Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Fighting demons

It's not all experiments I am drawing lately. It's also real work, where people actually pay me to draw. That is pretty awesome, who would have thought... Even though I really wanted to be able to make a living out of doing what I love and I am so happy that it is really starting to go somewhere for real, it also scares me and I have some demons to fight. The usual I-Can't-Do-This, This-Is-Crap and Who-Am-I-Kidding type. You probably know them. They tend to show up in most aspects of, well, life. I try not to pay too much attention to them. They're annoying little buggers who should just shut the **** **.

People ask me to draw things I have never drawn before, obviously. And that's a good thing of course, otherwise it would be a real bore. But how can you say YES! when you don't really know if you can... I started a long time ago by saying that I was going to try and I made sure the newspaper I was drawing for had a back up in case I failed. That was many years ago and it was a one-time-thing (it was published though!). After a few years of silence, doing other things and building experience and confidence, it is easier for me to just say yes, even though I am definitely not always sure.

Most of the time I don't even know how things will turn out. But that is also exactly what I love about it. I can surprise myself (and disappoint...yeah that too). Now I am really trying to skip the maybes and the tries. I just say yes and see what happens.

Here are some of the illustrations I have been working on lately. These have been published in AD Magazine. First one is a part of the world map on where flamingos live. The second is part of a whole production on pigs and these are three out of 5 types of domestic pigs.







Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Illustration Experiments #12

I know, I know. These experiments are very irregular. But so is my job and the availability of time. That doesn't mean I am not busy at the moment, but I really needed some creative time for myself. Somehow that is different from creative time-for-work.

I planted a bunch of radish seeds a few months ago and I've been snacking from my balcony lately. These little fellas are quite tasty. And pretty! I got myself a couple this evening and decided they deserved a little drawing. I started off with pencil on paper, followed by watercolor. Not the Photoshop kind, the real, wet stuff, which was kind of scary. I tend to ruin these things. You know: too much water, too many layers, wrong color, smudging.

Anyway, here is the result. I added a little graphic design to it. Do you also see a series in this? Yeah, when I have the time... Seriously! Where does it go? I want more of it.

#12. Radish in watercolor