A Look in a Creative Mind

TJ's Project: The Red Dress Creation.

2012-02-06T12:46:00.000+01:00

Hi Everyone!

Okay, I shall share a sneak peek of what went on in my brain when I created the Red Dress illustration.

After doing a bit of research I wanted to try and see if I could paint a flowy dress. It's all about leaving highlights and creating shading for movement and it's linked to the small project with my sister (which I'll tell more about next time). So I grabbed my brushes and started. No wait, I grabbed a pencil and sketched out a base...then I started painting hehe. The painting of the dress went surprisingly well and then...the head got messed up. I totally drew it too small, but it looked fine when I sketched it out. So rude of my own perspective. This was the first dress.

So I kept staring at the empty area, where the head would be, so I did the following....I started whining at Cilla (my sister who is a Fashion Beauty Guru lady) that I messed it up. She was sitting on the couch and I sat at the dining table waving my arms from side to side, going like 'Cillaaaaa! Cillaaaaa I messed it up! The head is tooo smalll! I messed it up!!!!'

Yeah *ahem*. Let's continue. I re-drew it again and painted it with a more intense red and I double checked if the head was correct. But another problem started floating around. I did not like the head I drew or it's the hairdo. It didn't fit the feeling I wanted the painting to have. However everything did match this time, but still not quite right.

Yes....I did what any normal person would do. I whined again. "Cillaaaaa! OMG! The hairdo is annoying me!! I messed up again! I do like the dress though, but the haaaaiiirrr! OMG"

Yeah. Some whining can be needed to get the frustrating out of my system and I think I used a stronger word to express how I messed up again, but I don't want you guys to faint...my apologies, Cilla.

So I just put everything aside and proceeded to paint what now is known as Jello Lady. I'll give her a few siblings I think.

So after I got that out of my system. I picked up the first one and started sketching out a head again. I erased quite a few times, so the area was greyish, but finally I got a head I was more pleased with. I decided to edit it in Photoshop a bit to see if I liked the outcome.

I did, but the face still looked too 'muddy' even after enhancement in Photoshop. Plus, I wanted to have a good painting that I could sell, so I completely re-drew and re-painted it again, giving you the end result below. These are some close-ups. You can see the complete edited version in previous post.

So do you guys like one dress better than the other? One head better than the other? Let's compare and please do tell!

I need to work on my picture taking skills...hehe. Hope you liked this little peek in the mind of well..me. If you have questions, just list them below and don't forget to check back to see if I answered them. I'll do my best to answer them as soon as I can.

Ciaooo!

It all started with...The Red Dress

2012-02-03T23:51:00.000+01:00

Greeeeeeetings Everyone!

How are you doing? Preparing for the weekend? It really started to snow here and I have to say, it's a pretty sight, but where was it when I wanted a white Christmas?!? Ah well.

When I was reading (skimming) through the articles on my Google Reader a few days back, I came across an article by Jenny Lawson aka The Bloggess. I always read her posts, which are hilarious, honest, inappropriate and straight to the point. It's really peeking inside her mind and I love it! The Bloggess, initiated the The Traveling Red Dress movement in 2010 and picked it up again a while ago with the The Traveling Red Dress - revisited. Her story is inspiring to say the least and her story inspired many others to share theirs as well. Just have a read please ^_^. And yes, to state the obvious, it started with a Red Dress. It's bold and daring and well...I mean how often can one wear a big red dress other than if you had a costume party or something? I do not have a big red dress...so I painted one!

Claire...I'll show the ones with flowery petals another time!

Couldn't get it right when I started painting hehe.

No matter who you are or what you do, every girl has a Little Diva inside of her. And I'm not talking about a lady in haute couture loaded with jewelry and an attitude...no. I'm talking about a side that knows she deserves nothing more than the best. A side that knows she is beautiful and loving no matter how she looks like. A side that accepts her flaws and isn't afraid to be who she really is.

...this side often hides though. Responsibilities, disapproving looks and words can be a pain in the ass you know.

So in short, the Red Dress has become a metaphor for the fact that everyone should have their moment. That moment where they can fully embrace who they are without being judged. And it doesn't matter if it's silly or weird or not sensible...if it makes you happy...what more could you ask for? Simplicity at its best right? So eat that cookie if you want one, roll in the grass if you feel like it, wear those earrings if it makes you feel beautiful, wear bright eye shadow if it makes you feel colorful and happy. I could go on and on, but the point is that you don't forget who you are and share a bit of your own sunshine with the world. A lot of people hide behind their own clouds already anyway.

I visited the Facebook Page and all those little comments just made me happy. So many people are offering red dresses and/or photography skills just to make someone else happy and give them their moment of Fabulousness. I love how the World of the Web can do this and when I read another article about The Bloggess and her Red Dress Movement...I was inspired even more.

Strangers helping Strangers. Social media is a powerful tool indeed.

I hope that one day I can twirl around in a big red dress as well haha. Although me and big dresses don't always match, but this is a story for another time. Until then...this illustration has to do ^_^.

~~Not sure if she ever reads this~~ - She saw it and thinks it's gorgeous! I am Happy! - a Big Big Thanks to Jenny the Bloggess for her Inspiring story as it inspired me to write this one. Also, for showing her beautiful pictures! If you have some time to spare do click around and have a read. It's inspiring how generous people can be, simply because they want too and want to make someone else happy.

Enjoy your weekend and remember...be Fabulous (yes. The guys have to be Fabulous too)!

Ciao Everyone!

An Etsy Shopping Update!

2012-01-21T20:40:00.002+01:00

Ciao Ciao!

Finally an Etsy update for you guys! My shop is up and running! For now I added a few prints and greeting cards in it, but it's a start right?! They make lovely gifts for e.g. birthdays or...for yourself. Plus, the cards can be easily framed as well. So far most people don't want to part with their print haha.

I will slowly add more products like original art, buttons and magnets to it. I will tweet about this and mention it on my Facebook fanpage. I will mention it on my blog every now and then as well, but if you really want to stay up to date, make sure you'll "stalk" me on there as well hehe. Of course if you are an Etsy person, you can add me in your circle.

All prints are on high quality matte photo-paper, glued on heavy card stock and comes with an envelope. They are also all signed and shipped in a sturdy envelope.They come unframed as this reduces shipping costs and you can frame them however you like.

Have a browse around, if you know people who would be interested, pretty please refer them to my shop. Ooooh and one request, I'd love looooove it if you would pin it onto Pinterest if you like the illustration and you collect illustration images. I am kinda addicted to that site (maybe I should leave the 'kinda' out of my sentence...) and to see my images float around there would be so cool. Next to that, it's such an easy way to collect and share inspiration.

Like I said, there will be more things available, like prints of a special illustration that I did for my latest column. If you haven't seen it yet...please click on this 'Magic Word' and share it with others please. People shouldn't stop dreaming ^_^.

I added a permanent tab for my Etsy shop above. If you click it you'll be magically transported to it!

Now...I shall watch a movie! Enough laptop for today! Till next ramble everyone!

First Ramble of 2012

2012-01-16T10:18:00.000+01:00

Hey Everyone!

How’s the New Year going for you so far? This post is a bit of a ramble. When I was still studying I always dreaded the months after Christmas and New Years. Time always seemed to go soooo sloooooow, but now, I really had to take days off for the holidays and the new year started quite busy! I did (and I'm still doing) a lot of reflecting and organizing and it's funny (sort off)...I thought I got things pretty clear in my head regarding my blog, but I realized I wanted to switch things up again.

I mean I have two blogs now. This one and TJ on Illustrations. The people who follow me on Twitter and Facebook know I’ve been sharing my older columns on a new writer’s site called Expats Post. I’ll tell you more about this site another time! My second blog is like a diary where I let you all peek in my brain and give some insight in how I perceive and experience the Illustration World. It's really focused on the writing element, whereas this blog...this blog is a true arty ramble blog. I like to keep it that way.

I’ve been pondering what I want to do with my blog and how to keep it interesting for you and myself. Well, the cupcake tutorial and ‘appelflappen’ recipe got a lot of great feedback, so I will be adding more recipes and simple tutorials. Fun times! Next to that, I’m also discussing a side project with my sister. We've been planning to do something for quite some time now and we're finally setting things in motion. Fun times again, but more on this soon!

You know, ever since I have my fanpage, I started to draw even more. I've increased my drawing by adding a doodle or two each day on my fanpage. Usually sketch work, but it keeps me drawing every day, no matter how little the drawing is. I was thinking to upload it on my blog as well, but I don't want to be all spammy and otherwise I'll be spending my entire day uploading and promoting my posts! So every now and then I will add sketchwork here (like I did in this post), but do follow me on FB as well, if you want more frequent little bits of art by me ^_^

I'm working on a series of paintings that I can hopefully show you over the next couple of days as well. Plus! My Etsy will be up and running! I can't say 'again' as I never used my Etsy store, but this shall change soon.

See? The year started busy, busy! Is there something you'd like me to share my thoughts about? Questions you'd like to ask me? Just let me know below or in an e-mail.

End Ramble ^_^

Ciao!

It's That Time of the Year...Again!!

2011-12-20T16:00:00.000+01:00

Hello HelloEveryone!

Thanks somuch for the response on the cupcake tutorial (previous post)! I was pleasantlysurprised by the amount of people that read and liked the post! I will have morecupcake tutorials soon and from this I shall expand to other tutorials *evil laugh*

You know, Ithink that this is the last post for 2011...I need to take a few days off andre-focus and prepare for the Holidays. It really feels like it has been only a week ago, that I wished you Happy Holidays in 2010! I think I also have my first new party header where my characters had skin tones. Goodness!

