GinaHuizinga

Sjokoladesoep met Speculaas

2012-01-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

The title is Dutch, but so be it (it has a nice ring to it, besides, English speakers don't know 'speculaas' haha).

Anyway, I've been working on this one on and off for the last few weeks (months? can't be sure) and I'm quite happy with the result. It's a spread, so the back, spine and front of a book cover.

Ink, watercolor (sticks), gel pen

Trees and Nudes

2012-01-16T08:38:00.000-08:00

Some trees for a tree swap and figure drawing for a figure art swap.

All kinds of media: markers, watercolor sticks and pencils, ink, acrylics, gel pen

Acrylic backgrounds (blue, silver, gold, bronze), soft pastels and white acrylics for figures

Tea, my Dear?

2012-01-16T08:20:00.000-08:00

Did some tea themed ATCs. I love tea!

Ink, watercolor, gel pens, glitter glue (on the middle one).

Canvas

2012-01-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Working on canvas! I finally had the guts to take that step. Don't get me wrong, these are small canvases, but still! It's a start.
All paintings are available through my Etsy store.

Acrylics on four times 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4 in) canvases.

Acrylics on 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in) canvas.

Acrylics on 13 x 18 cm (5 x 7 in) canvas (including some silver acrylic paint).

Elves

2012-01-02T01:21:00.000-08:00

Made some Elves! Meet Mother Elf (the elderly lady with silver bowl on her head), Moon Priestess, Wizard Elf and Rascal.

Ink, watercolor, gel pen

Happy Holidays

2011-12-29T12:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays and art time! Yay!

Some ATCs I came up with for the Christmas/New Year's art-a-thons at both ATC sites.
Ink, watercolors, gel pens, acrylics

Ballet series with a design I made and liked
Oil pastels, ink, scratching tool (bent paperclip)

The Four Stories (on how certain animals came into being in this particular world in these particular regions):

The Fire Caves: a Picturer tells us how horses were created from the salt oceans
The Ice Caves: an Imager tells us how ice bears were formed from snow and ice
The Forest Caves: a Shaman of the forest elves tells us how squirrels were made by the trees themselves
The Desert Caves: a Sand Painter tells us how the desert sands created camels

Acrylics, ink, soft pastels

Halloween and art-a-thon

2011-10-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

More art-a-thon art! Love doing this!

Bookmark, acrylics

ATC, acrylics

ATC, acrylics

Learned something new today...

2011-10-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

...Namely PATs and Art-A-Thons... Hilarious.

Joined a PAT (Pick-A-Theme swaps, who knew?) and my group had the subjects Mermaid, Snow Queen, Steampunk Girl and Green Nature Goddess, so I went all out with my acrylics and love for children's illustrations.

Also joined an art-a-thon (marathon for arts... don't ask, okay?) at illustratedATCs.com. The theme is Halloween/fall and it's so much fun already! Here are two of the cards I've made so far. Done with acrylics.

Cartoons, lips and more

2011-10-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

Joined some more swaps on both ATC websites. Simply love doing that. The practice, the incentive, the themes, it's all wonderful to do!

Favorite cartoon swap: Captain Planet (watercolor), The Land Before Time (Platvoet en z'n vriendjes), Barbalib (Barbabientje) and, of course, Tom & Jerry (last three - acrylics)

Another bookmarker for the swap I posted about earlier. Watercolor this time.

Day of the Dead swap. Loved doing these! So fun to work on. Copic markers, gel pen and colored pencil

A lips swap. So much fun! I tried out different techniques with this swap and quite like the results, though I do need more soft pastel practice (upper right). Acrylics, soft pastel, colored pencil and Copic markers

Secret Santa

2011-09-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

At illustratedATCs.com I joined the Secret Santa event of the year. We have to make and buy each other presents and send those on their way around December 5th. Here are the ones I'm working on (not quite finished yet, but you get the idea...).
Acrylics and watercolor, as well as shells and an old button.

And I joined some more swaps. Here's the Disney swap. Obviously, the characters are not mine...
Acrylics.

These characters, however, are mine, lol. Of course Cupid, Zeus and Hermes weren't thought of by me, but whatever. These are bookmarkers for the bookmarker swap. The idea is that the part that sticks out of the book (above) makes you curious about the rest (below). Loved making these.
Acrylics.

Halloween/Poe

2011-08-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

Finished the Halloween/E.A. Poe swap as well. Great fun!

Acrylics

Swapping Fun

2011-08-20T02:43:00.000-07:00

Joined some swaps on ATCsforall.com and illustratedATCs.com. Loved doing these!

Materials: watercolor (backgrounds), acrylics, colored ink, brush pen

Materials: watercolor, ink, gel pens, gold/silver pen

Materials: ink, Copic markers, gel pens

Materials: acrylics

Materials: ink, Copic markers, gel pens

Cartoon animals II

2011-06-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

Did some more cartoon animals, ATC size.

Hope you like them!

