A Print for a Good Cause

A couple of days ago I got really inspired by a sculpture Stephanie of Petitplat was making (also shown in the second image on the right), so I decided to draw the whale she was sculpting. I've drawn a whale before for my weekly challenge and I knew I was going to enjoy making this whale filled with corals for sure! I posted it on Instagram and a few days later I received a request of a really kind customer to have that drawing printed. Stephanie was kind enough to approve of it (as I drew what she made), so I now have a limited amount of A5 prints available in my shop. That's not all! I decided to start a charity fundraising with this print. Per sold print, 6 USD (half of the purchase price) will be donated to Sea Shepherd, an organization fighting any form of cruelty towards the wildlife in the world's oceans.

It would be really great if you'd help out raising money for this great cause and/or spread the word!
Make sure to check out the shop of Petitplat too, she makes so many beautiful things.

Last, but not least, the necklace shown in the first image is by the talented crafters behind Star of the East!

Introducing New Designs

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about the new collection I designed. Well, today it's time to talk about two new designs! The first one is an illustration I made in my sketchbook. I decided to make an original drawing out of it and after that was finished and scanned, it was put aside for a time - sometimes it doesn't feel right yet to use something. But when I was working towards making my first collection of purses featuring my illustrations, I really wanted this illustration to be part of it. It just looks so pretty on the fabric! All the details, even the small stripes, are so well printed and clear. I couldn't be happier with the result and it fits so well between all the other designs.

This brings me to the second design. It features an illustration I already offer as print in my shop: the flowerpot filled with different types of flowers and leaves.

I hope you're excited about this new collection! Both designs are up for preorder in my shop: the bird and the flowerpot.

Brown Bear Purse

I'm not sure how long this has been on my mind to make, but a couple of weeks ago I finally edited the files and ordered the supplies to make prototypes for a new collection of own designed fabric pouches. When these arrived I literally got butterflies in my stomach (which shows how thrilled I was). I went straight to my sewing machine and put everything together. First up is my popular brown bear illustration. The finished result was shared on my Instagram two days ago and I'm totally overwhelmed by all the reactions! I really didn't expect this. Because of these reactions, I set up a preorder listing in my Etsy and Dawanda shop.

A ready to ship batch should be ready in 3-4 weeks, but if you're as excited as I am and you purchase the preorder listing, the pouch will ship out sooner.

Over the next couple of days, I'll be sharing more designs. So stay tuned!!

Sketchbooks

I really love drawing frames. Quite often, I tend to draw these frames in advance - at random pages - and keep them empty until I figure out what to put inside. For this frame, I picked the swan I drew for my weekly challenge and added some leaves. The drawing came out really nice and I'm thinking of turning this one into a new necklace piece!

As for the other drawing I'm sharing today, that's from an older sketchbook. I figured I don't often share old work, despite it being an important part of my current style. The sketchbook page you're seeing is made in 2010! It seems so long ago.


> > I've also got some exciting news: I opened a society6 store! There are - at the moment - 4 illustrations available. I want to have a couple more added by the end of the week. The illustrations look so nice as different types of products. Make sure to have a look!

Field of Poppies

The camera madness continues. This is a small illustration I made a while ago and I'll have print available of this very soon. I plan on making other illustrations available as print too, so stay tuned if you're excited about this! In the meantime, please make sure to check out the webshop as I'm having a July sale! Use coupon code CHRISTMASINJULY for 20% off.

Animal Tuesday // week 10 to week 18

Yesterday I posted the drawing for week 19 of Animal Tuesday on Instagram. This also means it's time to have a small recap and share some details of the last 9 weeks. The weekly challenge is getting more and more interesting each week. There are still a lot of animals I want to draw! If there's an animal you'd like to see on a Tuesday, just let me know. Getting requests is one of the fun parts of this challenge.

Camera Madness

Those who know me, know it's been difficult breaking free from drawing plants and animals all the time. Things are slowly changing, though. A dear friend and I started having small drawing sessions recently. Drawing together has been so much fun, especially when my cousin joins for a session. I really enjoy these little moments. But, to be honest, I still ended up drawing animals each time. Just not last time! My friend has an amazing collection of (vintage) cameras - amongst other amazing objects. So for the short time we had, I sat down and did pen drawings of two of her cameras. Later that week I drew my own camera. Sadly, my own collection sort of ends here.

I really loved getting back into line work. The end result looks a bit funny because of the weird compositions and lines that aren't as straight as they should be. But I really like it this way. I started drawing the lens and build up from there. You can expect likely work more often, for sure.

Pssst. My dear friend and her boyfriend also have their own business where they sell vintage, retro and antique furniture and home decor. Check them out!!