HappyHolidays

and have an Awesome 2012!!

I know Iprobably already said 'Thank You' many, many times, but I shall do it again, because withoutyour support and readership I wouldn’t be here! Really, a huge thank you forjust following me on my journey. I hope it inspires you to just work hard & chase your owndreams. You can make a difference for yourself as nothing is impossible, you can make it impossible by thinking that it is!

I’m reallycurious to what 2012 will bring! Commission requests are already coming in for2012 and I have a feeling that I have to put a commission stop soon. You will be notified when I have to do thisthough, but if youdon’t have a deadline and you don’t mind waiting a bit longer for yourcommission, then by all means, e-mail me if you have questions, want to knowprices and so on (tjlubrano@gmail.com).

With this,I shall leave you! I’ll be checking in on my Fan page every now and then and post random doodles. I gotta keep on doodling!

Don't forget that I also have a column blog, I published my last column for this year there. It's called, Glancing Back. Plus, don't forget about the Migwi book project ^_^. In 2012, there will be more tidbits of news about this little monkey too.

Whatever you do, have fun and be careful with fireworks!

See you all in 2012.

Ciao Ciao xoxo!

TJ's Projects: A Cupcake Tutorial

2011-12-13T00:05:00.000+01:00

Hello helloo!!

Hmm that was said in a weird opera voice...in my head anyway.

So, no recipe this time, but a drawing tutorial! A while ago, I got asked by the lovely Marieke Bos, if I was interested in participating in a creative project. It's for the site Swap-bot and here lots of creatives swap handmade goodies with each other. The group Dutch Swappers magically transformed the month December in an online advent calendar and every day a creative swapper reveals his/her gift.

And yes, you guessed it right, today is my day and I decided to create a quick tutorial on how I draw my cupcakes ^_^. There are really just a few basic lines and by switching up the expression you can create a new little cupcake in a few seconds. This is the first time writing a step by step tutorial and I will record a short video how I draw and paint it soon. However, the quality isn't THAT great. I will re-upload it soon again. My laptop shut off while I was saving the tutorial, so I lost some of my editing. Not a big deal...until I noticed that the file had become corrupt. The horror. I had a deadline to upload it a bit after midnight on December 13th, therefore I couldn't re-create what I had, so this tutorial is a quick version.

If something doesn't make sense, do let me know. I can keep this in mind for when I create the right version of this tutorial. I have another way of drawing a cupcake and if you guys like this one, I'll show you the other one as well.

Oh! I do have a cupcake recipe for you guys soon...hehe. Until then, don't forget about the Limited Christmas Cards and my Zazzle shop.

Have fun trying it out and if you drew it and want to show it...let me know! If there are enough cupcake doodlers, I will create a folder on my Facebook page so people can post it there. I'd love to see it :D Feel free to experiment with the frosting shapes and faces. I'll show lots of cupcake examples soon!

Ciao ciao!

Christmas Shopping Time! pt. 2

2011-12-10T23:00:00.000+01:00

Hey Everyone!

Here is the second update! As you know my Zazzle shop features a bunch of my designs that you can get as present. Quite a few people bought a TJ design and I couldn't be more pleased knowing that there are people over the world opening their present and seeing a TJ illustration! How cooooool is that!? Zazzle makes a lot easier, but an important element is lost and that is you aren't getting a typical TJ package ^_^.

Okay, come closer...this is an important post as you have to be quick with deciding or notifying people to get cards.

I added a bunch of designs in my album 'For sale - Cards and Prints' on Facebook and please read the added information so you know the amount I have of each card. The cards have a little extra like snow or a pretty dark red glitter detail that you won't get when you order from Zazzle. I have more designs waiting and I'll add these tomorrow.

So as the other designs aren't added yet, the information is for the Christmas cards only. Each Christmas card is EUR 4,-. Shipping costs for one card is included. If you want more cards, EUR 2.50,- will be added to the total amount for worldwide shipping (the weight of the package knocks it in a different shipping category -_-). Sneak peek!!

If you want to get a Christmas card(s), this is what you must do:

1. Visit the album and decide what you want.
2. Email me at tjlubrano@gmail.com with the name of the design, amount of cards, your paypal address and your mail address. People from the Netherlands can pay me with their regular bank account as well.
3. I'll send you a Paypal invoice or my bank account information.
4. After payment, the cards will be shipped the next day or even the same day if you're lucky!

That's it! People living abroad do have to decide fairly quickly as it takes more or less a week for a package to arrive. So if you order the cards before Tuesday you're on the safe side and you can mail the cards to whoever you want. BUT! If you want to send a TJ card to someone and you're not sure if it would be on time, you can provide the message & address to me and I'll ship it directly to the person...just an extra service for you guys ^_^.

Enjoy your weekend and Happy Buying!

TJ's Kitchen: Appelflappen

2011-12-02T19:35:00.000+01:00

Greetings Lovely People!

Something new for you to read: A recipe! Yes, a lot of you know that I love to bake and I bake more than cupcakes hehe.

I wrote the recipe down for my friend, Bill Friday, and figured to post it on my blog as well. I haven't got those in-between pictures though, but I think this recipe is simple enough to go without that.

Whenever I make this recipe I use apples that have been on the table for a while and no one wants to eat them anymore. I don't have exact measurement for you as I don’t measure the cinnamon and sugar. Older apples are naturally very sweet.

Of course you can make your own puff pastry dough, but as I'm known to be lazy, I buy packages with puff pastry sheets. This is a quick snack and since I don't have a lot of time to bake complicated things, I go for an easier solution ;) Each package contains of 10 square sheets.

All in all, a very easy and tasty snack. So let's start!

Ingredients for the filling
Apples - I usually use 4-5 medium sized apples for 40 small pastries (2 packages of puff pastry sheets)
Cinnamon
Granulated sugar
opt. vanilla sugar
opt. sultanas

Extra sugar for the topping.

How to
- Peel and cut the apples in small cubes. Place it in a bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon and if you want sultanas. Exact amount can't be given as it really depends on the natural sweetness of the apples and to your own personal taste.

- Cut the puff pastry diagonally, so you'll get triangle shaped pastries. Add a bit of filling, pinch down the sides with a fork and then give it a wash with milk. Lastly, sprinkle granulated sugar over it.

- Bake it on 190 Celsius/375 degrees for 20-23 min. Of course you can create other shapes if you want. When the pastries are golden brown, they are done.

Buon appetito!! You can eat it warm or let it cool. They are best eaten on the same day. The longer you wait, the less crunchier they will become.

Extra thingies
1. You can mix granulated sugar with a bit of cane sugar for extra crunch.

2. You can also skip the milk and add a wash with water or egg.

3. Regarding the cinnamon/sugar. Personally, I don’t like overly sweet things, so I just add a few teaspoons of sugar and a few shakes of the cinnamon jar. If you add raisins, keep in mind that this gives its own sweetness as well.

4. Left over cinnamon apples are perfect over ice cream, in yogurt etc. 5. The longer the apple mixture sits in the bowl a syrup will form. I usually add a tablespoon of cornstarch flour to the mix to absorb a bit of syrup. But you can't prevent it from happening, so make sure to leave this out of the pastry as much as you can. No soggy pastries please!

5. Vanilla sugar can be easily made by adding vanilla pods (without the seeds) in a jar with granulated sugar. Set it on the shelf for 2 weeks and voila! Vanilla sugar has been made. I think I saw this in one of Nigella's cooking episodes.

That's it! You can experiment with other fruit or flavors or maybe mix the sugar for the topping with almond slivers. But this is a classic, just like apple pie ^_^. It's perfect with a cup of tea, coffee...basically with everything haha. If you make this recipe, do let me know!

Have a lovely weekend! Oh! Don't forget to check out my Zazzle *points to the sidebar* ^_^

Christmas Shopping Time!

2011-11-25T14:30:00.000+01:00

Ciao Everyone!!

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! Quick update here regarding my Zazzle shop: It has been refilled! Well, there are lots of other designs in it, but I updated it with a few new Christmassy designs that you can buy as cards and key chains. I will add more products to the shop in the next couple of days. I figured to just update now instead of waiting till all is in the shop...time keeps ticking away. Plus, Zazzle is such a pain in the butt to add products too, so breaks are needed and...if I'd wait any longer I'd fall in my old routine of waiting till I have loooots to show you!

So if you want to send out cards and get small stocking fillers, now is the time :D Just keep in mind to check back as I will add more products. Also, somewhere in the next couple of days, I will add a few card designs and original paintings in my Big Cartel/Etsy shop as well. I wanted to do this today, but something went wrong with my print order, so I haven't made the cards yet. These cards will have a special TJ touch, so they are slightly different than the ones in my Zazzle shop. More on this and prices later, otherwise too much information for you too handle hehe.

Don't worry! I will notify you when the originals and cards are up in my personal shop. But for now Zazzle awaits you! If you know people who would love to get something with the designs I have available now, do let them know as well please.

If you don't see an item with a specific design, just let me know and I'll create one. There will be another post soon regarding my personal shop, but for the new Zazzle products, I will add a note on Twitter & Facebook. If you want to stay in the loop, follow me there please!

And now you can stare a bit more...

AHOY!! TAKE ME TO ZAZZLE

Goodies from the World: A Poem for Me!

2011-11-08T16:01:00.000+01:00

Hello hello!