Ink, watercolor, Copic markers, gel pen

Cartoon Fun

2011-06-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

Had fun with cartoony animals and ATCs :D

brush pen, copic markers, gel pen

Ezio and Her Majesty

2011-06-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Did a personal ATC trade, Ezio (from the PS3 game Assassin's Creed) and horse. Lol. I picked one horse and name her Her Majesty. Pretending he got her from his parents when he was just a baby and all that.

Hope you like them!

Watercolor, ink, colored ink, gel pen, silver/gold pen

Tennis Feet

2011-06-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

Inspired by watching Roland Garros.

Watercolor, ink, gel pen, silver pen

Black, White & Gray

2011-06-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

I dreamed a strange dream the other night. Probably had to do with a book I was reading (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series). There was this guy and three shapes of some kind. The guy told the shapes to stop arguing and named the strongest one Black, the weakest one Gray and the one in between White. They became humanoid and Black took off, while Gray and White kept on arguing.

So I decided to draw them. Still need to work on their background stories, but they're brother and sisters (the guy was their father). The sisters don't get along... Oh, and they all have magic powers of some sort (all I know so far is that Black can fly).

Here they are!
Ink, copic markers.

Dutch Feet

2011-05-29T02:04:00.000-07:00

Did some more ATC feet for a trade. Hopefully, I'll have more up in a couple of days, but I can't be sure... Schools, translating, and an exciting book are sucking the time out of my days, lol.

Our scanner/printer is sort of at the end of its days, so bear with me on the colors...

Watercolor, ink, colored ink, gel pen

More Bones & Booth II

2011-05-07T03:07:00.000-07:00

I've got one more after this (after all, how are they going to get the skeleton to the Jeffersonian?... Stay tuned!) lol

Watercolor, ink, bit of gel pen, bit of Photoshop

More Bones & Booth

2011-04-26T07:42:00.001-07:00

Did another Bones & Booth comic. I'm having fun with these!

Watercolor, ink

Bones comic

2011-04-22T02:58:00.000-07:00

Lol. I had fun making this, even though they don't look like Brennan and Booth at all, it was still fun to do, haha.

Watercolor, ink, photomerge (yay!), tiny bit of gel pen and photoshop.

ATC triptych: Bones

2011-04-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Did Bones from, well, Bones. Another ATC triptych.

Watercolor, ink, silver pen.

Penelope Garcia

2011-04-09T00:37:00.000-07:00

Did another triptych. This time Penelope Garcia. I just love Criminal Minds and that character is so amazing. Awesome!

Watercolor, ink, colored ink, silver pen

Made on three separate ATCs.

Artist Triptych

2011-04-08T00:26:00.000-07:00

This was so much fun to make! The trader came up with the idea (I let her make a cartoony landscape in purple hues, because she's a realistic painter, lol) and this is the result. I like it!

The image consists of three separate ATCs.

Watercolor, ink, silver pen

ATC dump

2011-04-02T04:32:00.000-07:00

I figured this is easier than doing them individually, lol.

A bunch of ATCs!

On sale

2011-04-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

Put another painting up on Etsy. Fun!

Acrylics, stamps (flowers on dress) and silver pen

Sold!

2011-03-29T00:03:00.000-07:00

I sold my very first painting to a US citizen! Through the Internet! Yay! That made me so happy, you have no idea. I'm on Etsy now. Lol.

Acrylics, gold pen, gel pen, the frame is digital and not in the actual painting.

Summer Feet (again)

The Seasons

2011-03-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

[Sorry for my spamming, have a lot to update]
In light of it being Spring (finally) I decided to do all seasons on ATCs. It was fun! I especially like the winter and summer ones.

Watercolors, ink, gel pen, gold/silver pen

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

Winter:

Ballet & Summer

2011-03-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

More ATCs. Apparently, ballet is very popular in ATC-land. I'm also in a summer-mood, hence the Cyclin' Feet and Think Summer and the Beach Chair - and I've done more summery feet. It just feels good with the sun finally shining and the air heating up a bit.

Watercolors, ink, gel pen, gold/silver pen

NCIS again

2011-03-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

Did some more NCIS artist trading cards. So if you think they're so-so, keep in mind they're 2.5 x 3.5 inches (like baseball cards). Abby was particularly hard, because she's so light skinned, it's hard to give her volume. Plus her hair didn't cooperate, lol.

All of them were done with Copic markers and Prisma colored pencils.

ATCs yet again

2011-02-25T00:58:00.000-08:00

More fun on 2.5 x 3.5 inches:

ATCs again

2011-02-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Finally! Did some art! And, like last time, ATCs helped me out. I'm doing a bunch of personal trades and here are the first four:

A Quilt Cat ('lapjeskat'), just because I can.
Watercolor, ink, gel pen

Running Feet II
Watercolor, ink, gel pen

Pirate Feet
Watercolor, ink, gel pen, gold pen

Scene from Little Women (Onder Moeders Vleugels),
Jo and Laurie, with the help of a screenshot
Watercolor, ink

Gosh.

