Another sketchbook tour! This one spanning from June 2023, until January 2024. Not the most creative couple of months for me as I was dealing with some health issues, but there's a couple of drawings I'm quite happy with nonetheless.

I also talk a bit about staying in your comfort zone vs pushing through, and how in some situations I am ok with sitting in my comfort zone as a part time artists (and especially when life happens). What is your view? Eager to hear!

Sketchbook: Seawhite of Brighton A5 sketchbook Materials: Tombow markers, watercolors, Luminance colored pencils, inks and gouache!

Music via Epidemic Sounds!

I don’t know which is more unbelievable: the fact that we booked our summer holiday for 2023 before 2022 had ended, or that it wasn’t to a warm country. We had initially planned to go to Italy with the boys, but when my mom and stepdad asked to plan a joint vacation, we changed tack. My mom doesn’t do hot weather, and we missed the UK - always having felt bummed out that we’d never visited Cornwall while we still lived there.

And yes, it rained. A lot. But boy, did it not disappoint.

Cornwall is rough, wild, gloomy, magical, and some days we felt like the water was swallowing us whole from all directions.

I didn’t film every single thing we did, chasing instead to stay in the moment, but I filmed some. And I drew in my sketchbooks, mostly at night in the dimly lit dining room of the 17th century cottage we were staying in (which sounds romantic and kind of was but also was very damp and covered in moths, but that kind of give and take is expected after 370+ years). Here’s a video, including gloomy music and no talking, because after two weeks on vacation with two loud little boys, I think the whole world needs some quiet.

Some more scans below for your enjoyment. Click to enlarge.

Sketchbook: Seawhite of Brighton A4 eco sketchbook

Materials: Crayons, watercolors and colored pencils

Music: by Hannah Lindgren via Epidemic Sounds!

Another sketchbook filled. Big fan of the paper quality of this Odd Orange sketchbook, and it really invited me to experiment with materials and layouts. All in all super happy with this sketchbook and the work in here.

Sketchbook: Odd Orange A5 Landscape Sketchbook

Materials: Tombow markers, watercolors, Luminance colored pencils, inks and acrylic paints

Music: 'Das Hotel' and 'Claypots St.Kilda' by Sugoi via Epidemic Sounds!

I had forgotten to film a tour of two sketchbooks and it’s been keeping me up at night, y’all. Or perhaps I chose to forget as it’s not my best work in here. It does give an interesting snapshot of the vida lockdown!

Sketchbook: Seawhite of Brighton travel sketchbooks
Materials: Tombow markers, watercolors, Luminance colored pencils, inks and even some acrylic paints!

Music all via Epidemic Sounds!

It's been a while since I did one of these. To be honest, I tend to cramp up a bit when I film my process and end up not loving the end result, BUT I got a new camera setup for my birthday so I had to test it! Real time this was about 2 hours of drawing, including tea breaks and waiting for the watercolors to dry, but I sped it up for your convenience because there's a lot of fiddling around with the background.

Challenged myself with choosing a limited color palette, using the Odd Orange color stickers.

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Sketchbook: Odd Orange A5 landscape sketchbook

Materials: Winsor & Newton watercolor pans, Caran d' Ache Luminance pencils, Ecoline markers, Tombow Fudenosuke fineline marker

Music: 'Empty Briefcase' by Victor Lundberg, followed by 'Fast Forward, Pause' by Rebecca Mardal. Both via Epidemic Sounds.

Lots of different kinds of drawings in this sketchbook! Illustrated journal pages, on location drawing, live drawing sessions I did online, and random sketches from imagination!

Sketchbook: Seawhite of Brighton A5 sketchbook

Materials: Tombow markers, watercolors, Luminance colored pencils, inks and even some acrylic paints!

Music: 'I Love You Both' by Vendla via Epidemic Sounds!

Over the holidays, I took two full weeks off. A luxury, but I needed a break. 2022 was indeed a big year, with major building works, a big move, little holiday, and lots of work. With work in a good place, and a lovely + strong team (wo)manning the fort, I felt comfortable enough to take some time to truly relax.