You know, I've said it a few times before, but one of the biggest things I'm grateful for since I started blogging are the people I've met. The fabulous Cher...she is one of the friends that I keep close to my heart and I when she surprised me with a poem. I was lost for words. You can meet tons of people across the web, but some really are just true gems. I was so honored by this and I want to share it with all of you! I strongly suggest to check out both her blogs AskCherlock and Poems by Cher. Cher is a brilliant poet and writer. Her poems take you to another world and her posts are always filled with interesting thoughts. Whenever you've visited her blogs you leave with a sense of content, knowing a bit more than when you came there. Plus! She always have a little comment for you! You're not talking to thin air. Cher is an absolute pleasure to know and I don't think I've come across anyone sweeter and caring than her. I'm sure that everyone who meets her, feels the same way. I just love her ^_^.

La Danse du Jour

For our very own TJ Lubrano who allows us to see life through her eyes.

Parting early morning sunlit curtains

She sails through an open window,

Shimmers like crystalline dewdrops

Floating lithely above far away fields

Colors of lavender, yellow, and pink,

Rainbow through hues of indigo blue

She alights upon grass to twirl and whirl

Arms swaying, fingers reaching skyward,

An overture to her delicate ballet with life

She laces on and on through thickets of rye

Then wheat, then lush greenness, and soon

Symbiosis of being one with whimsy and

Mystical, magical, colors occurs sublimely

For today is her Danse and through it

Her mind absorbs each dollop as art and

When morn has ended, she will draw upon

Her visions and paint with supplicant joy

Everyone! *twirls* Isn't it beautiful :D? Every time I read this, I am so happy! I can't even put it in words haha. The above painting I gave to her as a present. It just belonged to her. Thanks so much again, Sweet Cher!

Have a lovely week guys! And in case you haven't read my column yet...you can find it by clicking the magic word. This time I talk about a Treasure Chest...

Ciao!

Tales from an Illustrator: One of My Next Steps.

2011-11-04T16:54:00.003+01:00

Hello!

Hmm it seems that I am blogging quite frequently lately haha. But that aside, I have some excting news to tell and some of you may have seen it on Facebook yesterday!

Susanna from Trade Your Talent and I will write a...children book. Well, I will illustrate it haha. I can ramble about it here, but I'd rather have you visit the blog and hopefully you decide to follow our journey over there. The posts on that blog will cover various subjects about finding an app developer, creating character sketches, what we find fun to do, what we find difficult etc. Some posts will be from her alone, some will be mine and some will be combined, like you can see in our first post. Hopefully it will be of interest for people who want to start something for themselves too! To find the blog just click the image below ^_^.

Meet Migwi the Monkey!! :D

Everything is still in draft mode, so hopefully seeing it all change and grow will be fun and interesting for you guys!

Writing/illustrating a children's book is one of the steps that I want to complete in my second year as illustrator. I could wait till a project falls in my lap or that I start when I'm signed by an agency...however, I know that sometimes you just have to act pro-active. The story is there, the illustrations are floating around...we are willing to invest our time and energy in this....so why wait?? We believe in our project and to me that's all that matters.

But! Getting signed by an agency is another one of my goals! And in order to create a great promotional package I will join the Zero2Illo challenge '4 Week Promotional Mailer Challenge' I already joined a Zero2illo Challenge in the past, but my thesis took up way too much, so I had to stop after 5 weeks. However now...no more pesky thesis! Not that I have all the time in world though, but this challenge is too interesting to set aside.

Big Thanks to Jonathan and Lea Woodward for giving everyone the change to develop and grow as an artist! *bows*

Till next post everyone and have a fabulous weekend ahead!

Ciao!

The Scary Winners are...

2011-10-31T21:27:00.003+01:00

This post is going to be super short (my definition of short...)! I am working on my to do list and I still have a few things to finish! Yes...I am shocked as well, but first...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

An oldie for you to see! I started out with several designs for Halloween and then...commissions popped up and I had to put my own project aside. Bummer, but I will finish them and add them to my standard collection. You know, It's funny to look at my characters before I started to add skin tones. I drew this a year ago!

So without further a due, the winners of my giveaway are...
1. Ms. Judie from Rogue Artists
2. Ms. Flameheart from The Fire in My Eyes
3. Ms. Anastasiia from Anastasiia-Ku

Congratulations! I shall contact you this week if I haven't contacted you by the end of the week...email me at tjlubrano@live.com please.

Okay! Gotta run again! Stay tuned for the next post where I either tell you about a new exciting adventure that I'm working on OR I will tell you in short what my next steps are for the upcoming months!

Feel free to tell a random story if you want or you can also check out my new column Floating on the Same Cloud.

*sings* I'm Late! I'm Late! *looks at watch* For a Very Important Date! No time to say Hello!, Goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!...*waves & runs off*

Tales from an Illustrator: Reflect and Move Forward.

2011-10-27T02:37:00.002+02:00

Ciao Everyone!

First! My column, TJ on Illustrations, is up and I will post the new column every Friday. I will do more of these types of posts over there as it’s also like my personal diary type of thingy, but less rambly. To stay up to date, do hope over and subscribe. I promise, you won’t be disappointed ^_^

Okay, with being official and all, I knew that I had to come up with a more solid plan. You can’t just say ‘Oh I will start a business and sit back and relax or skip around being happy’ No. Next to that, my budget isn’t big, so I looked into other ways to get myself more noticed and get to know other creative people. That was my main focus point, to let others know that I’ve entered the Illustration World! What’s the point in being an artist if no one knows about you?

Quick doodle

I'll the most important things in a nutshell, because I can’t write every little thing down. It would probably bore you to death. This year has been all about being seen, getting noticed, working on more commissions and researching lots of things.

There are a lot of free portfolio sites and I signed up for several of them. Sounds good huh…but the real deal is that you have to keep them updated. I did pretty well for a little while, but then more projects and commissions started coming in and well…I started to update less. You see, when I registered as a ‘one lady business’, I got a few responsibilities, like a quarterly VAT registration and an hour registration. The horror. I had to set up my own administration and it takes some time to get used to it, because you don’t want to get in trouble with the Tax people.

Even though I didn’t update as much as I wanted too, I did have an increase in views and in subscribers. Though a Big Thank You goes out to everyone who shared and re-tweeted everything I did!! This played a huge part as well.

The Frosty Ladies (2011)

Next to this, I also signed up for Zazzle, Etsy, Redbubble & Society6. I did mention Zazzle last year, but the reason why I never mentioned the others on my blog is that I didn’t have anything good to sell yet. Or at least not good enough in my mind. I kept telling myself to schedule more time for personal projects, but with my already existing commissions and the fact my grandad got sicker…I really had to juggle with my time. I did my best to keep an eye on my time management, sometimes I just didn’t have the time to do everything I wanted to do. I will have a shop soon though, but this will be in a different post :-)

I started to use my Twitter and personal Facebook account for work and staying in touch with people. And you know, I did get a better view in interest when I created my fan page. Next to this, it also makes sure that I keep updating more regularly (Doodle of the Day!!). I have fans to entertain...hehe :D

So looking back, I definitely worked on more and bigger commissions and I got to know lots of lovely people. I also got a clearer view on what I want to do and what steps I need to take in order to get there. I added all my experiences in a rapport for a fund application as well. Up till a few weeks ago, I didn’t feel confident enough to send it in. Why? One of the requirements is an art diploma. I don’t have that, so by collecting everything I did in a year on my own, is hopefully enough to convince them to grant me the fund. Fingers crossed!

Hippie Lady (2011)

My learning points? Not doing waaaaaay too much! I easily said yes to a few projects and afterward I thought 'Whyyy did I do that?!' Also, knowing went to let things go and start anew. I can ponder about an illustration for too long and sometimes…you just have to let it go. Third, it’s best to stick to a limited number of social media and update that regularly. It is really time consuming to keep it all up to date!

I hope this was a bit interesting for you to read. It's probably best to do a quick update post every now and then, because doing it like this just make the post super long! And I don't want you guys to go like 'read, read, read...oh look birdies!!'...hehe. Birds are lovely though...

Take care everyone and you can still join for the Birthday Doodle Giveaway! Just comment on the correct post and not this one...

Ciao!

It's That Time of the Year Again!

2011-10-21T01:11:00.000+02:00

It is party time! Yes. My birthday has arrived again. Can you guys believe that another year has passed again! Goodness. I know I can't. I will reflect back on last year in another post. Hopefully it will be interesting for you to read and see how things went in my first year as illustrator.

Of course I can't let this birthday pass without a little celebration! Yes, my friends, there will be a...

Doodle Giveaway! (closed)

This time I'll be giving away a few prints. The ones you see on the picture are examples and you can either frame it or send it as a card.

And yes, this means that there will be more winners! Three to be exact and each winner can choose one print. The options will be given when I contact the winners! So if you want to join, the rules are as follow:

1. Comment on this post and have a cupcake...okay. the cupcake is optional haha.

2. Be a follower of this blog, my Facebook page or both. I will check this as these giveaways are also little thank yous for supporting me on this adventure I'm on!

3. For additional entries, you can share my blog and/or Facebook page with everyone you know. The more people that are a part of my little world the better as it means I can make more people happy with my art :D. Just let me know where you shared it and how many times, so I can keep track of how many times I have to add your name to the Magic Hat.

4. Just for fun...as who/what will you dress up if you are celebrating Halloween? Even if you don't have a party to go to, but you would dress up what costume would you wear? I am...curious haha.

I will announce the winners on Halloween, October 31st at 8pm my time.