2010-11-26T01:35:00.000-08:00

Gosh.
I suck.
Big time.
I haven't found the time and place to sit down and draw in like 2 months... And that's way, way, way too long, I tell you.
So once this moving business is over - and I will gain about 5 hours a day, that are not spent on traveling - I swear I will turn back to my drawing table. Scout's honor.
So yeah.
Until soon.
I hope.

More fantasy

2010-10-03T08:22:00.001-07:00

Did some more on my little project. These are sketches though, so they may or may not return in the final piece.

Ink, watercolors and gel pen.

Gnome

City elf

Fantasy Project

2010-09-26T05:17:00.001-07:00

I'm working on a personal fantasy/elves project and these are practice sketches/drawings.

I also rediscovered the use of my wooden models...

Done with ink. Colors will follow as soon as possible (watercolor and colored pencil).

Forest gnome.

City elf

Forsyth Park

2010-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I didn't draw or paint this weekend (I didn't even get to finish my lesson planning for this week).
*hangs head in defeat*
But I will update a little something. I made this when I was in the US this summer and it is far from perfect (not even good) and I have much to learn when it comes to landscapes and painting on location, but it's still good memories.

Done with watercolor and gel pen.

Missed a Month

2010-09-04T04:47:00.000-07:00

Oh my, I missed August!
Not one post in that entire month.
Of course, I was on holiday, but that was just the first week.
Then I went on with preparing for my work (lesson planning) and suddenly school started! (I teach English.)
Now I've been working hard to get used to planning and teaching and stuff and I haven't posted anything since before I went on holiday (half July).
No fair.
I do miss it (understatement) and either today or tomorrow I will draw/paint and post.

So there.

Just a little something

2010-07-16T04:12:00.000-07:00

Made a little something. It's a postcard and the background is actually white, but I pimped it in Photoshop. What you see in the bg is a brush I used and did not draw or design. The brush I got from a Photoshop magazine. So all credits to the owner of the brush, whoever that may be...

Anyway, the rest is done with ink and Copic markers.

Hope you like it!

Timmy

2010-07-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

I did Timmy as well. His full name is Timothy McGee and Dinozzo often calls him McProbie or McSomething-funny, lol.

Again NCIS and again Copics and Prismas.

Enjoy!

Ziva David

2010-07-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

I finished Ziva!
By the way, you pronounce her last name as Dah-veed.

Copic markers and Prisma colored pencils.

Enjoy!

The finished product

The WIP

More ATCs & Ziva

2010-07-06T00:43:00.000-07:00

Made like 14 ATCs for swaps. Lol.

There was the exquisite corpse: formal wear swap

And the numbers swap

And finally, the man-made lights swap

Plus I'm working on another portrait. Ziva this time (NCIS).

Tony Dinozzo

2010-06-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Just bought NCIS season 6, so, naturally, I was inspired. Teehee.

Did this with copic markers (for base color) and prisma colored pencils.
The size is a 2.5" by 3.5" sketch card.

Enjoy!

And the work in progress (WIP):

Pimping

2010-06-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Did some lay-out pimping and made a new banner.
I know this post is entirely redundant, but I still felt like saying something about it. Haha.

Hope you like it!

Henry

2010-06-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Meet Henry!

Something I made. I'm working on a second and third image, but I have no idea how far I can take this. I'm currently very busy and lack time and inspiration... Bluh. I suck.

Oil pastels

LIP in SAI

2010-05-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

And LIP stands for Learning In Progress.
I'm working in SAI, a digital painting program that's easier for me than Photoshop (and so much cheaper...)

Meet Norah Thornton:

Oh yeah, one thing, I know her right hand is off... Working on it

A Thousand Paper Cranes

2010-05-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading this amazing story: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. A sad, but beautiful children's book about the young Sadako, a girl from Hiroshima, who discovers she has leukemia - an after effect from the atomic bomb thrown on her city.
In the back of the book it tells the reader how to make a paper crane and so I did:

I dedicate this crane to the children who have fallen ill after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to their families.

IF: ahead

2010-04-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

This is actually an ATC. I made it when I was at my grandmother's, and I was at my grandmother's because my grandfather passed away on April 14th. So this is dedicated to him. The journey he made through life was difficult the last few years and I hope that the journey ahead will give him joy and peace, because he needed both.

Rest in happy peace, grandfather.

Watercolor, ink.

Whimsical Masks

2010-04-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

Had some more ATC fun. Gosh, I just love that size (2,5" x 3,5")! It's not unworkable tiny, but also not unworkable huge. Lol. I have always loved working small sizes and this is just great!

Did some whimsical masks. Hope you like them!

Watercolor, ink, gel pens.

ATC letterset

2010-04-10T11:41:00.001-07:00

Teehee.

Went nuts with my ATC scans and decided to design my own letterset. I had 10 printed and they arrived this week. Fun stuff! I may make more lettersets in the future.

IF: linked

2010-04-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

Made another image for Illustration Friday. The theme is linked.

My intention for this image was to raise questions:

Are they linked literally or metaphorically?
If this is a matter of cop vs. robber, who is who?
Is this a happy linking or a sad one?
Etc.

I hope you like it!

Watercolor, ink, gel pen

Another Three-Parter

2010-04-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

Did another one! Had so much fun making the last one, so I thought, why not? Lol.

