Posts in Inspiration
Paris Vlog & Illustrated Journal Pages

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!

Video: Sketching on the Heath

One of my favorite places on earth is actually pretty close to home: de Bussumerheide. Or the Bussum Heath. I can’t really explain why, but the place feels quiet and peaceful to me, in a similar manner to the way the world feels after fresh snow has covered streets and houses. Like time is standing still. The Bussumerheide actually has a very long history, with evidence of people living there, conducting (burial) rituals there, and grazing their cattle. I like to think it’s been a special place to many people throughout history, but I don’t really know. It’s special to us. No matter what the circumstances or weather, every day we’ve spent there has been special. On one of these special days in September, I took my sketchbook with me, and drew a bit. Quick sketches that I then finished at home.

Materials:

  • Sketchbooks: small square Seawhite of Brighton travel sketchbook, large A4 Pith sketchbook.

  • Pens & Pencils: Molotow acrylic pens, Caran d'Ache Luminance coloured pencils

Music: Spanish Moss by Chris Haugen

UAL Course: Illustration for Books

This past month, every Tuesday evening after cooking dinner, I would quickly grab a plate and run upstairs to my studio desk (now also my office) to take an online course with the University of Arts London on illustrating books taught by Leni Kaufmann. Aside from it being a wonderful escape in the middle of a busy week of work, family, and chores - it also was incredibly productive! I created three new pieces, that have gone straight into my portfolio (see menu), I love them so much!

I’ve created:

A travel illustration for my hometown of Utrecht, which I adored. I so love drawing houses and adding historical information and insights to my drawings! It’s the art history major and history minor in me!

  • A character study using different poses and emotions. This lady popped out from my sketchbook a few weeks back, and I decided to give her more space

  • Finally, a book illustration featuring a piece by Cyrano de Bergerac on traveling to the moon using morning dew - something I came across in a science museum and was just delighted by, as it’s been heralded as the first piece of science fiction and description of rocket power (that latter one seems like a stretch to me, but hey).

In short: aside from the lovely teacher, wonderful inspiration and information - the key takeaway for me was that a few hours a week go a long way in creating some of your best werk!

Review: Children's Book Illustration Summer School @ Cambridge

It’s been a special summer so far in many ways. I’m pregnant in the middle of the longest heatwave imaginable. Our little boy is starting to speak. In English. I self published my summer travel journal (and it’s selling so well! Thank you guys!). And, I finally signed up for the Children’s Book Illustration summer school course in Cambridge

Ever since my good friend Ellen Vesters went (and subsequently got accepted into the MA), I’ve been wanting to go. There was always a good reason not to do it though. Too expensive. Too busy. A small baby. I figured with a second little dude on the way, it would be now or, well not never, but not for a while. So I closed my eyes, filled out my credit card details (I am pretty talented like that), and signed up.

Anglia Ruskin University. Our studios were on the top floor with the big windows. 

Anglia Ruskin University. Our studios were on the top floor with the big windows. 

What is the course? 

It’s a week long intensive summer school at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge (UK) focused on getting you from a story idea, to a completed (but still rough!) dummy of a children’s picture book. There’s an introduction to the history of picture books, lectures on character development, story structure, the interplay between text and image, and a glimpse into the world of publishing and illustration agents. And while you don’t really learn any drawing skills, you do draw a LOT. Pretty much all day. During studio time, the talented team of teachers/illustrators (Pam Smy, Ness Wood, Marta Altés, Dave Barrow, and Birgitta Sif) walk around the room and do 1:1 coaching sessions to help you along in your process. Plus, we got to browse their sketchbooks. Below are a few pictures I took of the sketchbooks of Pam Smy (1-3), Marta Altes, and Dave Barrow. I KNOW RIGHT?

The ‘class’ was about 70 people from all ages, backgrounds, and countries. And while that’s a bit too big of a group to get to know everyone, I did end up hanging out with a lovely and very supportive group of artists all week. It’s so special to meet others who are really into illustration and children’s books and just nerd out together, give advice, and fawn over all of their skill and talent. 