And this, I did. I took some time to do nothing, enjoy my time with my men (big and small), and even see some art. As a result, I did lots of drawing, and by the end of the two weeks, I’m feeling more creative than I have in a while. See some of my pages below!

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I’m excited for 2023. I sort of bristle at saying this, knowing the current political / social / ecological / economic realities, but I also think having hope is important. So, yes. I’m excited to make steps in my art. I’m excited to make steps at work. It won’t be ‘quiet’, but it’ll be fun, I hope. I hope you have something nice to look forward to as well!

Happy New Year <3

Almost forgot to film this one you. I think I recorded it as an Instagram reel, but a) what is instagram even and b) wanted to also share a quick flip through here.

As I mention in the video, I really enjoyed this 'cheap' (none are cheap, but their cheapest) Moleskine sketchbook. The paper is quite thin, and it inspired me to be less precious about my work and experiment a bit more. Despite how thin the paper is, I was quite pleased with how much media it can hold graciously, and am actually thinking to buy a few more of these! Sketchbook: Moleskine A5 volant sketchbook Materials: Tombow markers, watercolors, Luminance colored pencils, inks Music: 'Hopefully Just Imagination' by the Magnus Ringblom Quartet via Epidemic Sounds!

2022 was… well, it was a year. While I’m usually quite nostalgically inclined, this year I can feel myself reluctant to look back.

Looking back at these sketches, I can sort of understand why. 2022 was a massive year for us. We sold our house, the renovations of our new house properly kicked off and were finished with literal hours to spare before we moved in. Work got insanely busy and then it got even busier. Abel turned four and went off to school. Schools and daycares closed. Kids got sick and sick again. We got sick. There were lockdowns. We got covid. Life continued.

Only very few of these events made it into my sketchbook in a meaningful way. The sketches I liked best and have highlighted below were usually done during weekends or days away, or rare moments of rest. Instead of reflecting on all that was happening in life, in my sketches I focused on recording the moment I was in. Which, let’s be honest, is a good coping mechanism - mindfulness and all that.

I’m now in week 1 of 2 weeks off over the holidays, and enjoying some much needed downtime after the hectic Christmas celebrations with the family. I don’t know if I’ll do much looking back, or even looking forward. I’m enjoying not doing much of anything. I hope you have a restful couple of days off as well, and wishing you a glorious 2023. May the shit show of this world calm down a bit, inshallah.

Sketchbooks (in order of appearance): Sakura A4 sketchbook, Pith A4 sketchbook, Seawhite of Brighton sketchbook (A5 portrait).

Music from Epidemic Sound: 'Postcards from June' and 'Early Bloomer' from Magnus Ludvigsson.

Last weekend was my birthday weekend! No no, it' wasn’t actually my birthday, but Jochem gifted me a weekend in Paris for my birthday and the day was finally here! We went sans the children, courtesy of the grandparents, and the sun was out. We spent lots of time walking around, sketching, drinking wine, and looking at art. I also managed to shoot some video for my first ever ‘vlog’, so I’d have something to remember it by.

The camera work still needs some work - it’s feeling a little Blair-Witchy to me, but it’s been so much fun to pull this together! A full sketchbook tour + update on which books I bought are still to come, but enjoy these sketches!

A long one this time, as you all seemed to enjoy the long form / chatty video last time instead of the quick sketchbook tour. Talking about how I draw trees (inspired by my 2019 drawings from France) and the Brussels trip! Materials: Pith sketchbook and Luminance colored pencils from Caran d'Ache. Some watercolor (Winsor & Newton) Music from Epidemic Sound - 'Lazy Art' by Martin Landstrom

This past weekend my dad and I spent a weekend in Brussels. Brussels is close to my heart, having lived there from about 2009 to 2013. I always used to say that 'Brussels makes a bad first impression, but an amazing second impression'. What I mean by that is that when you explore the areas around central station (or any of the other stations, to be honest), it's easy to get turned off by the brutalist architecture, the busy streets crossing right through the city center (although more and more areas are being made car-free), and the dirty stations. However, when you venture into other neighborhoods, the less touristy neighborhoods, Brussels actually is absolutely stunning.