Last, but not least...a big Happy Birthday to my lovely friend, Kim from Soggydog Studios! So lovely that we share this lovely day together.

This is it for now! Have a great day everyone and till next post.

Ciao Xoxo

Meeting the Doodologist and a Ramble

2011-10-12T00:10:00.001+02:00

Hello Everyone!

So, it took some time tofinally write a bit about my trip to the UK and meeting Claire, The Doodologist! I had a few things to take care off while I was fighting off a cold, unfortunately the cold got worse when I got caught in the rain last Sunday -_-'

One of the designs that was quite popular. It seems that there is a cupcake madness going on haha.

I had so much fun and thetime flew by so quickly. It still feels pretty surreal that I’ve actually met alady that I’ve known for two years now. And you know what...she isn't THAT crazy hehe :D (Sorry Claire, but you're not...). Meeting her was so much fun and it only made me realize even more how important it is to know someone who can relate with everything you’re doing and going through andwho can gives advice and listens to the things you have to say. I will write more aboutthis in a column soon!

Now on to the North West Vintage Fair! It wasan interesting event. I didn’t expect people to buy something at all, but they did! I wentinto the fair with a blank mind and when the first people showed interest I waskinda shocked and didn’t know what to say! You know when you’re behind the computer,you can easily freak out when you get a cool email or when people showinterest. You can take a bit of time to let it sink in and then you respond ina normal way. In real life you can’t really do this. I’m not a salesperson, butwhen you stand there you kind of need to ‘sell’ your work through words and byasking questions. It’s a new switch for me and definitely a learning point if Ido another one in Holland! I am very glad to have done one with Claire though,made it less scary ^_^.

Look at our pretty table! Giant Crayons and Pencils courtesy of The Doodologist.

The really need their own spotlight. Kids love them haha.

So sad when I had to leaveagain and you know I seriously needed a few days to switch back to Dutch. Whenpeople asked me a question, I replied in English *sigh* But Claire and I talked about a lot of fun things and lovely things for in the future. I foresee lots of fun things and in time you shall all know about it.

In 10 days, my first yearanniversary as a full-time illustrator will arrive! Now I can never forget whenI made the official switch as my birthday is attached to it. I cannot believethat a year already has passed. So much has happened and I am taking a bit oftime to reflect on it and see what I need to change and what goals I will setfor the second year. That’s why my posts are a bit scarce lately as I'm doing a whole lot in a short amount of time and even though I have the best intentions to do every thing I have on my huge to do list, in reality it doesn't work out all the time. So I need to stay realistic, but more on this in another post!

Gosh. Lots of rambling is ahead of you hehe.

Now everyone…please visitmy friend Claire's site, blog or fanpage! Like it and/or spread the word. It’s herbirthday today and I’m sure it will make her day if more people get to knowabout her work and alter ego...The Doodologist!!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE!!

Thanks so much for being the lovely & awesome friend that you are ^_^

*big hugs*

Till next post everyone!

Updates, updates, updates!

2011-09-18T15:11:00.001+02:00

Hello hello!

How are you all doing? This time I have a few little updates for you guys and one big one! A few illustrations made their way to their new owner, so for the ones who aren't following me on Facebook, I shall add them here. If you are on Facebook and want to stay up to date a bit quicker, do become a fan of the little world I have over there!

Update 1: The Afro Rainbow Lady from last post has been sold and is now in the hands of a very proud owner! It always makes me super happy when I see how excited people get when they get their illustration(s). I just know that they arrived in the perfect new home. Prints of this Lady will be available soon.

Update 2: The last giveaway winner also received his package and to see what I created...just click on the picture and you will see more pictures! I've snapped a bunch of pictures before I wrapped it up. Hehe. The winner was mr. Garry, who is a wonderful writer. You can read some of his great articles on Broowaha or on his blog.

The Land of the Lost Words

I think you can browse around the folder even if you don't have a Facebook account. If this is not the case, do let me know. The theme was inspired on writing and I added a bunch of anime influenced characters in it. The ones who know Studio Ghibli might recognize this.

Update 3: A bunch of colorful Parrots made their way safely to their new owner as well! And yes, they are an addition to the ones you see on my header. I am slowly expanding that colorful world. I wonder what else is hiding there!

Parrot Madness

Now my most exciting news! I will be heading to the UK for a week! I'll be visiting The Doodologist aka Claire Pitt. Regular readers know who she is as her name pops up every now and then. For the ones who don't know her, just click on the above link or if you want to read more ramblings by her please visit her blog.

We will be standing at the North West Vintage Fair that's being held on 24th & 25th September. It's my first fair, so I am a tad nervous, but very excited! We'll have some goodies for sale and will be chatting about our work. So if you're around, do pay us a visit. It would be so lovely to meet you!

Enjoy your Sunday and see you when I get back! Anyone who has questions about artwork/commissions, you can still email me at tjlubrano@live.com. I will get back to you after my trip.

Last but not least...do behave okay? I am watching you...hehe.

Ciao!

TJs Ramble: Just Checking in.

2011-08-30T14:13:00.001+02:00

Hello Everyone!

Goodness. Time flies! I seriously thought only a week had passed since my last post. Err...sorry about that!

First of all, a big hello to all the new followers! Lovely to see you here. Don't be shy to share stories, thoughts or ask questions. Second of all, big Hugs to my sweet & awesome friend Tricia from Tershbango. She got married last weekend. I'm so happy for her!

Now...what have I been up to? Well a bunch of things haha. There are a few packages on their way to their owners and I'm still in the process of updating and organizing a lot of things, so to update you all with vague rambling would only confuse you. Once I've organize my mind and the illustrations arrived safe and sound I will write a big update post (maybe two...)! Are you getting scared...? Hehe.

Things like new projects, new illustrations that I need to edit and to share with the world and so on. Keep an eye on this blog please! Some of you are more on Facebook and if you want to stay updated there, do visit my fanpage (if you haven't already hehe). I update my page with quick sneak peeks, notes or questions, so for quicker updates that's the place to be! Everyone is welcome to share thoughts, ideas and ramblings as well. Looking forward to see you there ^_^

This was a sneak peek on my page.

It's now edited and the original plus prints will be up for sale soon!! Excited!

I have a question: What are your favorite elements about Halloween? The parties? dressing up? cats? ghosts? pumpkins? Scaring people? I will do a poll on my page as well, but you can also comment below if you want to share some thoughts regarding Halloween. I'd love to hear it and see what I can incorporate in new illustrations. So please put your Witches & Wizards Hats on ;)

Yes. My mind is already drifting towards the upcoming holidays. I can't help it. I caught myself singing Jingle Bells & Dashing through the Snow several times already...

Hope you're all doing well and to everyone who lives in the area where Irene passed by...hope you're safe and got through it okay!

Till next time everyone.

Ciao!

TJ's Projects: Canvas vs. Paper

2011-08-12T16:45:00.004+02:00

Hello helloeveryone!

My firstcanvas done with watercolors arrived safe and sound at its owner! I figured itwould be nice to see the difference between my usual watercolor paper andworking on canvas.

Some of youknow about the Three Venetian Masks I painted a while back. I love Venetian masksthey are mysterious and often full ofdetails. A friend really loved them and asked if it was possible to have it oncanvas as well. Well almost anything is possible, so I said ‘Yes of course!!’

So Ire-painted it on canvas with...watercolors! I haven’t got the usual in-betweenpictures. I kinda forgot to keep track of it. This is what I used:

I probablyshould have taken a picture without both finished pieces hehe. Ah well! Next tothe standard things, like brushes, pencils/pen, eraser, paint (which I forgot to add in the picture), I used four extrasteps.

1. I retraced the original painting on tracing paper (that's the transparent drawing you see above)

2. I primed the canvas with Watercolorprimer from Schmincke (the white bottle in the back)

3. Then I retraced the painting on the canvas by using Saral transfer paper. (the red box on the left)

4. Finally details are added with acrylic ink in white, black and iridescent gold. (the three little bottles in front of the primer.)

Standardcanvasses are prepped with a universal primer, suitable for most paintings.However I found that watercolors didn’t really ‘stick’ with this universalprimer. So after some research I found a watercolor primer for canvas. A verygood product, easy to apply and it dries fairly quickly. You needto add 3 thin layers on your canvas. After drying, you can start painting.

Saral transfer paper in graphite. I love this! A whole new array of possibilities has beenopened with this little roll of graphite paper. This medium makes transferringdrawings very easy as you can transfer it on e.g. canvas (obviously), wood, ceramic and so on. The graphite lines dissolve in water. Warning: make sure thelines aren't too thick (so not a whole lot of pressure while you trace yourdrawing) as it will influence your paint color, because the lines give too much pigment and add a touch of greyness when it dissolves. Most people don’t want that…

The actualpaint process was a bit tricky as the canvas had a rougher structure than the paperI use. The brush didn't glide quite easily over it, at least not like I'm used to. The watercolor paper I use is quite smooth and the canvas had thoselittle lines…

I guessbecause of this the waiting for a layer to dry increased by a lot! And I’m notthat patient to begin with hehe. So the adding of the layers continued and thedetails and background are done with the acrylic inks. Finally, I added 3 thin layers of fixative and this also gave it a lovelyshine.

I’m verypleased with the end result and I do like both pieces. On the canvas the colorsare more vibrant and on the paper it’s softer. It really depends on what youwant in the end.

Here’s a picturethat I got from the owner. She loves it and I’m really happy it got to her safeand sound! It was such a fun project to do and the first time I really paintedon canvas. So not mindless doodling hehe.