Things I am taking away from this week:

  • I am impatient (not a surprise) and like to finish things. However, my work really does improve if I practice practice and practice more and push through this uncomfortable feeling of butIfdon’twanna. Practice makes perfect. Or at least a bit better. Annoying, but true. 
  • I hadn’t taken any proper art classes since high school, and I was really craving feedback - more so than I realized. One of the (many) reasons I didn’t go to art school after high school is that my teacher used to just give me straight A’s without looking at my work. I didn’t feel like art challenged me and I wanted to study something that’d be ‘hard’ for me - instead of freeloading off of my supposed ’talent’. Of course, I now know that this was a silly assumption, but at the time I’d only had 18 years of people telling me I was the best.
  • So guess what, drawing all day is challenging and necessary (see point 1). It’s also really really fun. Weird enough, drawing all day was new to me as well, and beforehand I did wonder how I’d feel about focusing on drawing for an entire week. Right now, drawing happens in all the little cracks of time I can find. Toddler nap times, evenings, stolen hours during weekends or vacations. The occasional day off. So who knows? Perhaps I’d be bored by drawing so much, and bored by focusing on one project all week. Fortunately that didn’t turn out to be the case - I absolutely loved the break from ‘reality’ and being fully immersed in a project.
  • Edit edit edit. I’ve looked at my story a thousand times now, had it critiqued, changed it, changed it again, and so on and so forth. The story still needs more work, even though the idea for the story is pretty simple. You really cannot be precious about your ideas and work. 
  • A week is insanely little time to produce a picture book dummy. People take months, years, to do this properly. So this course really was only the beginning.  
  • I can rely on my sketches and my shapes more, and less on (inked) line work. It can still be powerful and clean. I don’t have to settle for a ‘style’ - there’s more room to improve and develop.  
  • I am too old for student housing, and too pregnant for student housing on the top floor in the middle of summer without windows that open. It was lovely staying on campus as it made for lots of socializing time with the other students, but I fully expected to die from heatstroke up in that room (spoiler: I didn’t). 
  • I cannot be left alone in a room full of beautiful children's books for sale...
Just *part* of my purchases for the week.

Just *part* of my purchases for the week.

Would I recommend it?

Yes, absolutely (apart from the student housing)! Of course, you need to be interested in children’s books, feel relatively comfortable with your drawing style, ready to work on a story for a week, and open to meeting new people. I am incredibly glad I went, and have been itching to get back to work on my story - which I’ll tell you all about in an upcoming post!

Designed: Jacob's Birth Announcement

Even though we live in London, and our son will no doubt grow up to be a Londoner (provided we stay here), we are, of course, a Dutch family. We speak Dutch at home, eat stamppot when it gets cold, and import our hagelslag (yes, grown men eat this on their toast for breakfast) by the boatload. 

Another Dutch tradition we chose to honor, was sending out a geboortekaartje after Jacob was born. I think the correct translation is 'birth announcement', although I've been met with many blank stares by my British colleagues when talking about these cards.

I created the design months before Jacob actually arrived (as soon as we'd decided on the name) and then after my c-section I just had to fill out the few missing details like his birth weight and time. The illustration was inspired by Mr. Floor's love of sailing, our shared love of travel, and the obvious symbolism of life being a journey. The design was based on modernist illustrators like Charlie Harper. The poem on the back (in Dutch) is a poem by a Dutch comedian, singer, and writer Toon Hermans. It stresses the importance of dreaming a little in life. 

I had the cards printed by Moo, as I've been content with their quality in the past and they're local to London (and I actually have visited their offices and printing presses for work a few years ago). I wanted the card to be something special and heavy; something people might hold on to for a bit, and the thick 'luxe' card stock with colored seam were perfect. 

I'd written all the envelopes beforehand (mat leave, y'all, it's a precious thing), and we sent out the cards a week after Jacob was born. The stamp on the back is from The English Stamp Company (who create lovely bespoke stamps, I can recommend them). 

So that's the story behind Jacob's birth announcement! Much better than a Facebook post, no?

10 Podcasts for Creatives

I listen to a LOT of podcasts. In fact, I just counted my iTunes playlist and I keep up with 33 podcasts regularly. So yeah, a lot. And while this list definitely includes the 'usual suspects' (Serial, This American Life, Fresh Air), a large portion of them are about art, creating, making, and how to 'turn your passion into a business'.

