Figure and Room

"Here again so softly" – roomset courtesy of Minted

There's a new art contest on at Minted, the Minted Make A Statement Large Format Art Challenge. Art prints sourced through this contest will be available at sizes up to 48" x 70" (= ca. 122 x 178 cm), so really big! 

I had been a bit intimidated by the large formats at first, and decided that this contest wasn't for me. But then I became very inspired by the contest's special "Figures & Form Award". Minted is looking for the most interesting artwork featuring a human figure in large scale. I imagined my fashion/ figure drawings in large size in a room, and felt that this might look intriguing …

Today I'll show you a selection of my submissions, a mix of older and new drawings/ paintings.

"Here again so softly", watercolor and gouache on paper.

"Here again so softly" – the abstracted painting above was inspired by a walk in autumn fog, observing other walkers emerging like ghosts out of the white nothing. I aimed to express this ethereal feeling, painting a figure that could be here, there or elsewhere, or just a fantasy …

"Homage to Rahvis" – roomset courtesy of Minted

"Homage to Rahvis", watercolor and ink on paper

My watercolor and ink drawing "Homage to Rahvis" above leads us back to the 1940ties and was inspired by Clifford Coffin’s photograph of an iconic Rahvis evening dress. I aimed to weave my own story around it and created a reduced, delicate and dreamy drawing, imagening this young lady being in anticipation of a glamorous ball.

"I will dance through the Fire" – roomset courtesy of Minted

"I will dance through the Fire", mixed media (gouache, ink and crayon) on paper.

These two paintings above and below are part of a series of 4, featuring the various strengths of women. I aimed to create expressive female characters that would be open to merge with the viewer’s own stories. The series is inspired by heroines from literature, theatre and film, by fashion and by astrology too.

"I will dance through the Fire", as seen above, is related to the astrological fire signs and symbolizes power, spirit, passion, resistance and initiative.
Whereas "She Who Knows" as seen below, is linked to the earth signs. This lady is an old soul, a strong, earthbound and wise character.

"She who knows" – roomset is courtesy of Minted.

"She who knows", gouache and ink on paper.

The reduced "Elegance" drawing below features a woman in a ball dress, highlighting the lightness and soft drape of her gown as well as the elegant lines of her pose. I drew her with just a few quick lines and some watercolor accents.

"Elegance" – roomset courtesy to Minted

"Elegance", ink and watercolor on paper

 

"Swift", as seen below, is a bit of a throwback into the 1980ties. Drawn with just some sweeping lines the drawing showcases the figure's elegant 80ties silhouette and the rich drape of the garments. A fab print for fashion enthousiasts as well as a good option for those who aim to add a softer vibe and an expressive touch to minimalistic interiors.

"Swift" – roomset is courtesy to Minted

"Swift", ink on paper.

That's my selection for today! To see all of my submissions, please just hop over to my "Voting now" page!

If you would like to support me in this contest, please just click on the images. That'll lead you directly to my submissions on the Minted page and you'll be able to place your votes. Thank you so much! A certain amount of winning art will be sourced through public voting, so through your votes! The rest will be chosen by the Minted Editorial Council.

Voting is now open and will close on Wednesday, January 24th at 10am PST. 
(Please note: If you are not a Minted customer or a Minted artist yet, you'd need to set up an account on Minted to be able to vote.)

Around here this week …

… there's autumn in full swing!
I took some pictures out of my studio window today – I love this view, especially in autumn! And it might all look different and leafless tomorrow, as they predicted the first frost for tonight …

I as well have been polishing up my Minted Store, to get into gear for the Holidays. As my Minted collection has been growing slowly but steadily this year, there's lots of beautiful wall art inside, and some kid's art, fabric and home decor too. Come have a look inside! Here's a peek into my faves for November:

Finally I couldn't resist to patch all my Inktober pieces together, so here's the full month!
There's some sketches that I'd love to develop further, in colour. And some interesting painting ideas and bits that might make nice patterns too. Hoping that I will find the time to do this …

Happy weekend everybody!

Moon and sun and the valley – Inktober 2016, week 3

The third week of Inktober! I still enjoy it – most of the time ;-)

Sometimes I think it would be better to have a real theme … But on the other hand this way I enjoy that it is spontanious and often surprising for myself: I just sit down without thinking too much or researching and sketching beforehand, and I draw whatever comes to my mind in that moment.

Inktober 16 above was inspired by the beautiful Hunter's Moon that we had in that night.

As was the drawing below for Inktober 17: "Where do we go" – well I'd love to know! Who wouldn't!? Maybe the moon has an answer …?

As I was in a nighttime mood and had noticed a lot of moths in the garden on that evening, I did some of these for Inktober 18. Some of them are imagined, some a bit more naturalistic, but as well  drawn from memory.

