I've been thinking a lot of who I am, who I want to be and who I was. Turning 30 does get you thinking. I think I'm fine with who I am now. But I've concluded that I need to spend more time doing the things I love, and I don't mean sleeping in ;)

As it just so happens, the wind has turned and I have the opportunity to work on some very creative illustration assignments. I hope to show them to you the coming months!

I'm working at Elisa Media, since this year. I'm working with great people. I have big plans for my website and there are big plans for Elisa media. Here's to hoping this will be a terrific year!

Winter turns to spring, spring turns to summer. I feel active!

Creating a new character is a lot of fun, especially when you're dabbling with a comic-version of yourself. You do have to give yourself a set of rules. One of those rules is something I refer to as repeatability (I'm sure there is another much more suitable word ;). You have to be able to draw and repeat the character relatively easy, in different poses and in different settings. Character design sheets (that show your character from different sides and poses) are very very handy.

So, version 1 of the character design of 'Co'. I've chosen one of the sketches on my character design sheet to play with.

A simple sketch on paper

I always start out character design sketches the old fashioned way: Pencil on paper. I then photograph the paper. I only need the reference, not the detail that scanning provides.

The first digitized character design

For now I like the sketched version, and I'm trying out different ways of digitizing it. Expect more versions in the future :)

I was commissioned by Savannah J. Foley to make a website header. Savannah is a talented writer who mainly writes Young Adult. Her stories are brilliantly written, so I felt very inspired while drawing the website header. With the help of some of Savannah's own suggestions I made 3 different concepts. I made them all as different as possible, while still incorporating her favourite colours and requests. I wanted the header to evoke a feeling of fantasy and magic.

While I first planned to make simple sketches, I eventually went for a more concept-art approach. I sketched directly in colours and shapes. Since the illustration is a website header (960px wide) and doesn't need to be printed, I did not have to work on a very large canvas. During my work on the concepts I did not zoom in unless it was absolutely necessary.

The 1st concept. A girl runs in a field, the purple hue of the sunset makes all manner of life glow.

My 2nd concept. Magical creatures emerge from a book on a background of stars and nebula.

My 3rd and last concept. A girl discovers she has accidentally caught something very special.

These 3 concepts were all well received, but the last one was chosen to be completed in detail.

The finished website header with a hiding dragon, roses, fireflies and bats as requested.

You can view the bigger and more detailed version in the Illustration gallery.

No illustrations this time, just me signing something :D

Yes, I am available for freelance work!

I've been working hard these past weeks. I'm in the last month of my study and if everything goes as planned I'll be a bachelor before the start of summer. That also means I'm looking for a job! So if you're happen to look for a Dutch illustrator or graphic designer... ;)

The goldfish that's so prominent on my site is also the logo of my business as a freelance illustrator and I've used it in many college related reports. I also wanted to feature it in my final report. I had the idea to use transparent sheets for the first 2 pages.

The first transparent page would be a bowl:

And the second a goldfish:

Combined, the front of the report now looks like this:

I know, a little cheesy. But I like it :)

For the 2011/2012 Aniway school agenda I was asked to make an illustration. I chose 'space opera' as my theme (with blue as my assigned colour).

I've not done any space related pictures before, but I love astronomy so this was definitely an assignment I was looking forward to diving into. I examined how nebula looked and how our planet and atmosphere look from space and then created a fictional planet and setting.

I also created a backstory fitting with the space opera theme. The space opera genre within anime is often based on a fight or flight theme. It can span decades, where the protagonists are in a constant struggle with aliens (often of the mysterious type). I created the character of the young cadet who sees the planet he grew up on destroyed. He's shocked, angry and sad and he (of course) wants revenge!

Close-up of the young cadet's face

Depicting the aliens was tricky at first. They had to be easily recognizable as enemies. Smooth metal spaceships just didn't work, so I went for the insect-like approach (it's been done before, but it works :)

Alien insect-like spaceships

View the entire illustration in the Illustration gallery

Classic portraits and still life paintings can be very intriguing with all the symbolism they often contain. I've tried to make a portrait that feels like a still life, including some symbolism.

Portrait of decadence

I tried to make the portrayed lady a picture of pure decadence. A powdered face, fur, a Persian cat and an elaborate flowered (Purple Oleander) and ivory boned wig with a poor bird (Green Honeycreeper) captured solely to complete her appearance. I wasn't going for a specific time-period, though there are ladies of decadence in every day and age ;)

I especially enjoyed painting the Persian cat and the Honeycreeper. I'll definitely draw more animals in the future :)

A detailed shot of the Honeycreeper

View the complete illustration in the Illustrations gallery

Noeska asks to live in the tree, but Kaatje does not agree.

I'm currently working on a to-be-animated childrens story for Leesmevoor.nl. It's called "Poes Noeska is haar huis kwijt" (Puss Noeska lost her home). It's a cute short story written by Marlous ten Berge about a cat who's (obviously ;) lost her home. On her search Noeska stumbles on the homes of other animals.

Noeska tries to make a grab at the slippery Vinnie Vis

I've really enjoyed drawing for this story and working with Marlous. After this adventure is finished I do hope to draw more of Poes Noeska and her friends (and frenemies ;) in the future.

It's not always easy to find inspiration. Especially on those dreary rainy days when I haven't had my tea yet. But I love it when I'm drawing and the inspiration starts to come from the drawing itself. It's like the picture wants to be finished. You just need a little push to get on that hill :)

One way to get that push is to draw shapes and silhouettes instead of starting with a pure lined sketch. This way you don't have to worry about anatomy or landscapes yet. Click read more

I recently made a new header for the website of Lemmings of the light. Lemmings of the Light is a World of Warcraft guild on the Aszune (EU) server. It's a great guild and thanks to the leadership of a great guildleader it's still going strong. I thought they deserved a new header for their website.

World of Warcraft has 10 different classes: Paladins, Warriors, shamans, druids, mages, warlocks, rogues, deathknights, priests and hunters. I thought it would be fun to make 'Lemming versions' of all the classes. If you've ever played the game I'm sure you'll be able to figure who's who (or what).

A cheeky 'rogue Lemming' wielding daggers

A 'shaman Lemming' with a totem

Check out all the other classes in the Illustration gallery. Or see the banner live at the Lemmings website.