Below is a (small) selection of podcasts I'd recommend if you're a creative and, like me, love listening to podcasts while you create. 

Make it Then Tell Everybody
Podcast host Dan Berry is a British cartoonist who uses his podcast to interview other cartoonists and illustrators about their work, their process, and their favorite tools to create. I love his down to earth conversationalist style of interviewing and how he's not afraid to ask 'dumb' questions (that usually result in the most interesting answers). So, where do you get your ideas from?

The Paper Wings Podcast
Led by Disney character designer Chris Oatley and IDW comics creator Lora Innes, the Paper Wings Podcast is filled with advice on how to make and sell various forms of creator-owned visual storytelling, including comics, picture books, and animation. Each episode has a theme (like how to do more with less time), so you can browse and pick one you feel is relevant to you at that particular moment.

99% Invisible
A little different from the others in the sense that 99% Invisible won't give you tips on which flexible nibs work best with watercolors or how to optimize your Photoshop process, but instead it shares stories broadly centered around design. It tells you all about those things you didn't even know were designed by somebody. 

Comics for Grownups
A fortnightly podcast hosted by comics creators and indie publishers with lots of book reviews, zine recommendations, and kick starters. It's a little in-crowd, when I first started listening I didn't know most of the authors and artists they were referring to, but as I've started to read more and more graphic novels, I find myself listening back to certain episodes to hear what their take was on a certain book. I kind of wish they would start a book club so I could pre-read everything they talk about. 

Less Than Live with Kate or Die
Less Than Live is a little bit of everything, hosted by the incredibly quirky comics writer and artist Kate Leth ('Kate or Die'). She talks about what she's working, the gazillion conventions she's attending, what she's reading, and who she's admiring. The podcast usually includes an interview, often with comics writers - a world I knew next to nothing about. If you're into Sex Criminals / horror comics, Kate's your gal, too, btw. 

The Jealous Curator
Written by a fellow art history nerd, The Jealous Curator is the blog I wish I had thought of because the name is is perfect (tagline 'Damn, I Wish I Had Thought of That') and her taste is incredible - she finds the most amazing contemporary artists and now... she interviews them on her podcast! Basically my most favorite thing ever and really good if you're interested in learning more about what it's like to be a full time artist.

Pencil vs Pixel
'Pencil vs pixel?' is the question every guest on Cesar Contreras' podcast answers right off the bat. The answer usually tells you a whole lot about the artist Cesar is talking to and by the end of the podcast you'll feel as though you've gotten to know them quite well. Learn about crazy career paths, about what makes people tick and inspires them, and of course whether they're more comfortable with a pencil, or a tablet. 

Being Boss
Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon host this magnificent podcast for creative entrepreneurs. With topics like 'face your fears' or 'work from home', the dynamic duo tackles every angle of being your own boss. Hands-on tips, great interviews, and a sense of humor. 

After the Jump
After the Jump is a podcast hosted by Design*Sponge's founder Grace Bonney - someone I've more than once hoped to speak to (or become BFFs with). The podcast is a series of interviews with designers, makers, and independent store-owners and is a great look behind the scenes of one of the world's most respected bloggers.

Fresh Rag
The 'no BS straight talk' approach to earning a living as a maker. Dave Conrey talks about things like how to grow your presence on Instagram (with actual useful tips), how to build a design agency from scratch (and how much that can suck), and how to develop your own style. All very non-BS-ey hands-on advice. Go Dave! 

Those are some of my favorite podcasts to listen to as a creative!
What do you enjoy listening to? Anything I've missed? Do drop any tips you might have in the comments below.

Also below, a Venn-diagram of what these podcasts are about. Because I'm a dork. Bye!

© Anna Denise Floor

Comics Workshop by Emily Haworth-Booth

Last month, I attended a comics workshop in Walthamstow (where I now want to live) taught by the very talented Emily Haworth-Booth. It was a great day and I left feeling incredibly inspired, although not particularly by my own work.

What most stuck with me, is the way Emily taught us to storyboard. I don't usually do longer comics, but whenever I've tried, I started out by writing a script. These scripts would turn out lengthy, too wordy, and I'd have trouble adding images to the text. Emily, instead, had us start out with a picture, think of a story, and just randomly start drawing scenes on frame-sized bits of paper. We could then add text where needed and tweak the order of the story. As I am a very visual thinker, this felt much more natural and a lot less stressful to me! Lightbulb moment!