Watercolor, ink, gel pens

IF: dip

2010-04-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

Made these ATCs for the Exquisite Body Swap at ATCsforall.com, but it fits the IF theme of this week as well, so why not combine!

Question is, did she take a dip in the ocean, the swimming pool or the bathtub? And why is she so shocked?

The idea of the swap was to create a head, body&arms, and legs&feet and when the hosts has all of them, she'll swap them around to create even better bodies! How cool is that! I had so much fun making this poor girl, it should be illegal, lol.

For the record, these are three separate ATCs, combined they make up the girl.

Watercolor, ink, gel pens.

For good measure, the entire thing:

Mutant

2010-04-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

I made a mutant!
What?
Yes, a mutant. I combined three animals into one. Had so much fun doing this! You can read about it in ArtTrader Magazine issue #9. So much fun!

Below are my thought process and the final result.

Enjoy!

Adobe Illustrator for the process and watercolor, ink, and gel pens for the ATC.

ATC: Cowboy Boots

2010-03-30T08:12:00.001-07:00

ATC: Cowboy Boots
Watercolor, ink, gel pens

IF: rescue

2010-03-30T06:29:00.000-07:00

Went along with Illustration Friday again for a change. This week's theme is rescue.

Our cat always chases our rabbit and I always laugh my @$$ off when she (the rabbit) outsmarts him (the cat). Girl powerrrrrr!

Mixed media: watercolor, ink, oil pastels

More art

2010-03-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

I made some more ATCs. Hope you like 'em!

Watercolor, ink, oil pastel

Enjoy.

Animals

2010-03-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Had some more fun with oil pastels.
(still working on animal proportions...)

Made these for a friend in the USA.

Enjoy!

Rocking Rainbows

2010-03-24T02:57:00.000-07:00

Had some fun with the rainbow theme here. The last three ATCs were done for a swap. The one above those (with the red shoes) was done as a thank you for the swap host and the top one - Fruitloop Fun - was done for... well, fun.

I love color!

Watercolor, ink, colored ink, gel pens

Random ATCs

2010-03-24T02:49:00.000-07:00

Did some more ATCs. I really love making those tiny cards. Very cool to do.
Most of them are done with watercolor, ink and gel pens, though the latter is not always used.

Summer feet I did for a MMH-thread (Make Me Happy). Someone wanted shoes and so I designed these.

Did this one because I long for summer and sun and warmth.

This was inspired by James Bond. Casino Royale was on the telly the other night. So that's why.

Felt like being nationalistic, haha. I really like how these turned out. The stuff that's sticking out of the clogs is straw, because that's what farmers used in winter to keep their feet (slightly) warmer. The three Xs on the clogs are the weapon of Amsterdam.

Feet inspired by Michael Jackson. On Atcsforall.com these lasted about 5 minutes before they were traded... Haha.

Whimsical Feet II

2010-03-17T16:23:00.001-07:00

Made two more funny feet for ATCs.

Done with watercolors, ink and gel pens.
Enjoy!

At the beach. These are shy feet (they just saw hunky hot legs from a life guard).

Soccer fun. These are scared feet, because of what mom will say about the lost shoe...

Fun with oil pastels

2010-03-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

After reading an article in ArtTrader Magazine #2, I was inspired to take up my old oil pastels. Wonderful and messy stuff! Love it!

Also had some fun with animals and sunglasses. This one's my favorite.
Done with ink on marbled paper.

Candy!

2010-03-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

A candy ATC.

Done with Prisma colored pencils.

Enjoy!

Two more

2010-03-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Two more ATCs. The sad one ("But why? II") has already been traded. The flower has not. Both were done with watercolors. The flower is in ink.

Enjoy!

ATC

2010-03-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

I found out about this fantastic concept, Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs), and joined this fantasic website! I love it to death! If, after checking out these, you have become enthusiastic and more curious, check also the link to the left of this blog: Art Trader Magazine. This is a free, online magazine that deals with mail/trading art. It rocks!

Anyway! Below are some examples of my ATCs. Did them with watercolors and sometimes ink as well.

Enjoy!

Digital card designs

2010-02-28T07:23:00.000-08:00

I also designed some new digital cards for my webshop, but I haven't printed these yet. If there's enough demand, I will print them.

Enjoy!

PS: obviously the texts on the cards aren't in English but in Dutch.

Traditional cards

2010-02-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

Made some new cards for my webshop. These three were done with acrylics.

Enjoy!

Ratchet & Clank

2010-02-22T02:56:00.000-08:00

Since we bought a PS3, I'm all into games. There's Assassin's Creed II and lots of Ratchet & Clank. And I've already drawn something Killzone-related, but we don't own the game yet. Oh well, that will come.

Anyway! Here's some Ratchet & Clank stuff. Very cool and funny game.
Done with charcoal and ink.

Ratchet & Clank (c) Insomniac

Some stuff

2010-02-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

I have a week vacation at the moment and so I'm in overdrive. Here are some sketches. Nothing special, really, but I still liked to show it.

