October sketches

October has been a hectic month and it feels like I've been drawing non-stop! I've had a few different projects going on, and had to fit all activities within daylight hours-...

Inktober, week 4

And just like that, Inktober 2024 is done! It's been a busy month with many experiments, some illustrations that I really like, and some that I'm hesitant to show- but they...

Autumn wanderings

Autumn has been incredible this year, and while many places are just letting go of the summer heat, we're already getting ready for the first snow. It's been unusually warm, and...

Stone paper experiments

Paper made of stone? It was hard to imagine what it would be like. But it tickled my curiosity and I've been experimenting a lot since my first blog post about Karst. The...

Inktober 2024, week 3

Another inky week flew by! Inktober Week 3 has been a mix of creativity, exploration, and catching up! Although I skipped one prompt, I made up for it by diving deeper...

Inktober week 2

It's week two of the Inktober drawing challenge! Because of drying prints and offline time with the dogs, I got behind with posting- but that's ok. It's a challenge, not a...

Inktober week 1

Week one of the Inktober drawing challenge is done, and as with many challenges, the start went rather smoothly- as in being on time and coming up with an idea...

September sketchbook

Just like that, another month has flown by! September is always a nice mix of busyness and beauty. But I managed to draw a lot! (Sketchbooks and a bit of prep for Inktober)   ...

Inktober 2024

September is flying by, and in October, the challenges are back! The first one that I will probably join is Inktober. So what is Inktober? "Inktober is a month-long art challenge created by...

Changing seasons and finding beauty

My perfect autumn morning, it does exist! I'd wake up early to see the sky slowly getting brighter, still from the warmth of my bed sheets. But I couldn't contain my...

An autumn moodboard for the studio

Earlier this week, I got a chilly reminder from autumn that its arrival has already begun. When I went for a walk in the woods with my dogs (they all dressed...

Autumn + art + inspiration

The days get shorter and colder, but I think autumn also brings a special kind of inspiration. It feels like a pulse, a push and pull between bundling up inside...

August sketches

Oops, September has already arrived and I thought I had a few more days before jumping into a new and busy month. But first...

Reading this summer

- Call me by your name (2007) by André Aciman. - The Illustrator's Guide (2023) by James Hughes - Pressing Matters Magazine - De geliefden (2022), Willemijn Kranendonk - Stil de tijd, pleidooi voor...

Karst stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to try the innovative stone paper and woodless watercolor pencils that Karst gifted me. Update: If you'd like to try the stone paper...

Screenprinting & Pressing Matters magazine

In June, just before the summer break, I've been screenprinting like a maniac. There were so many things I wanted to try, but so little time :-) One of the prints I...

July sketches

Still inspired by my visit to Belgium, the month started off strong with pencil drawings, gouache experiments, and many Patreon drawing sessions. I also tried a few days of the...

Printmaking with Lego

It was meant as a fun summer project, but as one of my dogs unexpectedly needed surgery and it kept raining, I already did a few experiments. Materials: - Lego plates in...

Cemetery Brussels/Belgium

In this old cemetery, most gravestones date from the 19th century. As you wander narrow paths, some stones and decorations are broken, and some texts are no longer readable. Others...

June 1st= Dinosaur day

Millions of years before the first human appeared, gigantic and fascinating creatures roamed the planet. Some fun facts: - The earliest known dinosaurs appeared during the Triassic Period (approximately 250 to 200...

May sketches

Another busy month has flown by and I think I have been drawing every single day. The Royal Talens sketchbooks I used the most, but I've also been scribbling in...

Hergé museum in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium)

Hergé is the comic strip artist behind the famous Tintin and the funny Quick and Flupke. In Louvain-la-Neuve in the French part of Belgium, there is a museum dedicated to his...

Riso workshop @ Fablab 2300

The last part of workshops about drawing comics (Stripgids Academie) was dedicated to risograph printing*. The first time, Marjolein Schalk of Wobby Club (riso printed magazine) guided us through the...

