Back to school again ;-)

The last six weeks I went back to school again. A very special online class: 'Your own voice' teached by the Spanish illustrattor Javier Zabala. I'm a big fan of his work, so when I saw this class passing by, I didn't have to think long to join. I do share here some of the works I've made during this fun, exciting and inspiring trip:

We did experiment with a lot of different techniques. The image above is a mixture of collage, stencils and Photoshop)

Below Stencils, collage and chinese ink:

Javier did show his techniques in special videos. Each week was around another theme. We also did get a lot of theory about masters of influence, finding your voice, the essence of a character and composition.

An experiment wirh chinese ink:

One assignment was to do 20 'covers'. It had to be quick drawings in the same style, that could be  covers for a sketchbook project. I chose faces as subject, but in a different way from what I normally do. Here are some of them:

Very interesting was also the week about finding the essence of a character. We played a game and had to guess which characters we had chosen. Here two of the characters i've made. (Not so difficult to guess, he?)

One of the techniques we did was monotype. I did experiment before with it. But it is fun to explore it more,. I do like the effect of this technique a lot:

In the end we had to make a final work. It will be published in a (digital) catalogue for the Bologna Bookfair. I did do some mixed media experiments  I'm not sure which one to choose as final one. I think I will go for the wolf in the forest (the first image of this post)

Which one would you choose?

I hope to continue with experimenting. And to explore 'my voice' more and more. And use the techniques I've learned in the books and other works I make and wanna make ... ;-)

For those who are interested: Here's a link to this class. I think it will be repeated in the future. Highly recommended!

My first Children's Picture Book!

After illustrating several books I recently made my first children's picture book:
'Baas van iets groots'

I'm very happy with this, because it was high on my wishlist! I wrote the story and made the illustrations.

It is published by De Eenhoorn (February 2018) It's one of my favorite publishers. The book is written in Dutch. I hope it will be translated one day ....

It's about a little Mouse, who wants to become a boss of something big ...

I also did the design of the book. It was a nice challenge. I really hope to make more of them. Because it is what I love the most!

There are some reviews written about it. (in Dutch) You can read it here and here.

In Memori-Mam - Geranium Art

Today it's eight (already eight? yes eight!) years ago my Mam suddenly passed away. Each year after that day I make a special in Memori-Mam here on my blog.

I wrote before about the geranium I took with me after she died. About our growing geranium field.We just put all the geraniums out in our garden again after the winter staying inside.

I  already have a lot of geranium pictures. Never knew this plant would be such an inspiration for me. I took this photo last year in my house: Some geraniums behind our white curtains.It's almost a painting, don't you think?

When I see a geranium, I always think of my Mom. And I have them all around me :-)

If you like to see the other blogposts I made  to honour her, click the links:

The first year  I posted this blogpost: to honour my mom
(including some funny animations my mother made)

The second year I wrote another blogpost about her: far away, but still near 

The third year I wrote about her geranium

And the fourth year I wrote:  In memori-mam, thinking of you...

The fifth year I posted 85 geraniums

And sixth year I wrote:In Memori-Mam 6

And last year I wrote:In Memori-Mam 7

Finalist Silent Book Contest 2018

It has been so long ago since I posted something here. But now I've got such a great news! I'm a finalist in the Silent Book Contest 2018! That means an exhibition on the Bologna Children's Book Fair!

Last week we (my friend and I) visited the Fair. It was our first time. It was so inspiring! The exhibition was really nice! Nine prints were exhibited from each finalist. I made a book named 'Concerto'

Work from the winners of the last four years were also  presented including their books.

In total there are nine finalists. All have their own quality. In May one winner will be picked.

My book 'Concerto' is about a piano player and his cat. They make a musical journey. A Silent book means a book without words. You have to think differently. More only in images. I wanted to make something about music, because music has its own language. Also the making process was different from earlier books. Much more organic. A very interesting process!

Here are six of the nine finalists who came to the Fair. We had great fun on the opening. Can you spot me? Hahaha.

There also was a presentation on the Bologna Book Fair in the illustrator's cafe. They showed our books on a big screen. We had to tell a little bit about our book. We all were a bit nervous. It's huge there ...

Never thought my work would be shown on such a big screen on such a big event. I feel privileged to be amongst these talented finalists.

The winner will get his or her book published by Carthusia, an Italian publisher. But we all did already won with such a great experience!

More photos about this contest you can find here and photo's from our trip to Bologna and the Fair you can find here