Moving 'house'

Hey there. Just a short note to inform you that there is a brand new blog where I am hanging out lately and it's called: Pencils & Pasta. It looks real nice, if I say so myself :-) You'll find it at pencilsandpasta.com. It's all about illustration, inspiration, making my work mainly location independent, travel and moving to Italy. Say what? Yes! I am moving to Italy. Ok, maybe not right now. But I am working towards it and my new blog is there for you to join me on my adventurous journey.

I hope you want to join me too! You can subscribe there if you don't want to miss any new blogposts. Read on for a little piece of writing from the new blog.

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....I work mostly from my studio at home and the plan is to change the location of ‘home’. That’s where Italy comes in. I love that place. I love the language, the food, the sun, the ocean. And M and I want to live there within a certain amount of time. A simpler life: more nature and less concrete, more time and less stress, more sun and less rain. La bella vita, si? Obviously that doesn’t happen over night and we will definitely not go unprepared. So there’s work to do. Learn Italian, making sure we can both do most of our work from anywhere in the world (read: Italy), so we won’t be eating bare pasta without any wine. Impossible! And figure out where we want to live. Quite important.

This blog is about my life as an illustrator and this adventurous road to Italy. I’ll show you my work and how it’s made. You will read about the materials and programs I use. I will show you what inspires me. You can join me while I figure out how to earn a passive income and how I am about to change the way I work to being location independent. But it’s not all work related, you can join me here while I go back to school to learn Italian. And of course, you can tag along while we go to Italy and find the perfect spot.

I hope to inspire you to live your life to the fullest and follow your dreams...

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Curious yet? Please join me and don't forget to subscribe there! www.pencilsandpasta.com

Sweet 'n Spicy

Are you sending a card to your Valentine this year? And if you do, will it be sweet or spicy?

Spicy?

Or sweet?



Both cards are available at Stoffer + Blik.
You'll find the hottie right here. And for the sweet one, click here.

If you're in the USA or anywhere outside of Europe you best order within the next two weeks for it to be on time for Valentine!

Instagram GIVEAWAY - custom recipe style!

Instagram Give Away! You can win your own personal illustrated recipe. Only this week!

What do you need to do? It's really simple. You go to Instagram and find me there: @drawmyrecipe. Like the post, follow my account and just say something below the post so I know you want to join.

Nothing else. I'll randomly pick a winner next week. I'll contact you via DM on Instagram to ask you what recipe you want me to illustrate. So, one week from now. I say GO (and good luck!)

If you're just not lucky and you want one anyway, you can! Visit www.drawmyrecipe.com to see how. And you'll find lots of examples there as well. 

 

Tools of the Trade

I'm not making as much new Stoffer + Blik products as I would like to. I am hoping to find a little more time next year to do so. My hands are itching for carving new stamps and designing new cards.

But I have just added an extra item to the shop. This is a postcard of an illustration I made for my own portfolio site. As you might know I am a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, so I have a portfolio website for self promotion. This website was thoroughly updated a few months back, which resulted in a lack of time for other things. And... this illustration. Tools of the Trade: pencils, nibs, a tablet, macbook and some pantone swatches.

If you are a creative like me, you'll probably recognize the tools!

The postcard I made, you can find right here. Only 1,20 euro. For all you creative folks out there!

Draw My Recipe

Happy news: I have launched a new website! And it's all about drawing recipes.

I already did that of course under the label Stoffer + Blik. But I decided the recipes deserved a little extra. So I came up with the name 'Draw My Recipe' and a new logo that you may have seen on Instagram. Along with that I just launched www.drawmyrecipe.com where you can find lots of examples, many happy-customer-reviews and all you need to know to get your own recipe drawn by me. You should go check it out! But before you go... I have some more news.

A former colleague of mine just opened (today!) a brand new store slash lunchroom in Voorschoten, called Bij57. And you may have already guessed it: my Stoffer + Blik goodies are for sale there! The store is absolutely gorgeous in pastel greens and filled with beautiful high quality products and one of a kind vintage finds. You'll want to have all of it, so it's a bit tricky going in there.... Another reason to visit is the yummy coffee, lunch and breakfast she's serving (I designed the menu. I know what's on there, believe me).

The photo below is made the evening before the official opening. I haven't seen it all finished by daylight either...

Non related to Stoffer + Blik, but also lots of fun: I painted the logo of Bij57 (it's huge, you should see it ;)) on the wall in the store. And I also hand lettered the opening hours on the door and a couple of words on the window.