My story ended up being about my younger brother Rutger (because I miss him) and although I'm not sure it works as a story per se, I decided to follow through and ink and color it nonetheless.  

© Anna Denise Floor

© Anna Denise Floor

Thanks, Emily, for the great workshop!
If you're interested in taking a class from Emily, there's a section for that on her website right here. 

Journal Page + Elcaf Haul

© Anna Denise Floor

Almost exactly a month ago I went to Elcaf, the East London Comics and Arts Festival here in East London. The festival consisted of a fair, film screenings, tons of workshops, some masterclasses, an exhibit, and a bunch of talks and discussions. I decided to not enroll in any classes or workshops (I hardly have any time to do my own work at the moment), but I did get us weekend passes and tickets to a label discussion about comics publishing, featuring some Sam Arthur (Nobrow and Flying Eye Books), Annie Koyama (Koyama Press), Madalena Matoso (Planeta Tangerina), Ken Kirton (Hato Press) and Alexandra Zsigmond (Deputy Art Director at the New York Times), which was great. 

Mostly though, I puttered around the fair looking at the amazing work. There were so many great artists I had a real hard time and I pretty much needed the full two days to decide which books and zines I absolutely couldn't live without. So hard and I wish I could have bought more, but in the end I just decided on a budget and bought whatever I could. Below is what I ended up with and a brief review for each. 

Books

Jilian Tamaki - Supermutant Magic Academy
An anthology of the webcomic that has been going since 2010, the book follows a group of mutant teenagers attending a Harry Potter-like high school. The comics are usually one to two pages long and are nerdy, funny, and touching at the same time. I hadn't read the webcomic very much before getting this book, but was familiar with some of the work Jilian Tamaki did in collaboration with her cousin Mariko Tamaki (This One Summer is one of my favorites). The style of this collection is very different from those books - much more loose and sketchily drawn, but the lines are very expressive and really helps you get to know each of the (often grumpy) characters.

Philippa Rice - Soppy
Another webcomic turned book is Soppy, which chronicles UK comic artist Philippa Rice's (known for My Cardboard Life) relationship with her boyfriend. cartoonist Luke Pearson. The book is a collection of sweet, quiet moments. Of efforts made to make a relationship work. And of the slow, life-changing sharing of habits where personalities blend together a little at the edges. In my mind, this book is an ode to long term relationships and I loved it. Almost every other page I recognized situations I have been in when in a long term relationship, but not in a cliché way at all. The drawing style is clean, using only red, white, and black, making me long to try a more minimalist palet in my own work (but who are we kidding). Lovely book. 

Tillie Walden - The End of Summer
I was tempted to buy The End of Summer when I passed by Tillie Walden's booth and saw her do the most amazing drawing in the front of a book she'd just sold to someone else. I had never heard of Tillie Walden before, but her drawings are absolutely stunning and they just seemed to flow from her. The book tells the story of a boy Lars and his twin sister Maja who are locked into a secluded castle with their family as they try to survive a winter predicted to last three years. The story features gigantic cats, incredibly detailed backdrops, and tender moments between brother and sister. That being said, I've now read the story twice and found the story kind of confusing at times. It could be that this is intentional as the whole book has a very dreamlike quality to it, but I found it a little frustrating nonetheless. Am curious to see what Walden will do next!

 

Zines

Grace Helmer - Small Hours Part One
Lovely, colorful zine from Grace Helmer about the summer after graduating from college and trying to make it as a freelance artist. Love the art here.

Katriona Chapman - KatZine Issue One & Two
Stunning black and white zines done in pencil about Katriona Chapman's experiences, memories, thoughts on art, science, and commerce, and love for the natural world. I really felt like I got to know someone a bit better by reading these zines and got smarter at the same time. SO promising and can't wait to see what Chapman will do next. 

AJ Poyiadgi - Teapot Therapy
Cleverly done (and folded) story by AJ Poyiadgi of an older lady's tea time habit of cleverly luring people into the house for tea. Although short, it deals with loneliness in old age, but not in a way that makes you pity the main character per se. You admire her strength, while at the same time it illustrates a very real social issue. Very well done and beautifully executed. A real treat.  