My old neighborhoods of Ixelles and Saint Gilles are one of these neighborhoods. It's one of the areas I'd dare say has some of the most beautiful Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings, along cosy streets and stately avenues dotted with excellent restaurants, independent shops, and cafes. Leafy parks are all around, and if you spend a bit of time here, you'd know there's a pace to life here that's much less stressed and strained than in other places. 

So! After meeting my friends and former colleagues at the old office for work, drinks, and dinner on Friday, on Sarturday my dad and I embarked on a self-guided walking tour visiting two special locations on Saturday.

Hôtel Solvay

First up: Hôtel Solvay. Designed by Horta and built over 8 years, this private home was only recently opened up to the public (my guess is to fund the renovations) and boy oh boy. My dad described it as 'overwhelming' - which I'd have to agree with. Our visit was limited to 45 minutes only, and no cameras, so I took my sketchbook in and drew like a maniac to the soundtrack of Downton Abbey (picked by the owner, the tour guide said, which I thought was a nice touch). I don’t feel like I did the place justice, because this place was absolutely stunning!

Musée Horta

The home and workshop of the famous art nouveau architect Horta, who has built some of the most impressive art nouveau buildings around. I used to live quite nearby this place, and went many many times, but was incredibly pleased (and by pleased I mean out of my mind excited) that since my last visit, they'd opened up many many more floors and rooms. I spent quite some time drawing there, and although cameras weren't allowed, my dad took some sneaky photos of me at work.

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In between, we visited a few of my favorite shops: Schleiper (art supply shop of my dreams), Le Typograph (a great independent shop and printer that make and sell stunning stationary and sketchbooks), and the local second hand shop (which is massive and amazing!)

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After a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant La Quincaillerie, located in a former ironmonger’s shop in the Rue du Page in Brussels, designed by a student of Victor Horta, we went back to the hotel to give our legs some rest.

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The next morning we squeezed in a walk through the Ter Cameron forest to:

Villa Empain

A very interesting villa in true Art Deco style, built at the beginning of the 1930s by architect Michel Polak at the initiative of Baron Louis Empain. While impressive, we felt less connected to this building. Perhaps simply because the style is a bit more 'stern', but probably also because the building is being used as an exhibition space rather than focused around the architecture/original function of the space. I did very much enjoy learning about the building's history, and many of the textures and materials around the building.

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We then hopped on the train back to Utrecht, where I snuggled the boys and fed them Belgian chocolates.

Hope you enjoyed this little tour!

A special sketchbook this time, as this sketchbook was different in size and paper from the previous ones and somehow this made me feel more free and excited to try new things. I did lots of nature/city drawings, drew lots of people from instagram / observation, and outfits. A little less of the 'day to day', as I guess with every day looking more or less the same (aside from the trips), this was a bit less interesting for me to draw.

Hope you enjoy and also interested to see how the lockdowns/covid life have influenced your sketchbooks!

Materials: Sakura A4 sketchbook, pencil, watercolor (Winsor & Newton), ink, and colored pencil (Caran d'Ache)

Music: 'Pink Sunrise' - The Great North Sound Society

Two, or actually THREE, sketchbook tours for you today, spanning from June to December of last year.

I’ve been feeling kind of blocked lately doing my illustrated journal pages, as it feels like nothing is happening. We’re in lockdown, have been for ages. We don’t see many people or do very many things that seem worth drawing. Yet, at the same time I feel so aware that we’re going through an immensely unique time in history and I might want to record these days for future record. The pressure!

Either way, these sketchbooks were kind of fun, as they include another quick trip this summer with my mom and stepdad, my sons’ birthdays, and my eldest first days at school (before we went into lockdown again). Also, a few abstract paintings and exercises creeping into the last sketchbook, which I kind of love.