Now it's proudly displayed in its new home :D

That's it for now! Questions? Do you havea preference? And do you like Venetian Masks? Some people find them a tad scary...

Enjoy your weekend.

Ciao!

Tales from an Illustrator: Magical Tools of the Trade

2011-07-30T19:11:00.000+02:00

Hello hello Everyone!

How are you all doing? Things are pretty hectic for me, lots of small projects to finish and hopefully I can share a bunch of new stuff & updates with you all soon! In the meant time I thought I'd share a piece of my column here as well. It's a little story about the tools one can use for an illustration. Let's start!

‘Twas the night before Chris…

Sorry. Wrong beginning!

Once upon a time there was a piece of paper. This piece of paper wanted to express itself with an image, a thought, so it soared down through the Clouds of Memories and held on to a memory. But having this memory wasn't enough. It started to float through the Pencil Woods and got marked with soft lines.

No. This wasn’t enough either. The little paper wanted more and floated further. On its journey it passed the Inky Meadows and the image got marked even more. The memory became more clear. However, it still wasn't enough. The paper wanted color. It wanted depth. So it kept on floating and the wind brought it to the River of Jars. The River was surrounded by little Brush Bushes with little Flower Pans in lots of different colors. The Flower Pans, sparkled and glistened in the sun.

The paper floated towards the bushes when there was a soft movement within the bushes and eyes opened. It turned out that the little brushes were tiny elegant creatures, with soft hair and sparkling golden eyes. Some went to the jars in the river, while others went to the flowers. Splashes of water on the paper, while drops of colors flowed through it. Brush strokes here, brush strokes there. Tiny details here, tiny details there. What once were just a few lines was given life and told a story.

It was here to stay. Forever captured on a piece of paper.

I was a bit in a storytelling mood. Haha. But you can pick out a few of the tools that I use from that little story. I won't add the entire column here as I want to share something else. So if you like to read it all please click the Magic Button. If you want to comment, but don't have an account there you can share your thoughts here as well ^_^.

What I wanted to share with you is the following. Mr. Jim Brandano, is a professional photograhper from the States. His pictures are beautiful. So when you have the chance do browse around his blog! He asked me if I was up for a little collaboration. Of course I was! He sent me a few pictures and I could choose one as an inspiration to create an illustration. I love sunsets so I picked the following:

I just love the deep red orange in this one. Okay, this is what I created out of it! Oh. Do enlarge the picture please.

What do you think? It has darker mysterious vibe I think. But when I saw his picture, I immediately imagined elegant flying creatures in the sky. So I stuck with that image and I call this piece...Creatures in the Sky. Original huh? hehe. Hope you like it!

Enjoy your weekend and till next time.

Ciao!

TJ's Projects: Get in touch with your alter ego!

2011-07-12T11:27:00.002+02:00

Hey everyone!

How are you doing? Enjoying the weather so far?

Today I shall tell you about a project that I've done a while ago. Whenever it's possible I shall tell you bits and pieces of the things that I'm doing. Sometimes I can only tell you more when the project is finished as things need to be kept a secret ;). For this project I collaborated with Blogcatalog and created a bunch of avatars for you to choose from when you create an account. I personally like it when you have different types of avatars to choose from, especially since I often wander around my imaginative world and pretend to be a superhero hehe. So if I can switch things up when I want, I am happy.

Here are the currently available avatars:

Let me just tell you, I could have created a whole lot more! You can easily choose a personality that suits you. I added some snapshots for you to see, plus a few avatars in a bigger size. I hope you like them as much as I do.

I figured circling them with red circles or squares worked better...hehe. It is funny to see them pop up on the forum! Sorry for the blurriness of the screen shots though. Here are a few of them in a larger size! I hope you clicked to enlarge the images.

Ooh so curious what you think of them as well! It was a fun opportunity. So a huge - Thank You - to Blogcatalog! Also it is possible to commission me if you want to have yourself turned into an avatar! You can email at tjlubrano@live.com. You can also use this email if you want to commission me for other illustrations or want to know the prices. I will add an estimate of prices on my blog soon, so you have an idea what I charge. However, it's always fun to receive email from you guys ;).

And lastly, I have my first Facebook Giveaway! I passed the 100 likes. Thanks to everyone who joined! If you want to join, you have to leave a comment on the note on my page. If you comment here, it doesn’t count ;).

Till next time everyone & Remember to Smile!

Ciao!

A Look in the Past: Old Drawings & winner of the Giveaway

2011-06-21T23:24:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone!

Before I do anything else, it is time to announce the winner of the Giveaway! *drum rolls*

It is Alejandro from 'Raising Amelie'!!! Woohoo. Congratulations! I shall contact you as soon as I can. A bit about Alejandro...he is a man with many names and personalities. One day he is Darth Vader, the other day he is Superman. I kid you not. He has a personal blog with lots of stories and Amelie is his cute little princess. He is really cool and I always have to laugh when I read his comments, even when he's serious. Yeah, I can't explain why. I just hear a funny voice in my head (Sorry A hehe). Do visit his blog when you have the chance ^_^.

I thought it would be fun to share some drawings from the past with you. I cleaned up my drawings folders and came across a few oldies. Well, I sort off clean up as I just made another pile hehe. I probably have a bunch more though. These drawings are done somewhere between 2001 and 2006.

I haven't got a lot of colored drawings from when I was younger. Correction, I don't think I have colored drawings. The thing is, I walked around for a long time, thinking that I would mess up my drawings if I colored them. I really believed that I couldn't do this and felt more comfortable working with pencil alone. Oh how things changed over time haha.

In the past, I really just re-drew art work. Nowadays I use it only as a reference to create my own drawings. Yes. I watched a lot of Dragonball and Dragonball Z. Let's just say, I watched a lot of anime. Hehe.

I often stare in shock when I see older work and I notice a LOT of mistakes *sigh*. Though as much as I want to toss it away, it is cool to see how my style developed over time. Also funny how adding color now feels like a second nature. If you would tell me I would be doing what I'm doing now I would stare at you like this -_-' saying 'Yeah Riiiiigghhht'. Kid you not haha.

I hope you liked this little peek in the past. Till next time!
Ciao!

Storytelling Time: Theft in the Cake shop.

2011-06-17T23:27:00.000+02:00

Heey everyone!!

Okay, first of all you can still join the Giveaway and in order to do so please click this Magical Button and comment on the that post. If you comment here, you won't be added in the giveaway. The winner shall be announced on June 21th, 2011!

Next! I proudly announce that I'm an official columnist for the site ~~Broowaha~~! Edit: I have my own column now, which you can find here, TJ on Illustrations. I will post something regarding the illustration business every Friday, starting next week. I will post some of the articles here as well as you need an account to leave comments there. So for the ones who only read my blog, this is the place to be. For the ones who are interesting in writing and connecting with other writers, do check out Broowaha. It's such a fun & friendly community. You won't be disappointed.

So now it's time for the flash story! A while ago, I was participating in another writers community and before it vanished into thin air ( I have nothing to do with it...) I spent a few fun weeks with other writers. Every week there were 5 prompts to choose from and you got critique and feedback on it. This story won :D. So exciting!

Theft in the Cake shop

As soon as Tess opened the door, Sandy burst in.
“Oh my god! Tess!”
“What? What is it?
“Oh my god! Really, you never gonna believe what happened”
“What! What has happened” Tess had all sorts of drama visualized in her head as they walked to the kitchen.
“Really I was shocked…”
“Come on! Just tell me!”
“There was a theft in the CupCakery Bakery!”
“There was a theft in CupCakery Bakery…oohkay this is shocking because…”
“He only stole the tops!”
“The tops? What tops?”
“The tops of the cupcakes!”
“Really? Only that?”
“Yeah! Apparently he said, ‘why steal it all, if you only like the tops’, marvelously said I think”
“Dude’s got a point there. Want to have some tea?”
Sandy just kept nodding with a big smile.
“But how did he do this? How was he able to only steal the tops?”
“Well, he had a special spatula and with one swift movement…” Sandy made a demonstration, “…he could place it under the frosting and scoop it right up. Oh yeah! The other end of the spatula made it possible to slice of muffin tops. He liked those too. They are crunchy.”
Tess tried not to laugh, this was the strangest story she ever heard. “Okay the muffin tops I can understand, but why the frosting?”
“He liked the swirly patterns.”
“I see. Well I guess that makes sense.”
“I guess that makes sense indeed too.”

So. Who wants a cupcake now :D?

Hope you liked it as well & Till next time everyone.

Ciao! *waves*

Another Year Has Passed! (closed)

2011-06-14T01:11:00.040+02:00

Hey Everyone!

I am back and it is...my second Blogoversary today! Hooray!! So yes. This means another giveaway. But first, I just wanted to start with a BIG thank you to all again for the lovely support you gave me on my previous post. I read every single comment when I was feeling down and your lovely words cheered me up quite a lot. I couldn't thank you enough. No need to worry, I'm doing okay ^_^.

Sneak peek at a larger painting I did for my friend Tony Berkman.
It's one of my faves. Fishies everywhere!

So the moment all of you have been waiting for (probably not, but okay haha). The winner of the previous giveaway is.............

Congratulations Hanis! I believe you choose an underwater theme. I shall contact you or if you read this and you haven't gotten an email yet, feel free to send an email.

Now! Let's go to the other giveaway ;)

2nd Blogoversary Doodle Giveaway (closed)

I can't believe another year has passed. So much happened in one year, from quitting my studies, being a official artist, meeting lots of new friends. Are you guys ready for the next year???