Skull’s out!

In 2024, it's been 75 years since the Belgian artist James Ensor died. Ensor 2024 is a year dedicated to his inspiring legacy and all creatives get a chance to...

Permeke museum & Brugge

Constant Permeke (Antwerpen, 31 July 1886 – Oostende, 4 January 1952) was a Belgian expressionist painter and sculptor. He is considered a leading figure of Flemish* expressionism, often painting fishermen...

April sketchbook

In April, I finished the Moleskine sketchbook and started a new one, Royal Talens this time. Just to switch it up + because they are less expensive which can be...

Ensor inspired monotypes

James Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker who lived in Ostend (Oostende, a city by the North Sea) for most of his...

Textures of early spring

After the snow melts away, the earth slowly gets back to life, revealing the most magnificent textures and colors. When you look reel close, you can spot a bit of fresh...

My favorite sketching materials

I'm always excited to explore different materials. From acrylics to printmaking, from pencils to digital brushes. I love it all and even when something isn't 100% for me, I'll never...

March sketchbook

In March, I've been drawing a lot, but not that much in my sketchbook. So let's take a look. On Katie Moody's Patreon, this month's focus was sketching from life. In...

21st of March= International Day of Forests

It is a day dedicated to our forests, a day for celebration and raising awareness for the immense challenges we're facing and the needed action. The theme for International Day of...

International day of happiness

So much is going on in the world, but on this day, I want to pay extra attention to all the things that make me happy. 1. Early signs of changing...

I entered the Rembrandt competition and…

I was one of the 3 winners! You might think of Rembrandt as only very serious oil paintings by the Dutch Baroque genius from the 17th century (1606-1669), but it's also...

Drawing comics homework

Curious to learn more about comics and how to make them, I joined a course by one of my favorite magazines "de stripgids". It's a Belgian/Flemish magazine dedicated to comics,...

Nordic winter drawing session

This sketchbook session is a bit special, so it gets its own blogpost! Earlier this week, 'Nordic winter' was the theme of TJ's Patreon session, and we were going to draw/paint/sketch...

Februari sketchbook

In February, I've been using two sketchbooks: An A4 Royal Talens, and an A5 from Moleskine. As in the previous month, I worked a lot with the Artgraf, a bit with...

How to reactivate your creative energy?

It happens to all of us creatives. Writers, illustrators, painters, and everyone who creates might find the well of inspiration and creative energy run dry occasionally. I used to be surprised...

International day of women and girls in science (11 Feb)

International days/weeks are opportunities to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity,...

Book inspiration/ currently reading

1. Meer dan Muze (2023), de kunstmeisjes, Meulenhoff A collection of essays/chapters that not only celebrate female artists but also provide context on how women have been/are treated in art and...

January treasures

1/ Knetterijs pins. Knetterijs is a group of freelance illustrators and I finally got some of their pins! it was hard to choose only a few, but they are so cute...

Winter sketchbook (flip through video)

A little over a month of drawing in about a minute of video. This sketchbook was started during the first holiday drawing session with Emma Carlisle and Sarah Dyer, but it...

Swatch cards and winter color palettes

Acrylic paint is often my weapon of choice as I love the versatility. Even with only a few colors, you can mix, layer, and create texture. But I've been trying...

Experiments with the dark field method (printmaking)

The dark field method is a subtractive method of printmaking. In this case, you start by covering a copper plate with lithographic ink (+ 10% miracle gel). Compared to, for...

January, winter wonderland

It's been years since early winter was this cold and this beautiful. Postcard beautiful I'd say! There isn't much wind so the snowflakes have been balancing on the trees for weeks,...

December ’23 sketchbook

This December, the holiday and festive spirit were the main focus of my sketchbook for several reasons. First of all, with all the sh*t going on in the world, combined with...

Winter Solstice

Home for the winter holidays, home on the shortest days, so let's hang pretty lights and light some candles! (Sunrise: 09:02, sunset 14:55) The last few months have been rather busy but...