 

Poster by Planeta Tangerina

I loved every single thing from this Portuguese publisher (especially this fun and clever book 'Livro Clap', which you have to 'clap' open and closed to make the story work) , but in the end just bought a poster because I was too overwhelmed at the point to make any more decisions on which book to get.

Now this poster hangs in our bedroom and really brightens up the room. 

London: Doors

I've got this thing for doors. Especially brightly colored doors can just make my day. Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for anyone in my company trying to get somewhere quickly), I can't seem to turn a corner here in London without encountering another snap-worthy specimen. 

I seriously can't wait to one day own a house with an actual front door to lovingly scrub down and paint. A nice soft green, perhaps?

But London isn't the only city with great door action. Below are some doors from Brooklyn (US), Utrecht (The Netherlands), Safed (Israel), and Brussels (Belgium).

More doors coming to my Instagram feed, I'm sure. Let the obsession flourish. 

Our Wool and the Gang Knit Party

Last week at the office, we ganged up with the lovely people of Wool and the Gang for a little knitting party! 

Wool and the Gang is a London-based but internationally renowned community of makers (or 'global knitwork of gangstas' as they like to call it) focused on promoting fashion production that's made in a sustainable way. They want to bring back knitting as a viable means of production for generations to come, every piece make unique. Music to my ears. 

I myself have made multiple attempts at taking up knitting, generally unsuccessfully due to my own lack of knowledge and an overconfidence in my own ability (this still isn't done). Knitting a blanket out of baby cotton with miniature needles? Sure, that sounds like a fun project to push aside after a week!

Our group had a few knitter drop outs like me, as well as a few expert-level knitters and a couple absolute beginners. We used the Snood Operator kit, which included an instruction manual with various options depending on your level, some crazy sexy wool in a color of your choice, knitting needles, and some regular needles for turning the scarf into a snood. Time flew by and I think most of us got quite far into the pattern under the expert eye of the lovely gangsters from Wool and the Gang HQ, aided by the clear instructional videos. 

Our group had a few drop outs like me, as well as a few expert-level knitters and a couple of absolute beginners. We used the Snood Operator kit, which included an instruction manual with various options depending on your level, some crazy sexy wool in a color of your choice and knitting needles. Time flew by and I think most of us got quite far into the pattern under the expert eye of the lovely gangsters from WATG HQ, aided by the clear instructional videos. 

I ended up finishing my snood this weekend, right in time for the hot spell that came over London this week ;-). I’ve got a feeling this soft cowl will come in handy at some point, though. Yay for British weather!

© Anna Denise Floor

Have I been converted to knitter-dom? Let's hope so, or I just threw away the £50 I spent on more wool in their online shop (although I can always just snuggle up to the balls of yarn when Mr. Floor is away, they're so soft) 

If you want to become a knitter, I can heartily recommend getting one of their knit kits. If you're an experienced knitter, the crazy sexy wool is absolutely stunning.

Use this link and get 15% off your first purchase! 

Inspiration: Sarah Glidden's Panel Process

Sarah Glidden, author and illustrator of How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less, has a magnificent blog. I might as well just stop writing there, as it's all you really need to know, but I'll continue because if there's one thing I've learned during my time as a digital marketer is that incentive is key. Concise messaging is also key, but I'm not too big on that one. 

So here's your incentive. She recently (and by recently I mean a few months ago) posted some images illustrating her panel process. This particular panel features a night scene (so hard), and I'm so appreciative of her sharing her approach to working out panels. As a self-taught artist I often come up with my own very roundabout techniques to imitate results I love in other people's work. Usually these methods aren't particularly economical or consistent and when reading about Glidden's process, I realized that planning the coloring of a panel is half the job. The more I learn about making comics, the more I start to appreciate all the work that goes into them. 

I heartily recommend reading Glidden's post 'Panel Process: a Night Scene' if you're learning about comics or would just like to see how much effort goes into each one of those little frames. I tell you, you'll never look at a comic the same way. 