Again, sorry for the crappy quality, but they're photos instead of scans.

Felt like flying.

Inspired by a Killzone-filled evening yesterday.

This winter, I saw a boy cycling in shorts. Freakin' shorts! Brrr.

This one's a little fuzzy. It's a girl dancing a funky dance. Lol.

The 2010 Book Challenge

2010-02-18T08:49:00.000-08:00

I decided to join a friend in the 2010 book challenge, which means that I need to read 50 books this year. I also decided to combine this with my current blog (this one) and with drawing/painting. So here you see illustrations/alternate covers of the first three books I have read this year.

A little warning: the quality sucks, because I had to use a camera instead of a scanner.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

For a summary of this novel, check this link.

I liked this book. I'm kind of fed up with the whole WWII theme, but this book is well written, gripping, beautiful and inspiring. I like how it is written from the point of view of a young boy, who doesn't understand it when his mother is cheating on his father or when his sister is so obviously in love. The only thing I didn't like was the end of the book. It was too abrupt. I like the unexpected, don't get me wrong, but this was all so incredibly sudden that it was weird. Still, I do recommend this book to anyone, even those who don't like the theme of WWII.

The Book Thief by Mark Zusak

For a summary of this novel, click this link.

Though I liked the novel and the concept (despite its WWII theme), I thought that the style of writing was a little too post-modern. Not so much the illustrations, but the way it is written. It is hard to explain. Maybe Death isn't that much of a narrator. I don't know. It has also been a while since I read it, so I apologize. Following posts on the Challenge will be fresh from my memory.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

For a summary of this novel, click this link.

I really liked this novel, despite its post-modern feel. As with The Book Thief, I thought that the writing style was sometimes too confusing and too hopscotch. Other than that, however, I really liked the idea of observing how a family copes with the death of a loved one. I also thought it was realistic in the way that it does not go too well and that the parents drift apart. I know a little about the subject (as in, first hand experience) and I am glad that my own parents did not fall into this pit, for my family would have looked so much different then.

Drawing Tears

2010-02-16T12:33:00.000-08:00

Yeah. Once in a while I have these melancholic moments that I can't seem to get rid of. I suppose they won't stop until a dream is fulfilled. Now there's an interesting idea: every time a dream is fulfilled, a moment of sadness dissolves.

Sepia ink and water on paper.

Killzone

2010-02-15T04:07:00.001-08:00

My brother's dream came true! Yay!
He got an internship (and hopefully a job) at Guerilla Games, the Dutch company that developed Killzone for PS3 (a console I am now addicted to). To celebrate, I made him this little something.

Enjoy!

Killzone (c) Guerilla Games

Manga and Charlie

2010-01-24T11:55:00.000-08:00

Did some manga for the fun and practice of it. Still trying, still learning...

This is Charlie Eppes again, from Numb3rs (I started over. I know, I'm addicted...)

Quentin Blake and reading

2010-01-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I've been too busy with teaching and studies and reading that I've not really taken the time to draw. I still haven't, and I'm afraid I won't for a while, but I do have some sketches I'd like to show.

I started with reading Roald Dahl for teaching purposes and got quite hooked. I love it! As well as the illustrations! So I was inspired and tried my hand at Quentin Blake's kind of style. I like it.

But, still being busy and all, that's it for now... Sorry.

Numb3rs

2009-12-12T14:50:00.000-08:00

Got hooked on a new series: Numb3rs. Love that series to death, haha. I have seasons 1 through 3 now, with 4 coming up pretty soon (because I know I'll finish 3 quickly enough and I'm addicted, so yeah). Season 5 is said to be the last, so that's unfortunate, but I'll have to watch all of the episodes again, because it's pretty complicated stuff. Who know, maybe I'll watch it three or four times, wouldn't be a first.

So anyway, here are Charlie and Don Eppes, both mangafied. Hope you like it!

Done in ink.

Twilight series

2009-10-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Loved it! Of course the series had its downs as well (Bella is a too docile in my opinion and with Edward being described as incredibly beautiful and desirable all the time, it gets a tidbit shallow here and there) but usually it was very exciting and I was curious how it would end in Breaking Dawn.

Anyway! Here are Edward and Bella as I see them (haven't seen the movie yet). Hope you like it!

Done with watercolors and a tiny bit of acrylics. (Text is digital).

Loving Lost

2009-09-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

I love Lost! The television series, for those who don't know it. It's incredibly well crafted and acted and, well, just awesome! I guess the writers threw all their creativity in a pot, mixed it up good and came up with this. Great!

That's why I drew Matthew Fox, who plays Jack Shephard - one of the leading characters.

I'm aware that the resemblance isn't great, perhaps not even good, but I'm still practicing and I don't have much time, so bear with me.

Done with graphite, ink and colored pencil.

Olivia Benson

2009-08-23T03:10:00.000-07:00

This is Olivia Benson (a character, not the actor) from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU). I love that series and wanted to draw a female character, so here she is!

