TJs Rambling Updates! Well, just two for now...

Ah this post is going to be about a few little updates. Two to be precise. It's getting way too hot here for sitting behind the laptop for long periods of time, so I'm typing in one go...hehe. Ready? Set? Go!

Ramble update 1: Kids Need More Art
A few weeks ago a came across a Facebook page called Kids Need more Art. They have a campaign going called Around The World and if you want to join, you can contact them and they will send you a shirt or bag and the only thing you have to do is answering a question and snap a picture with it. They want to see how far the shirt/bag travel around the world while collecting cool answers. Well, when I was out and about I managed to spill coffee on the shirt so I still ended up taking the picture at home with the bag (which I didn't want as I wanted to have a cool picture outside -_-)...anyway...I tend to be quite clumsy sometimes! Here's the picture that has been up on my Facebook yesterday.

I hardly post my own pictures on my blog huh? That aside. There's still some time to participate, but not sure how much time there's left yet. This is specifically aimed at people who live outside the States as the shirt does need to travel to you first. So wanna join? Check out their site or their Facebook page here.

Karen *waves* I loved our email exchanges! You're so sweet and can't wait to meet you one day!

Ramble Update 2: A Song of Sahel SOS
I'll be donating an original painting to the cause A Song of Sahel SOS. Every now and then I do a little side project that has more meaning to me than others. At least, whenever I read about it, it sparks something in me and I just have to act on it. I had it with e.g. the Red Dress Movement by The Bloggess.

A lot of parts in Africa are struck by starvation and dehydration, people have so little, though often their smiles are the most genuine ones you'll ever see. I've never visited Africa, but I do have heritage from there. And you know, it's very easy to only focus on the tragedies that covers Africa like a black cloud, so one must not forget about all the wonders in the form of beautiful landscapes and gorgeous animals that live there. I've wondered many times why a land as Africa is still in such severe need of help. Many theories have crossed my mind one more depressing and shocking than the other. So I won't bother you or myself with it anymore. What is needed is a helping hand is needed and Niamh Clune is one of the people who extended hers and set up an event to raise awareness and money to help the people who live in Africa, specifically around the area of Sahel. Sahel is a place in Africa struck by extreme drought and no rain for extended periods of time. I'm already melting when the temperatures in Holland go above 24 degrees Celsius...and when I think about how hot it can really get without the rain...I definitely should not complain. Not one bit.

Unfortunately I don't have bags of money around, so I am donating an original painting solely for this cause. It will be auctioned soon to raise money for the cause, however, I can't show you what I've painted just yet. What I can say is that the style of painting is quite different than I'm used to and my sister Cilla is completely in love with it. I always, always have to get used to my own stuff though. However...stepping outside my comfort zone is a good thing right? The event will be taking place on September 15th and you can join the event on Facebook. In case you're interested in knowing more about the cause and how to join, please read this post.

Ah. We can all dream about a better world, but in the end....our actions make all the difference.

Last ramble: MY GIVEAWAY is still open...so do join if you want and ask me question. The questions I've gotten so far, will be answered in the posts to come. :D

Enjoy you Sunday...the weather is getting waaaay too hot to sit behind my laptop!

Ciao Ciao everyone!

TJ's WIP: Dragons, Dragons, Dragons.

Staring post for you todaaaaaay!

Just like my Floating Rapunzel one, I kept track of how I painted my header on my FB page (hmm I think I need to switch up the one on my blog as well soon!). I painted lots of line-ups during that time and I still have a few planned. I found it a good way for me to pick a subject and experiment with how I would draw e.g. unicorns and create a fun image that could be turned into possible print. There are so many things to be captured on paper that I sometimes don't even know where to start.

A few lined-ups that I created so far are for sale in my Etsy store as well. Sooo get your favorite while you can, because I'm not sure if I'll prints available.

Hmm what else can I tell you? Not much to add I think. I always have the same routine when I create my art. Research - sketching (lots of sketching) - final sketch - inking - painting - final details - scanning - minor editing - done! That's it! However, if you have a specific question, just leave it in your comment ^_^.

 

Not a whole lot of pictures this time I FOUND MORE hidden in a folder ^_^! I really like the dragons and the pictures are scattered on my FB page, so I figured adding it in on post would be easier haha.

Have a lovely day!!

Ciao!

TJ's WIP: Floating Cupcakes.

Hello Hello!