Sneak Peek: 'Healing Meals' Illustrated e-Cookbook

YOU GUYS! I am so excited! If you happen to follow me on Facebook, you've already seen bits and pieces of the big news floating around, but here's the official official actual real announcement: on October 21st 'Healing Meals', an e-cookbook written and photographed by the award-winning author, naturopath, food photographer & bodymind chef Kyra de Vreeze and illustrated and designed by me (aaah!) will hit the Etsy shop

After a long summer filled with writing, styling, drawing, writing, and tasting we're so incredibly proud to present you with the official cover design. Tadaaa!

© Anna Denise Floor & Kyra de Vreeze

A Little Bit About 'Healing Meals'

In this book, Kyra highlights one ingredient at a time (broccoli, carrot, eggplant, kombu, romaine, shiitake, and 19 more - all illustrated by yours truly, of course) and shows you how tasty and healthy these vegetables actually are. It includes tips on cooking techniques that will help you get the most nutritional value out of each of them and provides you with a straight-forward list of their individual medicinal benefits. 

Did you know the healthiest way to prepare broccoli is by steaming it for 5 minutes? and did you know this technique will boost its wound healing, immune enhancing & detoxifying properties? 

'Healing Meals' features ingredients that promote mental clarity, glowing skin, optimal metabolism & healthy joints. there are ingredients that will help heal arthritis, edema, PMS, restlessness, candida, and insomnia. Kyra shows you which ingredient will act as preventative medicine & what it can be used for, as their healing powers are endless.

Now, I know what you're thinking. You don't have time. You have a job. Children. Hobbies. You need to save the world. Go dancing with friends. Watch a bunch of cat videos. We do to. So we made sure you don't need to have forever to make your meals magical. Good food CAN be quick, simple, and tasty at the same time. We promise.

Most recipes featured in ‘Healing Meals’ take a mere 15 minutes to prepare and only need a maximum of 10 easy and affordable ingredients.

So in short: good, healthy food AND a social life. Eat that!

Bits & Bobs

I would actually never say 'bits and bobs', but in preparation of our move to London I'm trying to catch up on British slang. Obviously, this will most likely turn out to be a disaster in which I say mostly Irish or Australian things in entirely wrong contexts with a terrible faux-British accent (one person actually said my British accent sounded like a drunk American trying to speak French, but hey - I happen to like Americans who at least try to speak French so whatevs, brah)  and lose more friends than make them, but failure is the key to success, no?

Anyhow! Here are some bits:

© Anna Denise Floor & Kyra de Vreeze - Click to enlarge

© Anna Denise Floor

I'M WORKING ON A COOKBOOK with the talented and inspirational Kyra de Vreeze!!!
We're keeping most of it a secret, but it's going to be an e-book, in English, available online starting sometime late September. The book will feature quick, easy, and tasty recipes (99% vegan & gluten free), tons of information on health benefits and nutritional values, plus plenty of essential culinary inspiration. All of the recipes and photography are done by Kyra, who has written three amazing books (two of which I have and use often) on food as finger-licking medicine. I am working on the accompanying illustrations and layout, which means I get to draw food all day! Yay!

I'm also working on a private project - ILLUSTRATING A CHILDREN'S BOOK written by my brother's father-in-law. It's a time consuming process as I am determined to make the backgrounds look amazing and well, that means I spend most of my free time drawing leaves. It's a miracle I still know what those look like. Obviously, they look like multi-colored stripes. We'll first just print copies of the book for ourselves, but if there's demand - who knows!

And now for some bobs!

So, that's all for today, but fret not - I've also been working on a boatload of new journal pages that I'll share with you soon. (If you wonder why I'm so productive these days, it's because I've developed a cocaine habit, obviously. No, I kid. I'm way too cheap to maintain those kinds of habits. It's vacation, folks, vacation. It's the cocaine of the people who are scared of drugs, haven't you heard?)

Happy weekend, all!

Inspiration: Oliver Jeffers' One City, Five Hours

You know how I love maps. 
And city guides. 
And oh, oh, Oliver Jeffers. I once heard someone say he's kind of a prick, but I don't believe one word of it because I mean, how can he be when he draws books about crayons that go on strike? It just isn't possible. 

Anyhow. Drawn maps + city guide + Oliver Jeffers = Magic. 