I discovered that my cheap scanner is not the best to scan pictures like this and the original is much better (as is the case with Harmon/Gibbs), but it's all I've got right now, so I'm sorry about that. Who knows, maybe some day I'll have an awesome power scanner that picks up every single grain in a drawing, but not now, unfortunately.

Did this with graphite pencils: HB B 4B 6B and 8B and colored pencils for the eyes.

Harmon and more

2009-08-22T04:52:00.000-07:00

Got some new stuff! And finally got around to scanning it.

First, Mark Harmon, or, as some may know him, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, from NCIS. I've decided to practice portraits more. First in black and white and later in color, when I think I'm good enough for it. Right now, it's all still practice - proportions and likeness still have to improve. But I'm happy with it all the same.

Second a series of illustrations I am planning to enter in the Bologna Children's Book Fair exhibition. It's a long shot, but I'll try anyway, you never know. They're done with acrylics and collage elements, and are about a girl who escapes her boring, colorless city to seek colorful scenes.

The Grey City

The Green Forest

The Yellow Dunes

The Blue Ocean

And The Red Mountains will follow asap.

Tulip

2009-08-05T03:58:00.000-07:00

Tulip! Gotta luuuuuuv tulips. It's my favorite flower and a very nationalistic one in my case. The Netherlands are known for their tulips, among other things, obviously, both good and bad.

Anyway, did this on a card (10x15 cm) for a postcrosser. It will be on its way to Spain fairly soon.

I'm very happy with the result, although I admit that the digital quality is poor. My PC, and thus my scanner, is on holiday at the repair shop, so I took a crappy picture of it.

Done with acrylics.
Hope you like it!

Card picture

2009-07-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Haha, no, the title is not reversed. What you see here is a picture of 22 cards of all sizes. I was commissioned to make these - an order through my webshop. It was lots of fun to do!

That little white square on the left is a thank you card for the commissioner and the little moon-card on the right is a little extra. I mean, for 21 cards I'll give a card extra, lol.

Purple Lady

2009-07-16T01:01:00.000-07:00

Behold, my purple lady.

She's only called that, because I couldn't find a name for her that suited, so yeah, purple lady it is.

Did this one with Copic markers. I finally used them again! Yay! I found that if I start with a new medium, practice it for a while and fail pretty hard, that if I take a (long) break from that medium and start using it again a while later, I suddenly know how. Which is odd, but hey, it works.

Oh, and her ruffles at the bottom disappeared, but you'll just have to imagine them then.

Her outfit I got from a little book called Kleding en mode in kleur 1550-1760 (Clothing and Fashion in Color 1550-1760) and stems from around 1678. I did change the colors, though, and adjusted the outfit just a bit.

Finally an Update + Dedication

2009-07-15T03:56:00.000-07:00

I'm so, so sorry for my lack of posting here.

I've been working on my dissertation/MA thesis (I never know the difference between those two) and quite busy with choices and other 'my future'-related stuff. For your information, I'm going to do one more master, the educational one. I'll be teaching English and a subject that translates into Culture and Art, which is awesome. I'm really looking forward to my next, and final, year.

Anyway, I do have an image!

This one is to my friends, my RU buddies. They got me this awesome sketchbook from Disneyland Florida and I decided to dedicate its first image to you. I'm going to use this sketchbook for Disney images only; to practice them.
I know not all of you were part of the Florida crew, but all of you do support me greatly with this art business of mine, so many, many thanks go out to all and everyone of you. Seriously, I don't know where I would've been - art wise - without you.

Some info on the image: that little booklet there I got in Boston and have kept with my Prisma pencil box ever since. It's an inspiration as well as a fond memory. I used Prisma colored pencils to color the image.
I also know the image isn't perfect, but oh well, it will do. I didn't make this image up myself, but drew from an existing one - as I said, the sketchbook will be for Disney practice, and so practice it is.

Just... doing what I love most

2009-05-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

Lol @ title.
I know my cards totally didn't sell on Queen's Day and that a webshop is a very long shot, but it's still what I love doing most, so I'll continue doing it anyway. In that light I've made some more cards and mini cards (fun things!) that I'd like to share. So enjoy!

Done in acrylics.
The minis are 5 x 5 cm and I made the mini envelopes myself as well.

WebShop!

2009-05-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

I made a webshop for my painted cards and book markers.

www.ginahuizinga.biedmeer.nl (Or click the sun image on the left)

Just a note: the website is in Dutch. I may change that later, but for now I'll leave it like this.

Go check it out!

Just some stuffs

2009-05-07T03:55:00.000-07:00

Well.

Lol, not much to say, actually. Here are some cards I didn't get around to uploading. And the last one is an acrylic painting (with a touch of ink) of Daniel on a horse in an awesome costume. I used reference for that one and I used it big time. I don't know the name of the original illustrator, but it came from a book about costumes during the Napoleonic wars... Yep.

Enjoy!

Queen's Day 2009

2009-04-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

This Queen's Day will stay in our memories for a long time, for the wrong reasons.