November Sketchbook

Sometimes November can feel like a very long and dark month, but not this time! December arrived so fast and now that I'm collecting all the sketches, I realize that...

Folktale week 2023, the sketches

Some pages from the rough sketchbook where I doodle thumbnails and let lines search for the story that I used for Folketale week. These small boxes with lines that don't...

New paint, pencils and neocolors

Finally, after almost a year, I could revisit some art stores! Up north, we have some hobby shops and home interior/building stores that sell a few things like paint or basic...

Folktale week 2023

My first-ever folktale week is a fact! It's been hectic, fun, and somewhat stressful. Folk what? Folktale Week is a week-long art challenge in which a story comes to life, guided by 7...

More fungi fun

After a sketchbook session that was all about mushrooms, these fascinating fungi kept haunting me at night- but in the best way possible. While almost falling asleep, I suddenly had...

October sketches

Another month flew by. Blink once and it's autumn, blink twice and we've arrived in winter wonderland. October has been a busy month that started with tons of energy, but as the...

Happy Halloween!

Merry ,  euhm happy Halloween! The seasons got a bit confused here up north. Instead of gloomy autumn days, we got the prettiest dance of gentle snowflakes slowly covering the earth. This...

Gouache in pans? An experiment

In last month's sketchbook overview, I mentioned my renewed interest in gouache paint, which I had not used since high school. My first choice has always been acrylic paint with...

September sketchbook(s)

The seasons are changing, and the earth gets ready to hibernate, but September was bursting with colorful sketchbook explorations, challenges, and new connections. I'm uploading the images, and I don't know...

Endangered! Sketchbook challenge week 3

it's the 3rd week of the Endangered Sketchbook challenge and we traveled to the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetan Rosefinch: Birds are hard! Yamdrok lake: Przewalski’s Horse: I think my last horse drawing was when I...

Endangered! Sketchbook challenge week 2

It's week 2 of the #septembersketchendangered (you can check the hashtag on Insta to see more participants) with TJ Marston and this week we visited the most Northern and Southern...

Endangered! Sketchbook challenge week 1

This month, TJ Marston hosts a sketchbook challenge with 'Endangered' as the theme. I couldn't let that one slip! In the first week, we traveled across the Great Plains of North...

Inside my sketchbook (August 2023)

Wow, now that I have photographed all my sketchbooks (that I can show at least), I can clearly see that this month was very productive and I feel growth in...

Testing new pencils, ink and markers

Art-wise, a lot has changed in the last few months, and I can't quite put a finger on it, but it's been fun to experiment a lot and use both...

The Vansbro nightswim was canceled

...So I let some inks and paint swim on my paper instead. I made a few different versions, exploring materials, and the translation of the sensation of swimming. Hopefully next year...

Model drawing with Emma and Trixie

Up to a few weeks ago, I had zero experience with Patreon. I had heard vaguely about it and saw a few artists and photographers mention the platform, but I...

Inside my sketchbook (July 2023)

Another month has gone by and we're entering the last few weeks of the Nordic summer. Sketchbook-wise, July has been a bit quiet as I've been working hard to fix...

International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem

"Mangroves are rare, spectacular, and prolific ecosystems on the boundary between land and sea. These extraordinary ecosystems contribute to the well-being, food security, and protection of coastal communities worldwide. They...

Moon day

20 July = International moon day + space exploration day, commemorating the first landing on the moon in 1969. What a moment it must have been to watch those moments...

Open water swimming

As the lakes started to melt after a long Nordic winter, I longed for refreshing dips in the lake on hot summer days. But then I thought,...

World Asteroid Day

Today it's both World Asteroids Day and Meteor Watching Day. Asteroid= a small rocky object that orbits the sun. Comet= a ball of ice and dust that orbits the sun. Meteoroid= space rock...