- Feel free to subscribe to my blog, like my Facebook page or both.

- The winner can decide what theme he/ she wants. Illustration will be around A5 size.

- The winner shall be announced on June 21th, 2011! So check back if you join the giveaway.

If you want to join, just let me know in the comments below. Also, when I reach 100 likes on my page, there will be a giveaway as well. There are quite a few ways to obtain an original a la TJ! Fun stuff ahead :D.

This post won't be filled with updates or ramblings just yet. I need to reorganize a lot of stuff haha. Oh before I go! Have I showed you below illustration? I can't recall now. It was for a giveaway over at the Self Exams Doodles page! A little boy who loves pirates :D. He has it hanging proudly on his door now!

See yer here, there & everywhere! Arrrghhh...

Ciao!

A Sad Goodbye

2011-06-01T22:06:00.001+02:00

My lovely friends,

My grandad passed away yesterday evening. He had been sick for quite some time and it seemed that with each time he had to stay in the hospital a piece of him went away. A proud man who refused to accept that he was sick. From the outside, he wasn't the same man that I used to know, but when he smiled or made jokes, I know he was still the same man on the inside.

It's strange, I had a strong feeling to see him yesterday and when I did, it was a shock to see how thin he had become in such a short amount of time. He truly was just a shell of the man he used to be. I knew he wouldn't be around for much longer, you could see how tired he was of fighting for his life. Shortly after we left, my dad got a call that things gotten worse and we head back. He became even thinner in the 2 hours that I hadn't seen him. It's bizarre. To see him, lying there, so silent, sick, but peaceful, was so surreal.

I'm grateful that he didn't suffer and when I was in the hospital, it was difficult. A part of me wanted to run away of all the sadness, another part of me wanted to stay. To hear the nurse say, that he's dying, I couldn't believe it. To hear the words 'He's gone'...I have no words to describe how that felt.

My mind is filled with memories, My heart is filled with love.

And even though my Soul is filled with tears, I know that with time it will get better.

He is in a better place now and I know he is out there, somewhere.

Watching over me and my family.

I need some time to give this space. I'll be back soon and then I shall announce the winner of the giveaway ^_^. As always, thanks for sticking with me on my journey and to the ones who already knew about my grandad, thank so so much for your love & support. It means the world to me!

xoxoxo

Do you like me? And a Doodle Giveaway! (closed)

2011-05-22T17:00:00.003+02:00

Ciaooo Everyone!

First of all, I got such a lovely response on my previous post! Thanks to everyone who read it & left a wonderful comment! Also big thanks to the ones who shared it with others.

Meet the Deadly Gorgeous Ladies. Yes. This will be a new series of mini paintings. I created the ones above for a friend who is an excellent writer, mr. Bill Friday. Do visit his site when you have the chance, It's Always Friday.

For the ones who don't know it yet, I have a Facebook Fanpage! I (finally) created one as it's an easy way to keep everyone up to date with short rambles, new illustrations, sneak peeks and other news. While I tell longer stories on my blog. On the page I can also ask quick questions or feedback, so everyone can get creative there. There's a 'like' button in the left corner of my blog.

Okay, I do have a favor to ask from you. There is a review page in the menu on the FB page. I would love to have a review from the people who have an illustration by me or who has worked with me. You would really help me out with this as I try to build up my customers/client network. I think it would be like an extra motivation for future clients to commission me as an artist ^_^. If you don't have an artwork by me (yet) and you want to say something about me as person, you can do that as well haha. Thanks so much in advance!

Doodle Giveaway! (closed)

It's giveaway time again! Do a little dance everyone ^_^. This time no real rules as last time a lot of the participants were already subscribers hehe. If you're not, I'd love for you to subscribe to my blog or like my page or both. However, I leave the choice up to you. The winner can choose out of the following subjects for an A5 illustration (give or take): pirates, underwater, anime, pin-up and creepy cuteness.

If you want to join, just leave a comment on this post with the subject of choice and I'll use the random.org site to pick the winner. I'll announce the winner on May 31th (2011, just in case you were wondering 2012. Hehe.)

There will also be giveaways via my Facebook Fanpage, so if you miss your chance here, keep an eye on the page, because you can have another chance soon! Warning: There will be a giveaway when I reach 100 likes...

Pink Fluffiness for the little princess of my friend Paul Groom

This is it! For now anyway. I've so much to blog about as I also got a new award from two lovely people and lots of new art is on its way! So I need to break it down, because I can easily write a super long post for you guys haha.

Stay tuned & Till next time.

Ciao!

Compassion for others, Compassion for yourself

2011-05-15T03:13:00.002+02:00

Hmm I’m not sure when, but I think over 2 weeks ago I started to see the word Compassion on Blogcatalog (a forum that I stalk hehe). The word compassion is intertwined with an individual, a man called Mr. Patch Adams.

Perhaps many of you already know a bunch about this kind & humble man, I on the other hand didn’t. I haven’t even seen the movie Patch Adams (just in case some of you wanted to point out that there’s a movie called Patch Adams hehe). So what is compassion? The general definition is that ‘one suffers with another’. You recognize and understand the suffering of an individual and you take action towards it.

Personally, I can get emotionally attached quite easily. Especially with kids. I can’t really stand suffering and if someone suffers, I try my best to help this person, but afterward it can me sad and I probably needs some time to process it. That’s why I’m not sure if I could ever be e.g. a nurse or work in a hospital in general.

This is why I admire Patch Adams. I don’t think that there are that many souls on this world who has the amount of compassion that he has. He strives to help others without passing judgment, strives to ease their pain with compassion & love. This is what drives Patch Adams to make the world a better place.

I’ve read a bit more about Patch and I listened to an awesome interview done by the lovely ms. AskCherlock. I find that the work of mr. Patch Adams is remarkable and I’ve huge respect for his beliefs and actions. I won’t go into much detail about the interview as I strongly advise you listen/read it yourself.

I’ve always believed that the highest reward is hidden in the simplest of gestures. A simple smile can brighten ones world completely. No need for money, no need for materialistic items. You already possess the ability to smile. This got me thinking. If you already possess the elements that one needs to show compassion, why is it so difficult? It should be effortless. That's why, I think that you also need to show compassion towards yourself. After all you are the one who takes action, who wants to make a difference. You need to be content with how you are, before you try to help others. Create a healthy starting point, be happy with who you are and stand for what you believe in. Again, this got me thinking.

Do you think that people are afraid if the answer to a better place is hidden in the simplest of things?

I think, in how society is built, it seems that there is no room for truly thinking outside the box. Well one might think that they are doing things differently. But when you pay close attention to it, one sees that it’s restricted in existing systems & rules. So for me you are not thinking outside of the box completely as one is still being led by something that’s already there. The mind of the human being is being clouded by e.g. materialistic elements,
One man is trying to bring more compassion to world, to let others understand that it isn’t that difficult or expensive in the end. For me, the most powerful actions are hidden in the simplest of things. I’ve experienced it myself, the power of doing a simple act. In my case it’s giving away drawings. It makes people happy, it makes me happy and because I’m happy I have more energy to do things for others again. It’s a never ending circle of positivity.

And that’s what we need. Rays of positivity in a world that’s mostly led by negativity.

Petition to declare May 15th International Day of Compassion
Interview transcript by the lovely Ms. AskCherlock: Part 1 & Part 2
Listen to the actual interview

Want to read more articles regarding this matter, just visit BloggerUnite. Feel free to share your thoughts about this. You know I love to hear from you :D. Thanks for reading this slightly longer post and have a great start of the week.

Ps.: The drawings were for a mug design for a dear friend of mine, Mr. Nothingprofound!

A Magical Rambling

2011-05-09T23:46:00.001+02:00

Yes. Ever since I started blogging, it has been a magical journey and I can only imagine how it will be in the future. For now, I'm just enjoying the rollercoaster ride and I wanted to thank everyone who is joining me!

A big hello and thank you to my new followers and to everyone else, thanks so much for commenting and sharing your thoughts with me! I appreciate every single one of you. As always, for better view of details, do enlarge the picture.

Even though the destination is unknown, never be afraid to embark on a Magical Journey.
It's a Magical Journey for a reason. Just take a leap of faith, enjoy & learn from it.

What do you have to lose ^_^?

This painting was for the last Self Exam Doodles giveaway winner. He loves anime & Studio Ghibli and wanted one inspired by that. Studio Ghibli is known for magical and strangely interesting characters and I tried to add a few anime elements in it. I do like how it turned out!

No stories this time. I have a huge to do list where I'm slowly, but certainly crossing things off. Therefore this post will be a bit of a ramble post again.

I got a blog award! I have to admit I kinda forgot about the blog awards. but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it and I'm honored that people think of me in a world filled with awesome blogs. Thanks so much V! V's blog is called The 'half-baked' Music Snob and the subtitle is 'Art, Music, Weirdness and I'...what's not to like about that :D. Do have a read when you have some spare time. It's filled with musical& arty musings! The award is called 'The Versatile Blogger' award and the receiver must pass it on to other bloggers, which I will not do as I simply can't choose between my awesome blogging friends. There are too many! I also need to tell 7 things about myself. I owe you this one as I need to go through some older posts to see what I haven't told you yet. The links to older quizzes are on the 'Who is TJ' page.

Next! I got interviewed by the very kind & funny Tony Berkman from BlogCatalog. I think a bunch of you already read it, but for the ones who didn't, you can find it here A Magical Treat Inside the Mind of well Me. Hehe. The interview was really, really fun to do and I hope you like it as well.