Here's a little WIP for you again ^_^. Ms. Doodologist correctly pointed out "Rapunzel of the Cupcakes"...something like that hehe. Either way, I found a cool concept sketch of Rapunzel on the internet and used this as a reference for the character and voila...floating cupcakes were born. I already showed a little peek a while back, but I did snap more pics while I was working on this one as I showed peeks on my fanpage, so I figured to placed them all together and create a little post for you guys! Hope you like it and have fun staring!!

 

 

 

You know, with this little painting it really was all about subtle details. After the two bigger washes of color, I just added colors here and there, to bring out certain characters. I think if I added too much watercolor layers, the painting would lose it's "floaty-ness"...I have no other word to describe it, sooo I hope you get what I'm trying to say haha. I also didn't re-line every thing with black either. The final picture has been edited a bit in Photoshop, just to make sure the colors are brought back to life again. Can't have dull pictures, now can we?!

Hope you liked this little WIP!!

TJ's WIP: Koalas, Koalas, Koalas!

Hi there!

Big thanks to everyone who read last post! It really means a lot to me and I'm glad that I wrote and shared a bit of my Aunt's story with you. I have a bunch of posts lined up for you guys, but let's start with a staring post. I haven't showed a new WIP in a loooong time, so I snapped some pics for you when I created the Koala illustration. From sketch to final painting...let the staring begin!

As you can see, the differences towards the end are quite subtle and unfortunately the camera doesn't really captures this. In real life you can see it all much, much better!

Keep a close eye on my Etsy Shop please! I know I haven't been persistent with promoting it, got a lot going on the last few weeks and I'm juggling my time the best I can, but I will update it with new art, original work AND there will be a discount coupon thingy ^_^

Until we meet again...Ciao!

OH! I selected this post to be featured on my blog’s page at Illustration Blogs. Stroll by if you have some time to spare, please

Ramble Update a la TJ

*pauses the time*

Well hello there!

Okay, I really wish I could do that sometimes. I didn't realize that almost 2 weeks have passed since my last post! So I thought it would be nice to see/read what I've been up to so far.

I have been working on a series of paintings, small and larger ones, which I call 'Flower Girls' for now. I will put them up for sale soon as well. So keep an eye out if you would like to get your hands on my original work. I'll tell you more about this in a proper blog post. So for now I have two sneak peeks for you!

Next to this I have been doing a lot of thinking and rewriting of my business plan and my second site. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted with the second site, but as I worked on it, I noticed that I wasn't too sure of a few elements. So that's why I have it on hold for now. I will rearrange my Flickr photostream and rearrange some things on this blog as well.

There will be a new giveaway soon! I wanted to do one sooner, but the snail mail to the last winner, well it was truly a snail and I wanted to make sure that he got it before I announced a new giveaway ^_^. As you can see, lots of little things to take care of. Oh and Spring cleaning is also sneaking up on me. Who else is doing some major cleaning now or are you already done with it and I'm slow? Hehe.

I have a new Work in Progress post for you! It's the progress of the Tropical Birds header. Enjoy the sneak peek and if you have questions or tips, just let me know!

Edit: Click the image below and you shall be transported to the WIP post. Totally forgot to add this!

Readers who also know Ms. Claire from the blog A Little Piece of Me, probably already know about her awesome character. For the ones who don't, do pay attention please! She's the creator of the character Grumpus! A hairy green huge creature who's planning to take over the world for the last 100 years already and who is...grumpy. I love it haha. Do visit her blog for Grumpus's interesting stories through time. But what I wanted to say is that Grumpus joined Facebook. Yes. yes he did, but with the help of Claire of course. His hands are huge & hairy and with the new feature on Facebook where you only need to press enter to send a comment...well things could get ugly. Plus, did I already tell you that he's planning to rule the world...join him...by joining his page...The Grumpus Page. You don't want Grumpus to go on a Grumpus Rampage now do you ;).

The final ramble update: Could you guys please keep your fingers crossed for my external hard drive? Little bro accidentally dropped it and now I can't access it! The horror. I know it's not the end of the universe if it can't be fixed, but before I have to say "My HD died *insert crying*", I'd love for you to keep your fingers crossed ;).

This is it for now, but I already have another post in the making for you. Haha.

Until then, take care everyone.

Get a sneak peek behind the scenes *ahem*

Hey everyone!

How are you all doing? Here all is going well. I'm busy with painting and editing a bunch of illustrations so next post will be all about these. This post is to point out a new tab in my header....

