook/book/notebook ;)

Update I
Update II

Small Sketchbook Challenge - update II

My little book is all filled up now and I'm really glad that it is. Why? Because I have my life back! :D

I know it must sound awful but it's true. As much as I'm glad I did it, as much as I do like going through it there is still this immense relief about the fact I don't have to do it anymore, that I don't have to come up with something each day but most of all, that there will be no more thoughts about how I could have done it/drew it better.

I am so SO grateful for all the cheering up my on-line friends did because they helped beyond words. It's always so great to receive comments and words of encouragement, especially on the "dark" days.

I have learned and attested a lot from this challenge:

• I do need time to produce something I am proud about
• I don't like pressuring myself with my own projects because let's face it, I really don't HAVE to do anything I don't feel like doing when I know that I am ABLE to do it
• one should work on GOOD quality papers most of the time
• REAL sketchbooks are for artist's own eyes only
• I really like drawing for others and I really don't care about drawing for myself :)

There are probably more things I learned but let me show the next 11 images from the little sketchbook just in case you missed any ;)

In my next post, I shall reveal the person who will get "her" piece printed out and sent over.

Suzi's "Line" even if she didn't ask for it specifically :)

"Egg" for Andrea

"Love" for Sandra

Which is your favourite so far?

Here's my previous update:
Update I

Inspiration

Inspiration comes in many forms and one of them is present in the form of other artists, artists we look up to or like to see their work because it triggers something within us. I follow a lot of people on FB and other places but four of them kind of stand out in relation to my current Small Sketchbook Challenge. They are the ones that "pushed" me to go after this challenge and the ones that made me give the promise to myself to do it, to finish what I started so that I'll be able to look upon what I finished and be happy about it. And that's the biggest thing, isn't it? The happiness and the feeling of being proud in the end and the happiness that comes to you every time you look at your achievement, no matter what it might be.

So, let me introduce you to four of very creative and incredibly kind people:

Jennifer's entries in her sketchbook.

Jennifer Orkin Lewis a.k.a. august wren - she is into a 365 Drawing Project and I'm in awe every time I see her painting, which she manages to do in either 30 minutes or even less. Lisa Congdon had an interview with her recently so you can read more about Jennifer's process here.

Pavinee's colorful piece.

Pavinee S a.k.a. Merry Day became a good artsy friend over the last two years and is also doing her own version of drawing daily. Her merry and joyful drawings or paintings brighten up days for a lot of people she touches with her art and I'm really glad we crossed paths. 

Yvonne's lovely lines.

Yvonne Dekker; her gorgeous drawings can be seen on her Instagram and FB page (but you'd have to be friends with her to see them there :) ). I wish she'd update her Etsy Shop but I know how this goes so I better not say it ;) Yvonne's sense of humor and masterful lines are a huge inspiration to me not to mention her true friendship. I wish she wasn't from the Netherlands so we could meet on regular bases and make cool things together.

Koosje's gorgeous work from one of her sketchbooks.

Koosje Koene is quite a well known sketcher these days (ok, has been for quite some time already :) ). She is a great teacher and teaches drawing and sketching in many online classes, the most famous one being Sketchbook Skool. I love seeing her Draw Tip Tuesday videos because they are always quick and very informative but most of all, they are FUN, just like she is.

There are others too of course and I'm grateful to each and every one of you for being there and shining for all of us.

Thank you!

♥

Small Sketchbook Challenge - update I

Today is the 11th day of me really drawing and painting in my little notebook! I decided to make it a bit more fun for me so I asked my Facebook friends to pitch in their wishes (in form of prompts) and in return I'd try and draw from them.

I plan to have a little giveaway when I'm done and I'll randomly pick one of those who asked for a drawing and mail them "their" spread - scanned and printed of course :)  I'm still taking requests so feel free to leave me a comment here for a chance to get something from me.

Here's what I have done so far:

"Light" for Yvonne

"Once Upon A Time" for Soni Raj

"Butterfly/Caterpillar related" for Sandy

"Freedom" for Liezl

"Fruit - plums & peaches" for Rhiannon

"Autumn" for Anna Stina

I used photo references for the last two paintings and I drew my pretty cup on Day 4. It's interesting to see how choosing the media I work with changes my critical mind. One can't possibly be precise with acrylics on such a tiny space so I don't care if things don't look as they do on the photos. And I like it! It's very freeing.