Last, but not least. I updated my 'Commission Me' page! You can see a menu in the side bar and there's a tab. I added lots of information. So if you ever want to commission me, have a read and see if I answered some of your questions (there may be mistakes/typos as I still need to read it through).

I have more updates for you, but I think your mind will explode if I add it all in one post hehe. So I do it in bits and pieces. Next post will have a....giveaway! So be sure to check back.

Enjoy your week lovely readers!
Ciao!

Tales From an Illustrator: Creepy Cuteness

2011-05-03T16:59:00.003+02:00

So yeah, creepy cuteness things. The last few weeks I had a few drawings that were a bit more on the...creepy side.

Yes. creepy. Well at least my interpretation of it. You see, it started with the weekly giveaways for the Self Exam Doodles fan page on Facebook (which are currently on hold for me & Claire as we need to focus on other doodle adventures). Each winner would get a few themes to choose from and I had two drawings which had a darker theme. The first one: Vampires. Oh do enlarge the pictures for better quality and for the details!

I see you...yes. I do.

I love the branch with moon! Then I got another request for something more out of my comfort zone...zombies! You see, for me it is quite challenging to draw something that is more on the creepy side, as well you know, my illustrations are more on the happy side. The color palette is different and you have to capture a different vibe in the image. But it's an adventure to explore how I can stay true to my illustration style while capturing creepiness & gloominess. So I created a Zombie Warrior Princess with two guardians. What do you guys think?

Who says that zombies can't be pretty ;)?

I decided to go for a mysterious and creepy look. I know that the general image of zombies involves brainzz and limbs in odd directions. Oh and ugly faces and blood everywhere. I did started out sketching little characters rearing towards this as you can see below. Well attempting too. I am not sure if I can draw in a true creepy way haha. However I can give it my own twist.

Random doodles.

Who says zombies can't run? I've a feeling they walk that slow on purpose to suddenly break out in a run just to scare the crap out of us even more...

Then I got the awesome opportunity to do a fun collaboration with the lovely writer, Ms. Janene Murphy. She is the author of the really cool blog 'Moms are from Mars'. Yes. Moms are from Mars. I was shocked when I found out about this, but then again it made sense. Hehe. She had some things to say regarding Noah's ark. Of course, you all know Noah's Ark. With all the cute animals, it makes a perfect design for a nursery or kids room. What a lot of people tend to forget is that this story has a more gloomy side to it as well.

Floating around...

This is just a sneak peek. To see the full illustration I did for Janene's post and to read it, you'll have to teleport to Mars. Wear your seat belts please.
The ones who haven't seen it yet, I'm curious what you guys think of it. It was very fun and a challenge for me to do and I like how it turned out. Plus, Janene is one cool lady and writer! Do visit her blog when you get the chance.

I'm planning to do more gloomy type of illustrations. It keeps things interesting (hopefully also for you guys!) and I'm curious to see how my creepy cute illustrations will evolve over time. In the end it doesn't mean that you will try to achieve the exact same mood one expects when they hear the word zombies or vampires. Everyone has a general image of these things. For me what makes it interesting is, how you can switch it up so you don't travel the cliche route, but that it stays interesting. That's the challenge for me ^_^.

If you have missed the Flower Girl Sale post...you're just a click away Flowery Goodness.

Ciao!

PS.: ~~I'll reply to the comments of my previous post later today~~.DONE ^_^

TJ's Original Art Sale: The Flower Girls

2011-04-29T00:09:00.001+02:00

They are finally here! The Flower Girls.

The Flower Girls just popped in my mind when I was working on another painting. The painting and the flower girls are not related though. Sometimes you just have a project in mind that you just have to work on. The focus is kept on the Girl and the background is just an explosion of colors and flowers. There is an extra hidden step in the creation of these Girls. To find out you have to scroll down and click the link to float to the WIP post ;).

For me, the Flower Girls portray beauty and gracefulness. They are surrounded by nature and just enjoying themselves. Of course a Flower Girl isn't a Flower Girl without a flower name. Each girl has her own name. It's not based on the actual flower, but more on what I found appropriate when I looked at them. Sometimes it's based on the meaning of the name, other times the appearance of the Girl determined the final name. Other times I just knew immediately how I should call her. They are waiting for their new home now.

Important Information:

1 Small Flower Girl costs EUR 38/ $ 55
1 Big Flower Girl costs EUR 111/ $160
You can get the entire set for EUR 500 / $719

1. The prices includes shipping and will be send in a flat firm package with a TJ touch.
2. State which ones you want by adding the names in your email and I will send an invoice via PayPal. Payment can only be done via Paypal. Email me at tjlubrano@live.com. For other questions you can also email me of course.
3. I will update this page whenever a Flower Girl is purchased. There will be a permanent link in the sidebar to be transported to this post. If it's sold, you can always request a similar version!

4. The size is without the black border.
5. It is signed by...me ^_^.

Meet The Girls:

(Click the image for much better view)

Ayanna (small - 10x12 cm)

Jessamine (small - 11x12 cm)

Leilani (small - 11x12 cm)

LiLou (small - 12x10.5 cm)

Marigold Rose (small - 10 x 12cm) - SOLD

Violet (small - 10x14 cm)

Delphina Lily (big - 24x32 cm)

Ivy Liliana (big - 24x32 cm)

Maylea (big - 24x32 cm)

Hope you like them as much as I do and do tell! Which one is your favorite?

To see how one Flower Girl is created, just click here The Magical Paint Process behind the Flower Girl. Have a lovely weekend ahead and till next post.

Ciao!

Storytelling Time: It's A Ducks' World.

2011-04-16T23:20:00.002+02:00

This time, lovely readers, a small story from my neighborhood. I've mentioned it to several friends on BC and on Twitter. Short story: our neighborhood is invaded by...ducks.

Not kidding here.

When we first moved to where we live now, there was a lot of water and open space. And ducks. Oh. and frogs too, but they disappeared after a year. Man. They made a lot of noise. We still have quite a lot of open space and water, but slowly they are filling it all up with building and I've a feeling that it only be a matter of time before the ducks will move to a different location.Quite a shame. Okay, back to the ducks.

We have the normal ducks, a couple of swans and the standard white geese. Nothing really out of the oridinary. The only thing that I noticed was that there were a lot of them and they slowly started to invade the neighborhood. I often have see them waddle around or sitting in our front yard, just chilling. They are pretty used to people and it's quite interesting to stare out of the window and stare straight into the eyes of a duck...

So I got slowly used to having the ducks all over the place, when my eyes suddenly spotted a few different ones. Let me introduce you to...The Afro Ducks.

The fur is for real. I seriously think they are up to something. At first I thought they had like baby duck fur and they would lose it eventually. Nope, they still have it and there are three of them. Just three. They are always together and they stare at you. Especially the black one, he starts mumbling stuff when you pass him by.

The other one that caught my eye is a giant goose, I call him or her the King Goose. Obviously. if it's a girl it would a Queen, but no way that I'm going to find out if it's a he or a she. There are two of them and the one you see on the picture, well that's the smaller one. Yes my friends, there is a bigger one.

He usually stands like that amongst the other ducks. This one time a neighbor was throwing around bread and every duck waddled and jumped into the water to get to the bread. Well not this one, he used the bridge to waddle to the bread. Lazy.

Then we have Ducky. This is my sister's favorite. It is the white one on the picture below. I have to say that this little duck is quite strange. He is kinda skinny and has the ability to just pop up out of nowhere. He's also a bit of a loner. Every now and then, he has his posse around him though.

They seriously posed for me or they were waiting for me to throw them some bread. Of course it's the posing, because you can tell by the looks of them that they love to be in the picture...hehe.

Holland is a small country...so anything is pretty exciting ;). But really, these ducks are quite interesting. Then again I can see a weird story in almost everything hah! I've a feeling that you will be seeing some duck sketches from me in the near future.

Random illustrations for you guys! I was trying to get a bit more abstract feeling to the leaves and flowers. More of an impression that they are there without extra details. Hope you like it!

I wish my hair would stay that fashionably big. Instead it goes *POOF* like a poodle, well usually it goes like this haha.

Till next time everyone.

Ramble Update a la TJ

2011-04-06T22:35:00.002+02:00

*pauses the time*

Well hello there!

Okay, I really wish I could do that sometimes. I didn't realize that almost 2 weeks have passed since my last post! So I thought it would be nice to see/read what I've been up to so far.

I have been working on a series of paintings, small and larger ones, which I call 'Flower Girls' for now. I will put them up for sale soon as well. So keep an eye out if you would like to get your hands on my original work. I'll tell you more about this in a proper blog post. So for now I have two sneak peeks for you!

Next to this I have been doing a lot of thinking and rewriting of my business plan and my second site. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted with the second site, but as I worked on it, I noticed that I wasn't too sure of a few elements. So that's why I have it on hold for now. I will rearrange my Flickr photostream and rearrange some things on this blog as well.

There will be a new giveaway soon! I wanted to do one sooner, but the snail mail to the last winner, well it was truly a snail and I wanted to make sure that he got it before I announced a new giveaway ^_^. As you can see, lots of little things to take care of. Oh and Spring cleaning is also sneaking up on me. Who else is doing some major cleaning now or are you already done with it and I'm slow? Hehe.

I have a new Work in Progress post for you! It's the progress of the Tropical Birds header. Enjoy the sneak peek and if you have questions or tips, just let me know!