Miami © Oliver Jeffers for Hemisphere

I found these amazing illustrations from Oliver Jeffers' "One city, Five Hours” project via Messynessychique. They appear regularly in the United Airlines magazine, Hemisphere, pairing Jeffers' illustrations with various travel writers’ five hour guides to common layover city stops. 

Just amazing. I clearly need to fly United more often (to far away fun places). 

Shanghai © Oliver Jeffers for Hemisphere

Stockholm © Oliver Jeffers for Hemisphere

Inspiration: Emma Sylvie's Snippets

Ever since I came across her work on Doodler's Anonymous, I've been obsessed with Emma Sylvie Fick's travel journals. Fick is a 22-year-old from Louisiana living in Serbia and teaching English on a Fulbright scholarship and sharing her European adventures with us via Tumblr.

The drawings are stunning, the narration interesting, and above all I love how the moments she chose to draw are just a little different from what you'd typically expect.

Travel isn't about seeing the famous landmarks, or visiting that one particular café - it's about all those little moments in between when you can look around, truly open to everything around you, and capture a sliver of what daily life must look like in that strange new place. She captures these moments beautifully and it feels like you're there with her, even just a little bit.

Visit Emma Sylvie's Tumblr here for a little mini-vacation of the brain. 

Journal Pages: Hair, Kittens, and Comics

I've been feeling tremendously inspired these past few weeks. Inspired to read, inspired to work, inspired to draw, inspired to... cuddle with my new kitten MISO! AAAHHH!!! 

© Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

© Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

This last weekend, the Stripdagen Haarlem took place in... Haarlem, a gorgeous town not far from Amsterdam. I'll devote a separate post to some of the artists I saw, discovered, and rediscovered while browsing the many booths and exhibitions, but it was a lovely day and I'm still riding the wave of creative energy it gave me. 

What inspires you? Who inspire you (right now)? I'd love to know!

Picturing April

Set du Jet

I try not to complain about traveling lots for work, because to be honest - I love it. Sure, I don't always get to see much of the city I'm in, and I often miss Mr. Floor terribly, but I'm working my dream job, and I've got amazing colleagues who will put up with me dragging them along for a 2 hour walk along the Thames after working hours. I did feed her Indian food afterwards, that helped. 

Lines

Married life is amazing. I know people often say getting married didn't change anything for them from when they were dating, but I disagree. Of course, I wouldn't really know, since Mr. Floor and I have been married for much longer than we had been dating before we decided to get married, but still. I feel connected, protected, loved. It feels very special that the one person I care about and admire most in this world, chose to go on this journey with me, and promised me, my family, the state, everyone, that they'd be there for me always -and vice versa. We've entered into a pact together, it's us now, no matter what this crazy adventure will turn out to be. I don't necessarily think getting married is the only way to make that pact, but it's what we did, and it's awesome. It also a great comfort to me when we're both busy with work and traveling, and it makes those shared moments together even sweeter. Like, we're building something here. This month was full of those sweet moments, like when we went to the Kröller-Muller Museum together, biking around the national park, playing in the sculpture garden. Or that day we spent in the sun, sipping coffee, reading books. 

Nothing To Do

If you had gone to college with me, and had been so fortunate as to have been invited up to my room, you'd have noticed one thing, immediately: I keep lists. I used to have three big to do lists taped on the inside of my dorm room. One for study tasks, one for 'private' tasks, and one for long term dreams and goals. I was a very serious student and I guess being able to get up from my desk and cross a task of my list made me less anxious, but I don't feel like I'm very serious adult (heh, adult), and I still keep lists, just a lot less visible. Anyhow, we were going on vacation, and I finished every tiny little to do off my list and it felt awesome. You see what I did there? Turned this mundane and slightly OCD event into a story. And that's how blogging is done, y'all. Booyah (do people still say that? Probably not, eh?)!

Prague X Art

I tried to come up with a clever name for this bit, like a combination of the word 'Prague' and 'Art' but all I could come up with was 'Partgue' - but that doesn't mean anything at all, so that'd be weird. But yes, we went to Prague!