You guys....did noticed the tabs under the header right? Hehe ^_^. I have added a new tab! *looks at the amazed stares from the crowd* I know, it's a pretty cool tab...and it is the 'Work in Progress' tab, also called WIP. Maybe you knew this, but maybe you didn´t. If you didn´t...now you do!

But okay, I digress! I decided to keep track of a pretty large illustration that I did a few days ago. Reason for this that I was telling myself for a while now, that I would keep track on how an illustration transforms while I painted. By keeping track I mean taking pictures of every step. For some reason, it always slipped my mind. Well okay, I do know the reason and it is that whenever I start painting, I forget the time. And that's also why a fridge next to my desk would be...simply awesome *sigh*

It´s an illustration for a charity calendar for the organization Diva Day. Diva Day is an organization that showcase new artists in benefit of women's advocacy groups. They address issues like domestic violence. Please visit the website for more information. I was sold immediately to do a piece. It combines music & art in one. Two of my favorite things. Here´s a sneak preview of what I did.

aaaaaand.....click the image and you shall magically get transported to the page with the WIP pictures! Too bad you guys can't see the painting for real, because the intensity and depth is pretty cool in real life (if I do say so myself). I got asked several times what I used to make it look like that...I replied 'Ehm...I painted'. I kid you not. Just brushes and paint and this is what I came out with. Personally, I like to see how a drawing comes to life and to see the little 'secret' steps in between. So I hope you will like it too. For once the post is on the 'short' side (ahem), but...beware when you go to the WIP page hehe.

Have fun reading and/or staring at the pictures!

Enjoy your Sunday as well.
Ciao!

TJ's WIP: Flower Girl Ivy Liliana

The Lovely Flower Girl Ivy Liliana shall be featured in a WIP post!

Ivy Liliana is from the Flower Girls series. What makes this one different from my other work is that I used an extra step in creating it. I used...coffee! Yes. You have read it correctly. Before I started with the watercolors, I smudged coffee grain all over the paper to give it a stained effect. This intensified the colors even more. Let's start!

You all know by now that you need to start with a brainstorm/sketch session. Proper brainstorming and sketching makes sure that you get familiar with what you want to draw. It can also save you lots of stress when you find out during the inking stage that a certain pose or expression doesn’t work. Usually my sketches are only readable for me, in this case however. The focus was more on the paint. So the sketch work was quite minimal as I already knew exactly what I wanted to draw. So I hoped to the ink phase quite quick.

With most of my work, at this stage, I start with the painting. However, I mentioned coffee earlier and this is the time to wet the drawing entirely and smudge coffee where you want. I use the coffee ground after a pot of coffee has been made. Why coffee? I used coffee in the past to create a pirate map for my sister and I recalled this when I saw an artist using green tea for his paintings. So I thought why not adding an extra layer to a painting and see what effect I will get from of it. After you smudged the coffee ground, wipe most of it of the paper. Be careful, as you can damage the paper with the coffee ground. Then let it dry completely. After it dried completely, remove any leftover coffee ground.

Step 3: Paint, Paint, Paint.
Always start with a light wash and add more color as you go. You can see in the picture below that I added blues and pinks, yellows & oranges for the flowers and darker greens for the plants. I used a wet in wet technique so the colors flow together. After the first layer or two, I will re-ink most of the lines. This way it stands out more and it intensifies the colors.

Whenever a layer is done, by this I mean when I’ve added all the effects that I want in that specific layer; I let it dry completely before I add more color. If you work with a paper that’s too wet, you can easily lift up the paint from the paper or damage the paper. Just repeat the painting process until you’re happy with it.

Step 4: Final touches
Before I scan or take a picture of the painting, I let it sit for a day. When you work for several hours on a painting, you can easily overlook details. So usually after a day and with fresh eyes, I can spot better what I need to adjust in the painting. Usually I just clean up around the edges, re-ink some lines and add more shadow or small details.

With this, we are done! I hope you liked to see the process of one of my illustrations! Looking at the final illustration one may wonder, what magic did the person used to create this?! If you break it down in steps, it isn’t that difficult. By layering the colors, you will achieve a similar effect. It does require patience and practice. This Flower Girl is, as I mentioned before, part of a series, where the focus is more on the female character, surrounded by a blur of flowers. For now it consists out of 6 smaller illustrations and 3 big ones. 

Hope you liked it and if you have questions don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Thanks for reading!

Other WIP
Sing, My Pumpkins, Sing
Tropical Fluffiness