- Published on
I'm always inspired by nature, by plants and trees. And I keep coming back to the poems of Emily Dickinson because she was also a lover of nature. Sometimes when reading one of her poems, in my mind, I immediately see what the following finished page in my sketchbook will look like. This illustration was done in one day, couldn't stop drawing. It's not always going smoothly like this though, sometimes I start a project, only terminating it after a long time.
- Published on
A spread in one of my handmade books. I filled it with poems, beautiful texts and, of course, illustrations. Everything is about gardening, love for nature and words that make you feel good. Much needed while we are living through difficult times!
#handmadebook#lovefornature#calligraphyandillustration#gardeninglife#blackandwhiteillustration#poetryillustrated
#jokeboudens#letteringandillustration#quotes#feelgood#lettering#letteringandillustration#handwriting#letterfun
- Published on
I've been trying out Posca markers and it was a fun thing to do, going on autopilot. There is only a limited color palette fot the fine tips range, but they are bright, opaque and quick drying. And colors can be applied on top of each other, even light colors on dark ones. Perfect for decorative art as shown on the picture below. I had fun making this pattern in my sketchbook!
- Published on
Twice lavender. On the right side an embroidered piece from maybe twenty years ago. I used to be an embroidery teacher and this lavender in a pot was a design I made for my students to recreate. I came across it while searching on my PC and made this drawing yesterday.
- Published on
This pencil drawing was made by my grandfather (1894-1967). It is a portrait that he made of his sister Anna. It is the only portrait I know of, he was actually a landscape painter. But I love this drawing a lot and in real life it has that velvety texture.
- Published on
Some of my father's alphabets, as they were made ready to be printed in his first book in the 50's. He always worked on squared paper with Indian, waterproof ink and retouching with white gouache.
- Published on
I have been teaching embroidery for over 30 years. One of the techniques in the curriculum was Blackwork. And, after so many years, this inspired me to fill two whole journals with drawn patterns. I started at the beginning of the Covid period and am now nearly at the end of my second book. I can recommend it to everyone: I think it is the best way to slowing down and relax! And it really is amazing how many different patterns you can come up with, just starting with a line, a dot, a square, rectangle or lozenge.
- Published on
I realize that most of my drawings and texts are about nature, about the beauty and poetry in it, the positive vibes it gives. I feel that it's not really a free choice, more an irresistible urge and I don't want to oppose it. I do not close my eyes for all the grief and misery in the world, but I don't have the drive to focus on that, with all due respect for those artists who have the profound aspiration to do so and succeed in transmitting their beliefs. But in my work I want to show the opposite side of ugliness, negativity, misery and harshness. So here's a spread in one of my sketchbooks, filled with nature. The tree on the left side is the tree in our garden that I can see while eating in the kitchen. Especially in the morning, there are plenty of birds on the tops of the branches and it inspired me to make a drawing of it. In all honesty, I have to say that our birds are not yellow: they are sparrows, blackbirds, chews, titmice, collared doves and robins. On the right side of the page, I drew a plea to preserve and keeping survive folk art, very close to my heart! This can be in many areas such as woodworking, pottery, painting, embroidery, ironwork, furniture, silversmith's craft ... and that in all continents of the globe. I love to look at folk-art objects, generally simple in form yet amazingly beautiful! They keep inspiring me.
- Published on
A few weeks ago, I made this drawing of a Chinese vase in my sketchbook. I really love to elaborate in detail all those elegant motifs that show the mastery of the designers from centuries ago! And a poem should not be missing here :)
- Published on
I have my sketchbooks to try out new ideas. When I'm happy with it, I take a nice sheet of paper and do the whole thing over again. This drawing is my representation of paradise. The words on the left and right are translations of the word 'paradise' in different languages of the world. A lot of people ask me how many pigment liners I use for one drawing like this so I put it to the test and, although this piece is quite big (50 x 70 cm), I only used one fineline, just at the finish starting a second one.