I will write more about those who have "pushed" me to start doing this because I'm really grateful to them and they deserve an entry on their own. Thank you my friends! ♥

Summer School IV

I made it! The Make It In Design Summer School that is. Didn't really thought I would but I did.
Good for me, right ;)

Our final brief was about feathers and making a repeat pattern inspired by them. I was so happy when I saw we had feathers to work with because if you remember, I made some beautiful ones last year for Yanik. I ended up starting with my work pretty late again and was faced with a huge block. Well, I did manage to draw some nice shapes but the pattern I tried to make out of them was rubbish.

I totally changed my original idea last minute and produced this fishing net out of feathers with two of the pretty ones caught in it. I'm not thrilled about it but I don't hate it either.

This whole experience was a really good one as I got a glimpse of the "real world of pattern design" and how things work there. It also made me realize that I would like to be a part of it.

Small Sketchbook Challenge

I've been chatting online with my incredibly talented friend Yvonne today about how uneasy it is for me to draw anything "just because". The stuff that comes on paper can be downright embarrassing for me... sometimes. If I am in the mood for drawing then it's ok but if I'm not.... seems like there's no way in getting me there.

But... I know that practice makes perfect and that a lot of creatives out there suffer from "the fear of the blank page" and the "fear of screwing up" and the lack of "what on earth to put on paper" inspiration so I decided - on a whim of course - to TRY and FILL up my little Moleskine notebook thingie. It has terribly thin paper inside (almost see through so I know things will bleed... arrrgh the horror) and is in no way meant for drawing but I'll TRY anyway! Why? Because no matter what, I LOVE the idea of this, I'd love to have something to browse through when it's finished and because I honestly need to practice more. In the drawing department and the loosening up one. And because I still remember how I felt when I finished my little sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project back in 2012.

So for this gigantic challenge I'll be using a small 3,5 x 5,5 inches, 64 pages to fill up (if I do a page a day) or 32 spreads (sounds much better doesn't it?) notebook. And if I take away the first page - for title purposes and all that - I have even less pages to fill! (go me, already plotting ;) ).

Who's with me? :)

Summer School III

My second assignment is behind me and I am again quite happy with it. Our brief demanded animal prints this time. Not necessarily as a repeat pattern but presented on a tote bag.

I started drawing quite late as I was immersed in totally different things last week so once the idea came to me I happily went with it. It's not exactly an animal print (as I think they wanted it) but it's not apples and pears either ;)

Here's what I submitted:

I find it quite happy and cute so I named it Happy Animal Print and I am offering it in my new society6 store. I think this pillow is totally adorable :) What do you think?

I'm really curious about our next brief now. One learns a lot in this kind of on-line challenges.

Summer School II

Brief No.1 was all about retro geometrical patterns which were supposed to be presented on swim wear mock-ups. We got some images to get us inspired and were prompted to search on our own too. I just couldn’t stay away from those pattern-y waves so they became my starting point:

I quickly went on to my computer because it’s so nice to see a pattern being “spread” around the monitor. I got hooked instantly and made several patterns which only led me to the painful "selecting of only one" to submit. Yes, it wasn’t easy but with a little bit of help from my on-line friends I narrowed it down. Here's what I submitted - Retro Blues




Another thing I was really pleased with were my presentation pictures. I didn’t use the mock-up bathing suits they provided for us but went with my own drawings based on girls from vintage sewing patterns. They were really fun to draw I must admit.

Here’s the second pattern I really like because it’s bright and happy. I named it Happy Camping due to little pink tents inside the sunny waves :)



I'd love to order one of these next, it looks so cute to me, what do you think?



Yes, I opened up a Society6 store so please check it out - it's here. I love how one can get so many pretty things.

I already have my next assignment to focus on and it's a bit harder than this one. At least to me. But I'm taking it as a challenge and I hope I'll be as happy about the outcome as I was here.

Thank you for the visit. I wish you some lovely summery days, with or without the rain ;)


Edit: 

I ordered a free fabric sample from Spoonflower the other day. So here's how Happy Camping looks like on Eco Canvas. Gorgeous, don't you think? ;)