So there are two places you need to go:

One > www.drawmyrecipe.com
Two > Bij57, Schoolstraat 57 in Voorschoten

Oh and.... if you order a custom recipe via my new website, before the end of November, you'll get a 10% discount! Just so you know. Perfect timing before Christmas right?

Enjoy! :) 

The start of a little Natural History Collection...

I had an interesting offer from a (a real one, stone and everything) shop recently that wanted to sell my items. I might go ahead and do that... I will let you know the details when it's actually happening. As a result I took the weekplanners out of the Etsy shop. These were to be customized and therefor unfinished. I decided to finish them and use those to be sold in this shop. Sorry about that. I will add new ones in a short while!

The other thing (also a result of this in a way) are these new items in my Etsy shop: mini posters. Maybe you remember the grasshopper linocut. It needed company, so I cut a beetle out of lino to start a little 'natural history collection'. I cannot really call it a collection when there's only two pieces, can I? But it's a start. I used both stamps to create these mini posters, A5 sized. They're actually printed with blockprinting ink, rolling and all. No stamping ink this time. And the color is so gorgeous! It's a deep blue that really lies on top of the paper. 

I made a couple, limited and numbered. They're all different and completely handmade and unique artwork. Two are in the Etsy shop, the others are reserved for the 'real shop'. You can get your hands on #4 right here and here.

Hand Lettering - making a poster

As a graphic and editorial designer I've always had a thing for letters, fonts and type. And as an illustrator I love to work with them as well. Drawing letter forms makes you really look at them as shapes and not so much as characters. It gives you the opportunity to play around with them and make them interact in a way they could not do as a type.

Hand lettering is very popular right now and it's hard to miss these days. I've been getting more into lettering myself. I took a calligraphy class (which is not the same as hand lettering, but it is related of course) and I have been taking online courses in hand lettering. Practice, practice, practice.

The popularity comes from the renewed love for creating things, handmade things in a world that is becoming more and more digital and fast. It's nice to slow things down and really pay attention to what we have in front of us. To make, but also to see. Having something handmade feels like a luxury. It's something that is made with care and passion and is almost always unique.

One of the classes I took in hand lettering resulted in the quote poster below. The class was about drawing a word in your own letters, in different phases. Then vectorizing them in Illustrator and play around with color to make a postcard.

I decided to challenge myself a bit more and I used a quote to make a poster. Also I didn't want it looking too slick, so I decided not to verctorize, but keep the wobbly shapes of my hand drawn letters. So I used Photoshop instead of Illustrator (even though I should probably do it in Illustrator next time, just to get to know the software better).

So what I did after deciding on the quote was determine what words I wanted to emphasize.
In this case it was YOU and STRENGTH. To balance it out I made NOBODY big as well.

I roughly sketched in the letters, making sure to center everything. There should have been a version before this, but I decided to get more into detail on the same piece of paper. You see I've been erasing and shifting things.

I took a fresh sheet of paper and used my lightbox to trace what I liked about the last one. You see I changed some embellishing, added serifs at STRENGTH and generally cleaned it all up a bit.

 

Even though the pencil sketch above (2) wasn't exactly right yet, I decided to start inking it anyway, knowing I could change some things around on the computer. The G in STRENGTH is too thick and the bottom of these letters don't align very well. There is some weird thickness in the B and the D of NOBODY and the O looks more like an egg. The AND in the center is too high and a little small. Well. Hallelujah for Photoshop.

I cleaned up the letters, added some depth by using drop shadows. Again, I added and removed some of the embellishments, played around with the colors and voila!

Tile design in lino

Today I made this linocut with the intention to make it a pattern. It's like a floor tile you can just keep turning and repeating to make a pattern. This way you get a big result (and a big print) with just a tiny piece of lino. I love how it turned out and now I want to design my own bathroom tiles!

I started out with flamingos, but that was bit too detailed. Maybe later, when I have more patience ;) I decided on the fish. I made a mess (as usual) smudging the ink all over the place, but hey, it turned out pretty nice.

It's not perfect and that's what I love about handmade stuff. I do intend to make the next one a little neater and print it neater too. I think when I design in on the computer, transfer it to lino, I will get a really good connecting pattern. Without losing the handmade feel. I guess that's next.

Below you see a bit of the process: sketching, transfer to lino, cutting and printing.

