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