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? :)