- April - 100 day challenge, the golden age and my first children's book
Monthly update from my art studio
Hello everyone,
First of all, a lot of new subscribers joined me last month and I wanted to say thank you for your support! I passed the 500 subscribers mark and celebrated by giving my most active readers a month of free all access.
The month of March always feels like the world is coming alive again. And maybe the same goes for me. I’m working on lovely collaborations and hope to do more in the coming months, so if you would like to do a collab with me, feel free to get in touch!
In the Studio
I’m so excited to announce the publication of my first illustrated children’s book! Publishing house Mama Makes Books asked me to create the illustrations for the book “Tiny, floating coral”, written by Mary Auld. The book shows the journey of a tiny coral planula floating through the ocean in a soup of plankton, looking for a place to settle, divide, and grow. It’ll be in stores on the 2nd of May!
And how did the 100-day challenge go? It's not easy to draw something every day when you also have a family (or a life in general:). So I decided I didn’t need the pressure of drawing a specific thing every day. I just aim to draw every day if it feels good and I have time now, drawing whatever I like. Feels so much better. I did make a few nice drawings though.
My local Botanical drawing course in Haarlem, The Netherlands, is now available! It starts in May, so if you live in the Haarlem area, come join us! Read more about it here.
Art community updates
If you take a look at my portfolio, you'll probably find that my work sometimes has a dynamic quality, where elements intertwine or flow like they're in the wind. One of my inspiration sources for this quality of work is the Dutch Golden Age. The delicacy with which the flowers are painted and the exuberance appeal to me a lot. More is more:)
We delved a little deeper into this last month. I made a preparatory video for our live session drawing flowing spring flowers, watch it here.
During the Seasonal Sketch Session, we drew plants and animals seen in my area (Haarlem, the Netherlands) in March.
I get so much out of the live sessions regarding practice and development, and I’m very grateful for the paid subs joining me.
In other videos, you will find:
How I then cut my drawings up to create a new composition (see the result below)
Coming up : Natural History
Why do we know so much about nature? It’s all documented beautifully (not only by men, but women were invaluable :), and people have studied it intently. This month, we will take inspiration and document our own drawings.
For paid Substack and Patreon members, the monthly themed session:
Tuesday April 16th 16:00 (4 PM) CEST Amsterdam Time (+replay) - All paid members of the Creative CocoonTheme: Wandering the Naturalis Museum in LeidenSIGN UP HEREAvailable at Patreon - Meadow Maestros tier:
Tuesday April 9th 16:00 (4 PM) CEST Amsterdam Time (+replay)Seasonal Sketch Session - we will be drawing plants / flowers and animals that are common in April in my area (The Netherlands)
Please use this time zone converter to find the times in your area: www.worldtimebuddy.com
Other Live Session Tips:
- ’s Creative Flock
Catching up on the Scribble Brigade hosted by Sophie Mcpike
Favorite Art - one of mine and one of theirs
This is paper-cut artwork is such a gem! I found it a few years ago via Google. Unfortunately I have no idea who the maker is so if you do, please put it in the comments below. It has beautiful colours (the blue!), and I love that it is sort of symmetrical but not quite.
I have always been really into paper cut artwork, and did a few things with it in my own work, but about a decade ago I somehow let go of that. When tyding my studio I found that I had about 8 pairs of scissors and they spoke to me - don’t neglect us. So I listened :) I created a collage piece from the flowers we drew in our Golden Age drawing session, and although it was a laborious task, I was so happy to do things without a computer. The shadows add a nice extra, and I might explore that some more, creating more 3D work.
Lovelies
Finding the joy in small things:
Portrait Artist of the Year. I first heard about it at Emma Carlisle’s Patreon and binge-watched 2 seasons on YouTube. I later found out there is also a Landscape Artist Of The Year program; that’s next on my list.
This has nothing to do with visual arts, but my kid has started reading stories to me every night. We snuggle up in bed, and she does voices and everything. Her reading improves by the minute. It’s the best time of day.
Sewing seeds! Started a few weeks ago, and my whole studio is now full of pretty tiny seedlings.
Caran D’ache Supracolor II Soft pencil - Blueish pale. Perfect for those spring skies.
That’s all for now, thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate you being here. Enjoy all of the spring flowers, see you in May!
congratulations on the release of your picture book! that’s wonderful! i’m still in love with your collages - just gorgeous.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️