What are you up to Wednesday - part 29 (woyww126)

I've been a lazy artsy girl in the past week and not much got done. I prefer to work in my studio every night, but it seems that the more I don't get around to it the less I feel like it. But tonight (as I write this) I am in the studio again, so things are turning around. Also it doesn't mean I don't do anything at all, it's just a lot less than usual and it makes me a little cranky! ;-)

First, here's the downstairs table. Everytime I write about my different tables and work spaces I get this sense of being really spoiled, but in a good way. It really is my ambition to turn my entire house into a studio and I'm well on the way to that, haha.

On the downstairs table, also dubbed the art journaling station, is the latest spread of my altered atlas that I finished this morning before going to work. Somebody asked me what all those little flasks on the side were, well, they are little bottles of acrylic paint. Maybe I should do a tour of my work tables and show off my artsy stash sometime. ;-)

The studio table upstairs is not much changed, but I figured I'd take a wider shot so you could see the entire table instead of a detail. Here's what's on there now:

Yup, it's still the same drawing as last week. The difference being that this time it's completely colored in. It's not done yet though. It needs more details and shading and things like that, but I do like the look of these big pink flowers. I did another inktense drawing in my other sketchbook. I will show both of them when they are fully finished.

Now I may not have been as artsy as I like over the past week, but I do have some great plans for the weekend, even if they are more of a materialistic nature. In the city of Utrecht there is an annual fair for hobby/artsy/scrap supplies called Kreadoe (Dutch people, am I the only one who cringes at the name of this fair? I mean really, who came up with this ridiculous name?) and me and my oldest sister have a standing arrangement of going there every year.  We don't have to plan it beforehand or anything, we just know we are going. It's a little sisterly tradition.

This means I will have the opportunity to go through hundreds of stalls with the most beautiful papers, paints, decorative elements, markers, tools, beads, fabrics, etcetera etcetera, and score some gorgeous stuff for my ever growing stash of supplies. The visit to this fair is my annual splurge feast where I may buy things not only because I will definitely use them, but simply because I like them. I save coins all the year round so I have some spending money on this day. I really look forward to it!

Hope you all have something fun to look forward to and are having a very artsy Wednesday!

Fall Beauty

Autumn is here and nature is showing it. The woods on our island are boasting spectacular colors all around and I can't get enough of looking at all that fall beauty.

I love autumn. I've read some blogs where people state they love autumn, but hate that it's a prelude to winter. I'm not one of those people. For me the fact that winter comes after fall is just a bonus. I love dark days, I love the storms that visit us this time of year, I love that the clock is at it's normal rythm again (I just don't get daylight saving time). I love that it gets colder. I love it both outside and inside where finally the time is coming to burn candles and make things extra cosy. In short: I'm a winter person, not a summer person.

Every autumn I walk around with my camera and shoot the leafs. Mostly I take shots like these:

I'm fascinated by the variation of patterns and colors on leafs. I take close ups and shoot from a distance too so I can photograph groups of leafs.

But this fall my attention was also drawn to those leafs that had already left the tree they used to live on. And once my attention was drawn I saw beautiful fresh fallen specimens everywhere.

Such beautiful reds and yellows no artist can do better. And then I saw some real street art! I was walking this biking trail and noticed how the leafs that had fallen a while ago were sort of starting to merge with the ground. I found it breathtaking and there I went again klick klick klicking away on my camera.

It might be interesting to try to get this effect on an actual painting or mixed media piece. For now however I will just enjoy the way it looks in real life. Art really is everywhere! Keep your eyes open and you might see it too.

What are you up to Wednesday - part 28 (woyww125)

It seems that long before Jen Osbon started her "What are you up to today" thing (see sidebar) there was Julia Dunnit's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (also see sidebar). So I figured I might as well join that too. So here's a big hello to those of you who are on that blogsy involvement thing (I have no idea what the word is for something like this). Anyway, for me this is my 28th what are you up to post, but my first WOYWW post. I hope it's okay if I just keep calling it What are you up to Wednesday, cause I so like the sound of that.

Anyway, here's what's on my workdesk in the studio:

It's not a great picture, but you get the idea. What you're looking at is my Studio Book and my new big inktense pencil box (still in love). I'm doing another flower-with-background-drawing. I have already colored in the background and now have to move on to the flowers themselves. After that I will try to ad some shading and details so it's a little less 'flat'. I do enjoy the colors of these pencils, they are indeed in(k)tense!

On my worktable downstairs the situation is like this:

On the left is my out-of-the-studio book with a big doodle/zentangle thingy. I have finished the black and white, but still need to shade with a pencil. When it's done I will show it more up close.
On the right is the altered atlas journal with a spread that is half finished. This one has some of my own photographs and some glitzy stickers to liven it up a little. And writing of course, always lots of writing.

So this Wednesday it's all about the sketchbooks. I have some bigger projects lining up, but I feel more like just playing around a little and not thinking too much. Some Wednesdays will be like that. ;-)

Wishing you all a very artsy and happy Wednesday!

More journal spreads from the atlas

In between everything else I do (or don't do as is sometimes also the case), my journal is one steady factor that almost quietly continues.

I may sometimes feel like I'm doing nothing artsy at all, but in the meantime I still journal.

I sometimes may skip a day, I may even skip two days, but it happens rarely and when I wait too long I become grumpy and grouchy like the grinch who stole journaling.

Journaling has become second nature to me so much, that I hardly consider it anything special anymore.

But it is special of course.

Putting my journal on display helps me realize just how fortunate I am to be able to express myself through my journal.

I love the visual aspect of the images and the colors. I love the words that just flow out of my pen, straight from my mind to the page.

I'm creating a reflection of my life and in doing so I can reflect on my life.

It's a good tool to have and I'm grateful for it.

Sketchcrawl Gouda - what I sketched

I have been raving about the Sketchcrawl all week now without actually showing you any sketches! But today's the day for the big reveal. Ahem...drums please...;-)

I filled ten pages in my sketchbook last Saturday and most of them are simple line drawings done with a pitt brush pen. No masterpieces were made, but I did have a wonderful time doing moderately quick drawings of what I saw. I hope you will enjoy them.

I started out with some people sketches at the meeting point (the windmill).

People always look at me funny when I paste a tea package in my sketchbook!

I had lunch on a bench by this canal.

There was an industrial complex near the windmill. Another world.

The only sketch I colored in.

If you really study this drawing, you will see it makes no sense. I got lost in the lines.

The tower of a church. I drew the same one last january.

Pipes in the distance and a chair sideways.

I like doing these quick sketches of people  most of all.

The guy on the right is the miller, he volunteered to pose for me!

All in all it was a pretty productive day, which is good, but still the best part of a sketchcrawl is to be around fellow sketchers. It's just wonderful to be around people who actually get you and who are enthusiastically looking at each others books. For that alone I would recommend a visit to a sketchcrawl. The next one will be in January and I sure hope I will be able to attend.

Wishing you all a wonderful and artsy weekend!