This was the first time that I drew an Inktober piece before really starting the day, so I wanted to do sthg related to mornings. Roosters seemed fun - here is a little parade for Inktober 19.

On Inktober 20 I had accidentally stumbled upon some beautiful areal photography - like fields and villages seen from the sky - on Pinterest. So I wasn't surprised what came up when I later on sat down to draw: a little farmhouse scene with rooster and chicken.

The quick sketch of the valley railway below – for Inktober 21 – was drawn from memory after a bike ride along the river.

The last drawing for this week was as well inspired by the valley: "Deerjump" for Inktober 22. Biking homewards in the evening I met 3 beautiful deer, running and jumping across the path right in front of me and then through the meadow to a nearby hedge. But they didn't disappear, they turned round and looked at me for what seemed a long time … it felt like they were curious and as keen on observing me than I was on observing them :-)

That's it for today – now onwards to the final Inktober week!

 P.s.: For those who are not familiar with "Inktober": You can find a short explanation about it at the end of this post here.

Inky River (Inktober 2016, week 2)

My second Inktober week has gone pretty much local … one can see that our river valley is one of my main sources of inspiration. Let's go on a little river jaunt!

Day 9: "11 o'clock Bridge" features our main bridge over the Lahn River. It's a quiet spot on the evenings and nights and I love how you can see the fogbanks rolling in from the hills.

Day 10: "The Glowing Tree",  inspired by a bike ride when I saw these flaming yellow and orange trees on the riverbank. It was pretty strange to do this in ink only … must def revisit it in full colour!

Day 11: The "River Goddess" says hello … she just turned up …

 Day 12: I am calling this "River Goddess 2".

Day 13: This is a beautiful and sometimes a bit spooky spot on the riverbank, that we call "Owl Hill". It is a derelect quarry, now just a wooded hill with lots of rocks hidden inside, and it is home to several brown owls. When you pass by in the evening or night, you can hear their calls echoing through the sky. Sometimes – depending on the direction of the wind – you can even hear them from our house.

Day 14: "Owl River" – inspired by drawing no. 13. It shows a personal and not so very accurate map of my favourite part of the river, featuring one of the valley's brown owls.

"Floating" for day 15. That's what I always think when I come by this spot in the evening or night … The drawing shows our local castle, "Count's Castle", illuminated by spotlights and floating above the city.

Let's see what I will come up with next week!

Curious about what "Inktober" means? You can find a short explanation at the end of my last post, please just scroll down!

Black Ink Nights (Inktober 2016, week 1)

So I decided to jump on the Inktober Challenge* again, like last year. Here's my first week!

Above is how I got started, drawing a little toad lily from our garden. For Inktober 2 the lily quickly morphed into a little night-time story, that then turned into a whole "Nocturne" series.

Nocturne 2 and 3 above were inspired by some evening hikes along our local river Lahn, as was the night-time scene for Inktober 5 below.

On day 6 I felt a bit uninspired, and turned to some floral/ garden motifs for help. The "Flutterby" drawing below might be a nice starting point for a pattern later on.

Day 7 continues with the "Nocturne" series. The black cat for sure is related to our own cat Dikkertje,  but I was really wondering where that ladder idea came from …? Then on the next day I realized that it was inspired by the view into our neighbour's garden, where a huge ladder for cutting the ivy is perched on a wall. Funny how the mind works!

Finally more black cat adventures with "A little night-time stroll" for day 8!
I am curious myself how this will go on … I have no real plan, I just draw what comes into my mind. Maybe I'll end up with a full night-time Inktober?

*(For those who don't know, "Inktober" is a drawing challenge happening all over social media. It was  created a few years ago to inspire people to draw and be creative. Taking part means to do (and post) one ink drawing per day for the whole month of October. Inktober has a huge response all over the world and you'll find many artists, designers or people who love to draw posting their sketches/drawings mainly on Facebook and Instagram. Just search for #inktober2016 and have fun!)

New prints in my Minted store!

These pieces have recently been launched on Minted and are available as art prints now.

First up here's "Essential Garden", a series of mixed media prints. Papercut, monoprinting, drawing and digital. They're inspired by planting our rooftop garden. There's lots of good memories attached to this series, so it feels fab to see them in my store!

 

 Essential Garden: Seed 

 Essential Garden: Treasure

 Essential Garden: Bloom

Essential Garden: Passion

I had to add this screenshot as I really like how they look all together:



And then there's this piece, mixed media again, papercut, monoprinting, drawing, watercolour and digital: "Cactus Night", based on a memory of a peaceful summer's night. Available in three colourways, violet dusk, midnight blue and silver dawn.

 

An then finally here are my two wins from this summer's Minted+ Domino Art Challenge, now available too as Limited Edition Prints: "The Willow Twins", a dreamy landscape from Flanders …

 and finally "Seated in Blue", one of my all time fave model drawings :-) Really happy to see it on there!

Hoping you'll like them!