Not only is Prague one of the prettiest cities I've personally ever been to, it's also filled to the brim with art. Gorgeous art nouveau buildings everywhere. Mosaics for all. Golden cafés with Mucha illustrated menus and Jugendstil silverware. Pubs filled with dreamlike (or nightmarish) cartoons and graffiti. Large canvasses of naked women and poems for sale in a wine bar (65 kronen for a glass of Moravian red, canvasses: price on request). An Italian restaurant with an eclectic art collection (gifts? friends? family?), where well done copies of seventeenth century vanitas paintings are hung alongside Schiele-esque portraits of the maître, the obligatory painting of a crying gypsy boy, and a well done sketch of the Vlatava and it's many bridges. I drew a lot, photographed a bunch, and a week felt like two weeks. 

Did you go anywhere over Easter? Let me know in the comments.
Also - follow me on Instagram here (and I may follow you back!).

Inspiration: Alex Noriega

I love this video about Alex Noriega's work. I started following him back when he was still making the most amazing comics and illustrations, and now he makes beautiful paintings, or 'emotional sculptures' on canvas.

I find this video especially inspiring, not just because his style appeals to me tremendously, but also because it shows that illustration and fine art (painting) are just various ways of visual expression. I've always struggled with the so-called divide between illustration or other applied arts / crafts and fine art, even back when I studied art history. From my own practice, it really didn't feel like abstract painting, making a zine, or designing a poster for someone were very different things - yet we would study only the 'fine' arts bit (I'm aware that this may be different at other universities). It's been great to see how that divide is being broken down bit by bit, even if it leads to people using pretentious terms like 'sequential art' to describe comics and whatnot. We're all artists in my mind, and we've all got a degree to which and a way in which we engage with this side of ourselves. A little bit off topic, but I feel the same way about the division between 'amateur' and 'professional' arts, which I know can be qualified but feels like it's often just used as a qualitative judgement. 

Anyhow - yay! Alex Noriega! 

Journal Pages: Prague Sketches

Last week, Mr. Floor and I went on a weeklong city trip to Prague (Czech Republic)! 
The man had never been, and I hadn't been in about seven years and obviously needed a hit of art nouveau art and architecture after having moved out of my old beautiful art nouveau neighborhood of Ixelles in Brussels. 

Day 2 in Prague © Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

Prague did not disappoint. Even though one of the main art nouveau landmarks, Grand Hotel Europa was closed, we sought refuge in Cafe Savoy, and drank in the splendor of the Municipal Hall (or Obecni Dum). Mr. Floor also surprised me when treating me to coffee with an amazing view from the Hotel Golden Well

Day 3 in Prague © Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

We, of course, of course, had to visit the Mucha museum. I am a huge fan, and found the (tiny but full) museum absolutely amazing, although I must say I was a little creeped out by the nationalist work Mucha did as well (this angry girl has been in my nightmares). I also drew some buildings and we found out that Czech food isn't really our 'thing' (very heavy on the meat), but found an amazing Italian restaurant: Trattoria Cicala. The restaurant, filled with an eclectic collection of art and very friendly staff is apparently frequented by the likes of Morgan Freedman and Johnny Depp, which isn't BS - we saw the pictures on our way to the bathroom. BAM! So close to hanging with the famousses, us jet setters, we are.  Oh, and now that we're talking food - THIS is the most romantic and surprising place I've ever had dinner. Go there. Do it. 

Day 4 & 5 in Prague © Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

Halfway through the week our legs were hurting pretty bad from all the walking, so to remedy the issue - we walked some more! The weather was mostly great, apart from one magnificent thunderstorm, and we scoped out most of the city on foot. Once Pesach was over, we headed over to the old Jewish cemetery. I had seen it on my previous visits, but it didn't fail to impress this time around and we sat for a while, drawing some of the tombstones. 

Day 6 in Prague © Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

On our final day (well, last full day, we flew back the day after), we had breakfast at Café Louvre (pretentious, and the food wasn't great, but the interior is nice), spent all day looking at art in the Veletrnzi Palace (part of the National Gallery), drinking coffee and sketching in the awesome museum cafe, Café Jedna.

I'm sure I've missed a ton of things we did in this post, but since we mostly walked around all the sights and parks, I didn't do any more drawing than this. 

Do you draw a lot on your trips? How long will you spend on each session? What tools did you bring? I may actually do a separate post on this, so I'd love your input!