Jeeujh for this weekend

I woke up yesterday morning. Jeeujh for that. And then I checked my FB timeline and was surprised to see my set of illustrated recipe cards on there. EtsyNL had shared my product as a nice way to be eating healthy at the start of the new year. Jeeujh for that too!

That made my stats of the Stoffer + Blik shop go through the roof. Last time that happened Dutch creative handmade paper things magazine Flow mentioned my webshop in their Saturday Market section on the website. That was also a giant jeeeujh!

I'm having a great weekend, I hope you are too!

Painting on the wall

There's a new coffee and lunch spot very near to where I live. And it had a big white wall. Well, not anymore...

Before this place, Koozie, opened I contacted the owner to see if we could work together, as in selling my Stoffer + Blik postcards. The cards is something we're still working on, but there was something else I could do. This wall. I made a design and presented the idea. They liked it and so I could start researching for my biggest illustration yet.

It took some preparation, figuring out how I was going to get this sketch I made on the wall, with everything in place. And what materials should I use? I ended up buying a projector and a bunch of paint markers in two colors. Yesterday I set up everything at Koozie and drew the design on the wall. In pencil first, before tracing it with the paint markers. 

Two days later it's all finished and I'm pretty happy with it. Here are a couple of images of the process and of course the end result. Now everybody head over to Koozie for a cup of coffee and take a look at the real thing! 

Koozie is located in the Van der Takstraat, Noordereiland, Rotterdam. 

Recipes with a story

The last two months of the year always seem a little crazy workwise. On one hand there's the holidays and the gifts, so custom recipes get more popular. And on the other hand I think that things just pile up towards the end of the year. Those two combined is a recipe (ha!) for late nights working. Luckily I love my job, so it could be a lot worse. But I am preparing myself for a sore neck, stiff fingers and sleepy eyes in weeks to come.

My 'resolution' to take things a bit more slowly after coming back from the 100 days of summer trip did work out actually, even though it doesn't always feel that way. Things just don't spread out evenly across the year. Obviously. The minute I start thinking something like 'it's been quiet for a bit, I hope I have enough work this month' or 'I haven't heard from them in a while, hope they still want me to work for them', that's when the requests start to come in. And all at the same time. You would think I would be used to it after 6 years of being Girl Boss. Yeah, me too.

Another thing I've been wanting to write about (will have a new blogpost on this soon) is the workshop modern calligraphy I did two weeks ago. I loved it and have been practicing a lot. I already see the improvement: big motivation to keep it up! As you can see below, I can apply my new knowledge in my work right away.

Anyway, I came here to show you what I've been working on! This recipe has just left the building, all the way to the USA for someone's mum who is about to be a grandmother. This is the recipe of his mother's mother who passed away. A special occasion... I love how these requests come with a story.

PS. The last photo is another recipe, also for a US customer and also from a grandmother who passed away. This one's extra special because she wanted to have a little portrait of her grandmother in there as well. Excited to show you when it's all done!

PS 2. I love that color blue! (it's gouache mixed with water to get an ink you can actually write with)

An ode to my island

'Your island? I thought you lived in Rotterdam.'

Yes, I do. And we have a few little islands in the Maas. The one I live at is the Noordereiland [Northern Island]. And I love it. I also love maps, so it is sort of miraculous that this never happened before... but I made an illustrated map of the Noordereiland. I gave myself 'a day off' and what did I do? Work! (But I love it, so then it's okay. Right?)

I know what triggered it. There might be a nice collaboration in the near future with a recently opened coffee place just a few streets away. That made me think of postcards that are more specific for that place. I started with tea, coffee and pie. I tried different things and made two cards that definitely have potential to show up in the shop (and who knows... at the coffee place!).

While working on that I moved from coffee and pie to something that's more specific for this island. We have a bunch of landmarks around, especially bridges (duh...). I thought of drawing these specific landmarks, and I might. But I started with the island itself and it's location in the middle of the Maas.

See for yourself. I think it's a little too specific to put in the shop. But you can always request a printed poster if you're interested (click on the image at my website to send me an email)

PS. The coordinates are exactly where this illustration was made ;)

Drawing Challenge #elleaimetekent

Elle Aime is a shop in Rotterdam where Lisa Manuels, illustrator herself, sells all sorts of handmade creative goodies that make you happy. I was there a long time ago when it was just a little improvised shop. A couple of years ago she moved to a bigger space. Every time I am there or just walk past, I really really want to have a shop like that of my own.