World oceans day

"The ocean covers over 70% of the planet. It is our life source, supporting humanity’s sustenance and that of every other organism on earth. The ocean produces at least 50% of...

Inside my sketchbook (April/May)

April and May's sketches have been supercharged by all the vibrant sunlight, the excitement of traveling, and the creative fuel from joining some courses. The next 4 pages are from a...

The best sketchbook?

I often get the question of which sketchbook I use or think is the best. And the most straightforward answer is this: the one you're ok with trashing. Let me explain. I have...

Reading in May

1. De stem van de Noordzee, (2020) by Laura Burgers, Eva Meijer, Evanne Nowak. 2. Pressing Matters magazine. 3. In her studio magazine. 4. In Limbo, (2023), Deb JJ Lee. 5. Hoe de tijd...

Beachcombing in Normandy

Perhaps you remember our trip to the Jurassic coast in England last year to go fossil hunting. This year we visited Normandy in France, and while the focus was mostly...

International Tea Day

I am a tea lover, but only recently I started to learn more about the fascinating world of tea. My journey is deliberately slow, and while I'm far from any tea-wisdom, International...

World Bee Day

We all depend on the survival of bees   World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20. On this day Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping, was born in 1734. The purpose of...

May studio moments

Spring is the busiest moment of the year at the studio, and luckily it is fueled by the vigorous intensity of spring light and inspiration. And to add to that,...

Forever space diver

This is a very personal piece that wasn't meant to be shared at first, but in an uncomfortable way, it should be here. There are these moments in life when all...

Monet’s house and garden in Giverny (France)

For one of us, Normandy was all about D-day and war monuments, for me, it was the cradle of 19th-century Impressionism (and fossils but that's a whole other story). Impressionism is...

Inside my sketchbook (March)

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Some enticing studio chaos :-)

We live in a rainbow of chaos. -Paul Cezanne   I love nothing more than the scent of printmaking lingering in my atelier. Perhaps mixed with some warm hints of leather craft. Paint...

Inside my sketchbook

I've been drawing and doodling, line by line, mark by mark. Spots dripped and shapes found their place. And as you might see, all kinds of things happen as the...

Nature’s light show

It's been a while, but we've been incredibly lucky to have a clear sky and crisp air right when the northern lights were beautifully dancing in the sky. The light doesn't...

Silver clay experiments

It's been quite some years since I attended a silver clay workshop, but I never forgot how fun it was- and how I wished I could do this at...

Inside my sketchbook

Welcome to the pages of unfinished thoughts, experiments, and visual notes :-D I started this year by adding an extra sketchbook because I wanted a spot for a daily thought- including...

Watching & reading in January ’23

1. Roderick Nieuwenhuis, Een simpel leven (2022) 2. N. Kamminga, Breinfitness (2022) 3. Wednesday (Netflix) 4. D. De Wachter, De kunst van het ongelukkig zijn (2019) 5. Theegeheimen (2022), Dille & Kamille 6. Marc Chagall...

2023, planning and core values

  First of all: Happy New Year!! Wishing you all a joyful and healthy 2023. Core Values as a foundation. Recently, a friend told me about an exercise she got from her coach; picking...

Small pleasures, Belgium edition

Sometimes when you've been longing for something, it becomes almost a myth in itself, something much bigger and better than reality. But that hasn't been the case with the desire...

Winter solstice

The 21 of December marks a special day with the earth's axis tilted at the furthest point from the sun which results in super short days and long nights. This winter...

Winter Bucket List

Winter a difficult time? The light might not be there but the colder months are perfect for trying out new hobbies, cherishing traditions, connecting with others, and enjoying the beauty...

A minimalistic leather camera strap

Since I'm still learning anything and everything about leathercraft, I don't usually take orders, but when Kati asked me to make a simple (DSLR) camera strap, it sounded like a...

Leather pocket (for my favorite knife)

This lovely knife, made by 1924US is my absolute favorite, and it's been wandering around my bags and catching some sand and dust along the way for quite some time...