Today around noon a tragedy happened in Apeldoorn, the Dutch city where the queen and her family came to visit, like they visit one particular city in the Netherlands every year on this day. A man in a black car tried to assault the royal family while their bus was touring through Apeldoorn. The car drove through the audience in the direction of the bus, but hit a monument instead. It has been confirmed that five people were killed in the assault and several severely wounded.

I was deeply shocked when I heard the news. I celebrated this national holiday in Egmond aan Zee and didn't hear the whole story until we went back home. My card selling went miserable, but it paled to nothingness compared to this drama.

My sincerest condolences go out to the families of the deceased and I wish everyone strenght to get through this - the wounded, their families and the royal family, as well as everyone who had to witness this drama and carry it with him or her for the rest of his or her life.

I'm so sorry.

Cards and Book Markers

2009-04-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I got around scanning more designs. I'll just display them below in a big pile, sorry about that. They're all done with acrylics, so that's easy.

The cards:

The book markers:

Children's illustration

2009-04-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

Gah! I've been busy! Drawing and painting mostly, but also uni stuff, and now I'm not even going to show all of my works, lol. I know, I'm a bad girl, but you'll have to make do with just this one illustration and I'll post my new card designs and bookmarkers soon (still have to scan them...).

This one is a concept I've been wanting to try for a while now - collage with newspaper. I like how it came out. Maybe I'll make a series out of it, sort of like a children's book, but then separate pages. Lol, we'll see.

Enjoy!

Collage: Acrylics, newspaper, colored paper, pencil, ecoline.

More cards

2009-04-16T03:18:00.000-07:00

Some more designs. All done with acrylics. I love Little Red and the Get Well Soon one.

Balloon! Gotta love balloons. This could be a birthday card, but also a With Sympathy one perhaps.

Soccer! A boy's card (with thanks to some friends of mine, who suggested boy cards).

One of my favs, a Get Well Soon card.

Little Red in the forest. Lol. I don't know what kind of card this could be. An invitation perhaps.

Queen's Day cards

2009-04-14T01:22:00.000-07:00

I'm going to sell some of my stuff. Through the internet, if people want, but I'll also be standing in Egmond Aan Zee during Queen's Day. That's a Dutch holiday, celebrating the birthday of the queen (Beatrix). Actually, the date is not quite her birthday and there's a whole story behind it. If you want to know more, check this page (Eng.).

Anyway! I'll be selling some paintings, like Joseph, The Queen of Sheba, A boy's dream and some cards. The first few cards I'll post below, but there will be more. Again, if you want one, you can also place an order by posting here or e-mailing me.

The paintings will be € 15,-
A double-sided painted card will be € 4,-
A single-sided painted card will be € 3,-
A digitally designed card will be € 1,-
A set of 10 digitally designed cards € 6,-

Painted with acrylics. Birthdayboy!

Painted with acrylics. Horsey!

Painted with acrylics. Beach!

Painted with acrylics. Lemonade!

Digital design. An invitation! (translation: "will you be joining me for honey?")

Digital design. A happy birthday card.

Please note that I ordered prints of the digital design cards. I do not know yet how they will turn out.

A boy's dream

2009-04-14T01:18:00.000-07:00

Another painting! This one is space-related, because I'm a lover of science fiction and space and all that, but can't recall children's books about this subject, so I came with my own. It's the first and there's a lot of room for improvement, but since it's definitely not the last, I'm sure that improvement will come.

Unfortunately the scanner ate a few of the stars and took some color from the picture, but you get the picture.

Done with acrylics.

Enjoy!

Joseph - the boy in bright colors

2009-04-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

Another biblical story.

This is Joseph, the boy in bright colors. On the left are three of his - very jealous - brothers and on his right is his father, who just gave him his new robe.

He had more brothers, but I wasn't sure how many exactly, plus for the composition three was enough. Lol.

Done with, yes, acrylics. Enjoy!

The Queen of Sheba

2009-04-04T02:31:00.001-07:00

In the Netherlands there is a song. It's a biblical song about the queen of Sheba who went to king Solomon (I believe, but my bible knowledge is a little rusty) to see if he was really very wise. Anyway, the first line of the song goes like this:

De koningin van Sheba ging heel koninklijk op reis.

Which translates into something like:

The queen of Sheba went queenly on her way.

When I was a child and heard this song, an image popped into my head. Something like the image I painted here. Lol. Hope you like it!

I did the image with acrylics.

Acrylic love

2009-03-31T05:18:00.001-07:00

Ha! I discovered acrylics! I love them!

This is a lion based on my other animal designs, but, obviously, done with acrylics instead of digital.

A girl in a storm, also acrylics. Not much of a story to tell, she just likes storms, like myself.

Good ol' watercolors. The scanner really messed up the picture, despite the 300 dpi. I tried to fix it up a little in photoshop, but didn't succeed all that well.

And another watercolor. This one should have been in my Volkswagon post, the one with the ice cream, but I completely forgot. I did this as a sketch to show the client. He was happy with the style and skills, thankfully.

Sketch Dump III

2009-03-30T00:29:00.000-07:00

I'm back from the Book Fair and it was awesome! I loved the networking and all the things I saw and heard were very inspiring. Including, of course, all the drawings, paintings, illustrations. Not only those in the exhibition, but also those on and in the books that the many, many publishers had on display.

