Bye bye Blog

Dear blog, thank you for 7 years of loyal service. 💛 Now it's time for something new: my very own website!

I've been ready for this switch for a while now... On the one hand because I really like the way I can now display my portfolio on my website. On the other hand because of the simplicity: my website includes only my portfolio, about and a contact form. Too often I neglected to write blogs. I guess mainly cause I just prefer to draw instead of writing about my drawings. Surprising eh? 😏
But THANK YOU dear Blog, I learned a lot from you and it was fun hanging out!

I'll still look you up from time to time... And in case you miss me, you can always find me here: www.miekesmakes.nl

x, Annemieke

New stuff...

Nowadays it seems like almost every illustrator I follow on Instagram is hooked on the iPad pro using Procreate. I felt curious and tempted for quite a while… For years I've been drawing by hand, and using Photoshop to edit my illustrations. Which I still love doing by the way!
But December 2018 I gifted myself an iPad pro and apple pencil. I downloaded Procreate and since then I'm discovering all possibilities... and there are A LOT of them.

Sometimes I feel terribly clumsy and slow when drawing digitally. Then I sigh and think: This illustration would've been finished hours ago, if I had made it by hand. But of course that's part of the learning process, and I gotta practise my patience too. ;-)
Besides I can also mix familiar ways of creating with new ways. Such as drawing illustrations by hand first, and edit them in Procreate later on. Or draw something in Procreate, and edit the layered psd-file in Photoshop. This makes so much more possible. Yup, you probably noticed: I'm enthusiastic! :-D

Here a few of my latest drawing experiments…

So this will keep me busy for a while… In the famous words of Pippi Longstocking:
"I have never tried this before, so I think I should definitely be able to do this"

Right? ;-) 

All you need is love...

One evening earlier this year I was sketching at my desk. By chance I tuned in to the lovely @gem_aliye on her Periscope channel. She played her piano and sang beautifully... I was hooked from the first minute. 🙂 Meanwhile her boyfriend @peteremusic came home; I heared him singing and cooking in the background... It felt like I suddenly was a guest in their livingroom, quietly enjoying their music. Soon after we started following each other on Instagram, Gem asked if I could illustrate their wedding announcement... I was happily surprised! 😍

Here's how it turned out. Full of roses, peonies, gold foil and a mini Gem & Peter playing their instruments. Or in fact: playing each others instrument... Gem on Peters guitar, and Peter on Gems (imaginary 😉) grand piano. Music is a huge part of Gem & Peter's lives, and it brought these two lovebirds together.

It's a little wait for their wedding day still, but I wish them a lifetime of love, music and happiness together! 💞

She took the leap

My dear online friend Nienke and I met years ago on Flickr, before Instagram was even a thing... ;-) She makes beautiful photos and I love how she blogs passionately about the many things she's interested in... Such as the art of living, philosophy, motherhood, her adorable DIY projects (crochet and toys for her little girl Amber), minimalism, traveling and making the world a better place... :)

Recently she changed to a new platform (WordPress) and asked if I could make her a logo to give her blog a fresh new look. Such a fun and personal commission! Nienke wanted her logo to be nature themed.

I started painting watercolor leaves and berries. For the brush lettering I used black ink..

With a little Photoshop-magic the logo design finally turned out like this...

For her social media icons I made this smaller version...

In case this made you curious, please take a look at her lovely online space: www.shetooktheleap.nl !

Welcome little Mila

Sweet baby Mila is born! And Amy turned into a big sister... I loved designing the winter themed birth announcements for these girls. Congratulations to the proud parents!

My monthly favourites...

Last year I started a new practice and project... I've been drawing my favourite things of the month! More than just a fun way of documenting things that have happened, this turns out to be a very mindful and valuable activity.

At the end of each month I sit down and look back at every day that has passed. I write down a list of things that made me smile, were meaningful and gave me a warm, happy feeling. This list often tends to be so much longer than I would expect! From this list I pick about 6 events and turn them into an illustration. I number them, and write down a brief memory to go along with them.

Here a little overview of my year so far: 

If you like to see them more up-close, please check my instagram account.

Oh and: yup, August is missing. It was our summer holiday month and I made an on-the-road sketchbook... Which is why I haven't got round to drawing my favourites as well. 

Anyhow: I'm glad I started doing this practice. It feels like celebrating life. Something I hope to do every day of the month :).

Making monograms...

It's been aaaages since I last posted on my blog. 🙈 I'm still here though!

A while back I've worked on a little typography project... I've been making a few decorated monograms. On www.clothpaperscissors.com I did a lettering lesson of my dear instagram friend Alexandra Snowdon. Please do check out here lovely feed... She's a big inspiration to me!

First I made pencil sketches, then I inked my illustrated letters... and the last step was watercolor painting it.

 

 

So here's how my project turned out... I like ampersands a lot, but I could’ve left it out, since JA means YES in Dutch. 💪🏼