Beside the creative workshops she organizes at her shop, she also organized a little drawing challenge on Instagram last week (there were a few before this week and I guess there are more to come). She posted a list of 7 combinations of 2 words. Make an illustration out of it. It can be quick and simple, or you can put a whole lot of work into it. You can be skilled artist or you still draw sticks as arms and legs. I doesn't matter. Just be creative, enjoy yourself. Then post your results to #elleaimetekent where you can find the drawings of everybody who joined.

I joined the challenge and drew a little something every day of the past week. I tried using different materials and techniques each day: papercutting, watercolor, ink, fineliner and pencil. And be original, which is not that easy when you are joining a creative bunch of people. But I'm pretty happy with the results. Thanks to Elle Aime for the inspiration and the challenge. Looking forward to the next round! 

Here they are: 

1. swan + sock

2. pencil + donut (I made two, first idea was posted too many times...)

3. camera + cotton candy

4. stamp + lamp

5. panda + apron

6. slipper + marshmallow

7. banana + bow

Sunny side up!

Just a little experiment with a puncher and colored paper. That turned into this egg and peas.

Bug-a-boo

I am back from my awesome crazy ridiculous 100 day trip along the Mediterranean coast. Yes, hello again! Tapas in Spain, hiking on Corsica, exploring the most gorgeous beaches of Sardinia and Sicily, eating all that delicious pasta in Italy and wandering through lovely towns, swimming in the bluest waters in Greece. Seeing the sunset almost every night, soaking up the sun. Yep, I would highly recommend :) I have been drawing along the way and there's some stuff I want to show here as well. But I will get to that later.

Being back home,  I wanted to start again slowly, give Stoffer + Blik a lot more of my time than I did before I left. I made the decision on the road to focus on illustrations and the things I really love. But as soon as I was back I was bombarded with a lot of cool projects and so I have been working a little more than I planned or even wished. But last week most things were rounded up. The inspiration was there all along, I just needed the time. And there it was: time. I finished two of the projects I had in mind. (I will definitely show you the other project too, it's too cool not to. Next blog!)

So that free afternoon I took my sketchbook and headed over to the Natural History Museum in my home town. I love the cabinets with all the bugs and shells. I spent a couple of hours sketching the creatures there. When I got back home my brain had worked out a little plan.  

I refined one of my sketches and started carving away...

Once the cutting was done, I made a test print to see where the stamp needed to be refined. And then it was finished. I am so pleased with the result that I feel like making a whole series of bugs and fellow multi legged creatures. This butterfly like creature is now a greeting card and for sale at Stoffer+Blik. Check it out here. 

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.

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

Shameless Self Promotion #1

The little article Libelle Lekker published has put me to work. I have had quite some Belgian orders lately. And that's a good thing, of course.

Also because I'm learning Belgian words I had never heard of before. For example their word for onions is not quite the same as ours. I actually had to google it and just in case I sent an extra email to the customer to ask if I was drawing the correct ingredients. I'm not only learning new recipes, but also a new language...

I needed new vintage paper as well, because you run out of these things and you can't just buy them anywhere. I went on a dusty search for some old books in secondhand shops. I found a couple of them with the right size empty and discolored pages to take out and make my artwork on.

Now that I have stacked up on brand new vintage paper: you can have your own favorite recipe illustrated by me as well. You can order yours right here!

#11 Scampi

Most of the experimenting with illustrations was actually just work lately. And that's a good thing. I already feel I have a pretty nice job, doing what I love. But I wouldn't really call designing magazines  and newspapers a 'hobby'. But this, the whole illustrating thing.. well, that kind of is. And it is starting to grow into a bigger part of my day to day work. I have been drawing little piglets and (big ass pigs, too) for AD magazine, the weekend supplement of a Dutch national newspaper.

Talking about food... I was featured in the Belgian 'Libelle Lekker!' in the beginning of March. You may have heard about that (I was pretty happy about it...). And it is actually generating customers for my illustrated recipes. I've been drawing them for the belgian market past month. The latest one is about scampi. And that's what I wanted to show you here.

Illustration Experiment #11. Scampi. Hand drawn with pen and ink. Coloring in Photoshop.
(plus a little hand lettering)

#10. Spring!

#10. Experimenting with different styles and changing textures.

The 'orginal' sheep I drew for a job I'm working on was a full pencil sketch, no watercolor clouds. For my own amusement I changed it around a bit and made it into a sweet pink, fluffly sheep. For spring, since the sun has done a little sneak preview of it last week.