I decided to follow up on that inspiration and once home I immediately bought some art materials I thought would be useful for expanding and improving my portfolio. So in the sketch dump below you see things I made to test my new acrylics (the ponies and, frankly, all the colored stuff) and at the very bottom I made a lino print. The black acrylic I used for that print didn't work out that well, so next time (or somewhere in the future) I'll use the right type of ink, but for now this will do. It's Aladdin, by the way, a modern version. I have one more sheet of lino and am thinking about making a follow-up to this running scene.

Children's Book Fair

2009-03-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

That would be the Children's Book Fair in Bologna, Italy. Yes. (YES!). That's where I'll be from the 22nd to the 25th of this month. It's a fair for professionals in the whole process of children's books - writing, illustrating, publishing, translating, rights, etc. I'll be going there as illustrator and translator and see what my chances are.

Maybe nothing will happen and I'll continue this passion in my spare time.
Maybe something will happen and I'll get a tiny chance to translate a children's book.
Maybe something else will happen and I'll get a tiny chance to illustrate a children's book.
Maybe, just maybe, I'll get a tiny chance to do both.

I'm not pessimistic, I'm positively realistic. I know the chances are small and that there are many, many talented artists and translators out there, but that doesn't mean I won't go at all. I will try and do my best and I will have fun and who knows? A tiny chance is all I need...

For my portfolio to bring to Bologna I have worked/am working on a couple of pieces:

This is Lyra from Northern Lights / The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Currently we are researching this novel as a class project at the university, so I thought it would be fun to illustrate it as well.

This is Sniff. His life consists of nothing but adventures. Every new smell, every exciting odor is a new adventure for him. It is a work in progress, so not quite finished yet.

This one I will not put into my portfolio. It's a failed attempt at a collage technique. I hate the composition and well, I just don't like the overall image. But the separate elements are all right. There's Sniff, a boy music maker, and Bo - a supergirl I once made up.

VW and Icecream

2009-03-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

I finished my commission and got permission to post the results on my website, so here they are!

This is the leaflet the commissioner wanted. Trying for a rather retro/50s style and I think I succeeded quite well. The commissioner was very happy with it. Obviously, the commissioner sells icecream - from a retro Volkswagon! Yay! Since this commission I've come to appreciate retro vans and Volkswagons, lol, even though I'm more of a modern car type of person.

This is the van in color. It's a little different from the original painting, since I touched it up in photoshop (perspective, angle, some such stuff, lol). I'm happy with the way it came out. And, before anyone asks, I don't mind it being turned to black & white, I like that variant as well, plus it fits better into the whole of the leaflet.

IF expired ones

2009-02-27T06:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been busy with school and things (one of which was a commission: design a leaflet with a VW van on it. I will post it as soon as my commissioner give the green light, lol). And anyway, I missed way too many IF deadlines, but I did them anyway and decided I'll still post them. So here they are!

This one was done for the topic Time and it is a fairy tale my father once told me. A princess (when isn't there one in a fairy tale?) is an impatient spoiled brat and she celebrates her birthday. From a fairy woman (or witch, I'm not sure) she receives a pirn and she tells the princess that when the thread is pulled, time will fly by very fast. As in, you'll jump into the (near) future. So the princess says 'thank you' and forgets all about it, until something bad happens (a dragon or something, undoubtedly) and she wants to speed up time to get the whole thing over with. That's when she understands the convenience of it all and starts to use the pirn for everything that sucks in life: eating vegetables, going to the dentist, doing the dishes, those annoying feminine parts of the month... to name just a few. Anyway, time flies by fast enough to have the princess wake up one day and discover she's an old lady, without having lived at all (no obvious moral in this one, eh?). So she learns her lesson, the fairy woman turns back time and all is well with the world. And here we are, the princess on her bed with her pirn and her old self as a reflection in the mirror (I just had to point that out, sorry).

And this one's topic was Celebrate. Not much to say about it. This just popped into my head. I like the result.

SGA comic no. 2

2009-02-08T05:04:00.000-08:00

Well, this is the sequal to my previous SGA comic. I wanted to stick to the art/craft look and had a lot of fun with it, too. Plus, the whole thing is (supposed to be) funny, so I had my laughs while making this.

I know there are major stereotypes in there and I did not mean to offend anyone. I just saw Sheppard hangin' like that in my head and I had to draw it.

Did this with ink, colored ink, colored pencil, and collage. Enjoy!

SGA (c) MGM

IF: flawed

2009-02-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

Here's my entry for IF's topic 'Flawed' for this week.

The idea came to me a while ago, actually. I was in the train, on my way to the university, and, not surprisingly in the Netherlands, it rained. The drops on the riding train made trails on the window and when the train slowed down and stopped, the trails dropped down, instead of going horizontally as they were doing while going at high speed. It was fascinating to look at and the pattern that occured was awesome. When confronted with the topic 'flawed' I wondered what to do and suddenly I remembered that rainy day in the train and this is the result.

Enjoy!