Edit: Click the image below and you shall be transported to the WIP post. Totally forgot to add this!

Readers who also know Ms. Claire from the blog A Little Piece of Me, probably already know about her awesome character. For the ones who don't, do pay attention please! She's the creator of the character Grumpus! A hairy green huge creature who's planning to take over the world for the last 100 years already and who is...grumpy. I love it haha. Do visit her blog for Grumpus's interesting stories through time. But what I wanted to say is that Grumpus joined Facebook. Yes. yes he did, but with the help of Claire of course. His hands are huge & hairy and with the new feature on Facebook where you only need to press enter to send a comment...well things could get ugly. Plus, did I already tell you that he's planning to rule the world...join him...by joining his page...The Grumpus Page. You don't want Grumpus to go on a Grumpus Rampage now do you ;).

The final ramble update: Could you guys please keep your fingers crossed for my external hard drive? Little bro accidentally dropped it and now I can't access it! The horror. I know it's not the end of the universe if it can't be fixed, but before I have to say "My HD died *insert crying*", I'd love for you to keep your fingers crossed ;).

This is it for now, but I already have another post in the making for you. Haha.

Until then, take care everyone.

Ganbare Nippon - Don't Give Up Japan!

2011-03-18T15:40:00.000+01:00

Hey Everyone!

You know, I still have no words for what happened in Japan a week ago. I have a soft spot for Japan, ever since I was little and hearing this news last week was devastating. But next to all the sad things that happened, I also read positive things. The people are staying strong and are hoping for the best. These stories are like little sun beams coming through the dark grey cloud that is surrounding Japan. Japan is known as the Land of the Rising Sun and I have no doubt that they will recover and rise up from this tragedy.

Natsuki Otani, is the lovely & sweet owner of the site Illustration Rally. This is a site that features talented artists all over the world. She started a rally and everyone can send in something to send a message of hope, love & peace across. You can read more about it here: Ganbare Nippon Japan Tsunami Appeal.

I choose a more kawaii approach as Japan is also known for lots of little cute characters. I wish I could a lot more, but every little thing helps right? Feel free to send in something as well! The more positive art there is, the better :D

Arigato Gozaimasu & have a lovely weekend!

The Thing with Mobile Phones.

2011-03-11T00:24:00.000+01:00

Greetings Everyone!

Today my post will be about mobile phones. I had this story in my drafts for quite some time now, but I always ended up publishing other stories first. You know, it's pretty interesting to see how technology has weaved its way into our lives and with rapid speed it made sure that we can't live without it or at least not for long. Most things happen via the internet these days and even the most stubborn people (at least in my environment I had a few stubborn people) who said e.g. 'Nuh uh. I won't get a mobile phone. Ever! *insert storming out of a room*'.... they eventually cave in.

Maybe it's not because they wanted to get one, but it became simple too difficult not to have one. Insert scenarios where you either had a miss communication or weren’t able to tell that you're stuck in traffic etc. In the end, most people want to do everything as easy & effortless as possible. Personally, I don't mind having a one. I kind of like technology and to see what new things are out there, but I can live without it. Hold on! This is only goes for the phone and not the internet hehe. Internet is a whole other story, but with a phone it;s different. Maybe because I'm not a phone person. I rather text than call and I don’t really like the fact that I can be reachable all the time.

A while ago, I had to get a new phone, because my old one decided to stop living, it seriously just stopped. Well okay, I exaggerate. To be more specific the touch screen part stopped and let this be the most important part of the phone. I couldn't enter the main menu anymore or text/dial someone. Before it got worse, I got in a few situations where I had to meet with friends and my phone just temporarily died. Yes. It started to temporarily die at first. In these moments I realized how I take my phone for granted, because I always have it with me and I rely on it to work when I need it. However, getting in these ‘temporarily out of reach’ situations didn't make me think further to insert the card in another phone though. But this is a story for another time. It will be about how my brain works....it will confuse you.

Disco Time!!

Mobile phones from a few years ago, seems to be much more stable and reliable. My mom still has a phone that’s probably considered ancient nowadays. Even though it’s ancient, it’s still as good as new. Whereas my phone, which is like a couple of mobile generations further, started to malfunction within year. BUT! I have to admit, that I made it fly a couple of times, so that could have shorten its life as well *ahem*. So far, I noticed the fancier the phones get, the more flaws it seems to have.

This is my ramble story for today! Times are busy here! I'm still working on my 2nd site/blog. I had to put it aside for awhile as I had other projects to finish. Now I'm working on it again and it should be finished soon, along with new products in Zazzle & Etsy store. Exciting times ahead :D.

Question of today: In these high tech times, are you addicted to your phone or do you still rather live without it?

Enjoy your weekend!

A Look in the Past: Lost Friends

2011-02-20T13:55:00.000+01:00

There was a house next to ours. A house where its inhabitants only lived for a short period of time before they moved again. One day a young lady moved in, with long blond hair. I'm not sure how we got to talk, but me and my younger sister became friends with her. I think I was around 8 or 9 years old, so I only have vague memories of her.

I don't know why she made such an impact on me when I was young, but she did and every time she was in her garden and I was on the balcony, I would call her name and me & my sister would talk about ehm...I can't really recall what we told her now haha. Oh! I also gave her little drawings and presents. She was really sweet and now I wonder what she did with those little presents. You know those chocolate eggs with little presents in it? Well, we gave her that hehe.

As the years passed by, the house had many other inhabitants while I lived there, but no one else had made that impact on me like she did. It would be really cool to meet her again. Only not sure how, I only have her first name and I'm not sure if it was her nickname and if it's written correctly. Plus, I moved as well.

I only have this little box with oil pastels that I got from her for my birthday and a card that she sent when she moved to Amsterdam. We were supposed to keep in touch and she would visit when she was in Rotterdam, but this never happened. I haven't seen her for years and sometimes Every now and then I still think of her; wondering where she is in life now and what she's doing.

Some people really don't have to do a lot to make an impression on someone. Does anyone of you had a similar story? Experience? I would love to hear it!

It's kind of hard not to miss it, but the new header is finally here! After the sneak peeks on Twitter & blog, it's done and have to say I really like how it turned out. What do you think? There will be a new 'Work in Progress' post about this as well. Take care!

Storytelling Time: Preparing to find a Valentine

2011-02-14T12:58:00.002+01:00

Prince Charming & his preparation to find a Valentine.

Once upon a time there was a prince. Prince Charming was his name, but he was not an ordinary prince I must say. Prince Charming lives in the Land of Flowery Flowers and today he is in deep preparation for what he think is one of the most important days of the year. Valentines Day.

'Heeeeey, Prince Charming! Whatcha doing?! A tiny voice was to be heard and when he opened his eyes he saw his little best friend, Daisy. She waved with her arms while she glared over him, causing him to jump up and scream like a…

‘Why do you scream like a girl?’

‘I most certainly do NOT scream like a girl, Daisy!'

‘Right. So anyway, you do know that Valentine’s day is today right?’

'Of course!’

‘Right. So have you prepared for this year?’

‘Of course! I have the most genius way to win my Valentine over!’

‘I’m dying to know…’

‘You should! You know that the ladies love the idea of their prince on a white horse with chocolate and flowers right?’

'Err yeah. Well a few of them still have the hope that...’ The prince didn't listen, because he was too busy striking a pose.

‘Exactly! I have combined this all in one and added a twist! The ladies will LOVE my uniqueness. I am a genius!’

‘Erm a twist? Are you sure?’ Daisy got a bit worried. The prince was known to be always on the lookout for something new. So no doubt he had pondered on how he could make the ladies swoon. It usually didn’t work out.

‘Do not doubt my little friend, it will give you wrinkles. Close your eyes and wait’
Daisy closed her eyes and heard lots of noises and a sheep. Wait. Did she hear that correctly? Was that the sound of a sheep? No. She must have misheard this.

‘You may open your eyes now’

Do I need to say more? I wonder how the ladies will react if they saw their prince on a sheep. Hehe.

Hope you like this little story. Prince Charming with the flower in his hair, is inspired by the awesome ms. Tricia. I shall properly introduce you to her in another post. She's too awesome for just a little intro in this one.

And behold lovely readers! You are in a treat today, because there is another cool Valentine story out there, written by another awesome lady, ms. Claire. It is called The Grumpus & Love. Have fun!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone ^_^.

The Giveaway winner & Just a bit of staring this time

2011-02-08T12:14:00.000+01:00

Welcome welcome reader,

This post shall be more of a 'stare' post! First of all, I shall announce the winner of the Mermaids giveaway. Are you ready? The winner is....

Commentator number 9 is Vincent Parker! Congratulations Vincent! To Vincent: I shall contact you for your address. To everyone else, stay tuned for the next giveaway, which shall be soon! This is a lot of fun, especially since almost everyone did a dance haha. Thanks for dancing a long you guys.

I'm working on several illustrations at the moment, one is also a new header. I tweeted it a few days back, but thought it would be fun for you to see as well, at least the ones who don't follow me on twitter.

I can assure you it's going to be tropical hehe.

Another thing I've been doing in between illustrations and projects, is the creation of small little logo type of thingies. These are just little drawings I will add whenever I send out a commission. Plus, I make a proper use of small pieces of a paper too.

It is time to...Disco!! Hehe.

A few colored versions shall follow now. This is the 'stare' bit of the post hehe.

Hope you like it! I have around 30 of these little doodles (and I keep adding to this), so expect them to pop up every now and then. Can you believe it's February already!? Time flies.

Till next time everyone!