Have a lovely week, all. Hang in there!

For a little window this summer, Covid-19 seemed to be retreating, and me and my young family escaped our city home to run around the french countryside for two weeks. I decided to turn it into a zine (you can buy a copy here).

We had booked this holiday in December of 2019, when Covid-19 was a mere small rumbling far away, and just never canceled - hopeful that the whole thing would have blown over by then. It didn’t, of course, but the owners of the house we were renting assured us we could keep our reservation and move it at no cost last minute if needed.

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We ended up getting lucky, able to travel legally and safely during this brief window of time where it seemed like Covid was on its way out. It felt odd, a bit scary, and liberating at the same time.

The zine talks about our nervousness traveling through this Covid-world, French food, pigeon poop, French medieval settler towns, castles, and how exhausting holidays can be with two adorable but intense little toddlers.

I hope you feel inspired to get a copy (please? I’ve got like two boxes of them in my mini studio now) and that It may provide some distraction as we head into the second wave. And if you do, let me know what you think!

Something different this time. A narrated sketchbook tour of my latest sketchbook. Not sure if this is better or worse, listening to my rambling - so let me know which kind of video you prefer!

The Netflix series I mention in this video are:

• Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

• Casa de Papel Would highly recommend both!

Materials:

• Seawhite of Brighton travel watercolor journal

• Bic mechanical pencil

• Winsor & Newton watercolors

• Pentel calligraphy ink pen

• Caran d’Ache Luminance 6901 colored pencils

Music:
Daily Beetle by Kevin MacLeod used under a Creative Commons Attribution-licence, Source, Artist.

Watch me draw in my illustrated journal for May 19 & 20, 2020. When I drew this, the lockdown in response to Covid-19 was slowly lifting, meaning the boys went back to daycare again after a break of little over two months.

I’ve been journaling and drawing a lot during the entire Covid-19 crisis, and I’m aiming to scan my pages in at some point, but next up will be another flip through video (probably narrated and slowed down) - so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Hope you are all keeping safe and well <3

Am a bit behind with filming these, but catching up! Here's a sketchbook tour of my illustrated journal from July 2019 to January 2020. This sketchbook is about our summer holiday in France, starting a new job, and lots of rain and bikes. I also did a LOT more observational drawing this time around - people, babies, buildings. So glad I picked up that habit (again).

Journal: Moleskine A5
Materials: pencil, watercolor (Winsor & Newton), ink, and colored pencil (Caran d’Ache & Derwent Inktense)
Music: 'Morning Mandolin' - Chris Haugen

Sketchbook tour of my illustrated journal from November 2017 until August 2018, which documents my pregnancy of our second child, travels, and move into our new house. I didn't love this sketchbook, as it's a lot smaller than what I usually use and just couldn't get used to it. I personally think this is reflected in the art (not loving it), so I am switching back to my trusted Seawhite of Brighton book after this!

Journal: Daler & Rowney A5 Materials: pencil, watercolor, ink, Tombow and Copic markers Music: 'Picnic on the Roof' - The Whole Other

It's been a long, hot summer. It's officially still summer of course, but as I write this, it's pouring down rain outside and I'm wearing a sweater. Couldn't be happier to be honest. No, all kidding aside, global warming is here (surprise!), and it's been kicking my ass this summer. I usually love hot summers, but being pregnant and living in what constitutes to an airless greenhouse (yay for old refurbished factory windows that don't open) is less than ideal.

The last month of journal pages featured below, therefore, is mostly me complaining (in a visual hopefully entertaining way!) about being sweaty and pregnant. Also heartburn. Ugh heartburn is the worst. And on that note, does anyone know anyone at Gaviscon? I'd love to talk about a sponsorship deal, because I've been talking about them on Insta non stop, but I've also been paying for those bottles of anise-puke-flavored relief and that doesn't feel right.

So anyways: enjoy, if you enjoy those sorts of stories!