Journal Pages: Manflu & Nature

Oh hai. What's up? Cool, cool. Me? Oh, well, it looks like I've got manflu, so I'm not sure I'll make it. Thanks for reading my last words, in case these are indeed them. You see, I was in Berlin last week, and my boss was there too, and he had the manflu, and then I got sick. I may actually be on the mend (and in London!), but probably not. It's probably lethal, as most cases of manflu are.

Anyhow. I had this whole fun weekend planned with dates, parties, and dinners, but alas. Every time I try to be Little Miss Social, I either get some kind of semi-terminal illness, or all of my two friends are busy (or don't pick up their phones, probably because they don't recognize my phone number). This weekend it was the former, though, so we took it easy. Bed, park, bed. Bed, garden, bed. We picked up a few plants from my dad and stepmom's garden (Mr. Floor did the digging, I did the pointing) and relocated them to our garden. The fern in particular is very special to me, as it's been in the family for as long as I can remember, was specifically mentioned as an exception in both the deed when my parents sold their house, as well as in the notary agreement when they got divorced. Pretty funny stuff, as far as divorces go. 

© Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

© Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

Journal Page: Are You an Illustrator?

I usually don't really have any issues with calling myself an 'artist' or 'illustrator'. It even says so on this site, doesn't it? And it's on my Twitter profile! Yet, when I was surrounded by about 20 "real" illustrators, I didn't really know what to answer. Funny how that works. 

© Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

Picturing April

Set du Jet

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

Lines

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

Nothing To Do

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

Prague X Art

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

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

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

Inspiration: Alex Noriega

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

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

Anyhow - yay! Alex Noriega! 

The Sweater and the Suffering

Every childhood has a trauma, and this one ranks pretty high on my list.
Basically, I was telling Mr. Floor about this sweater last week and because he was of course fascinated by the thrilling and dramatic story behind it, I decided to draw it for you. Yay for you. Enjoy. 

© Anna Denise Floor

Journal Pages: Prague Sketches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Journal Page: Sunday Sun

© Anna Denise Floor

Last weekend was a fun one with lots of books (reviews to come!), terribly romantic walks, perhaps a tad too much alcohol, too little yoga, and some great music.

If you're looking for a sunny soundtrack to your life this spring and summer, may I definitely recommend Sunday Sun. Some of my favorite songs  are 'Sunday Sun', 'Highly Respected Rebel', and 'Ordinary Love' - but to be honest, almost all of their songs are absolutely charming, fun, with a slight Beach Boys vibe to them. 

What are your favorite books and albums right now? Please share in the comments!

© Anna Denise Floor

That Shit Crayons

© Anna Denise Floor

It only took me about 2 years since that album came out to come up with this joke, and then another year to draw it. Now that's what I call cray. 

Journal Page: An Oddly Colored Birthday

© Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge 

Look what I did! I colored that stuff in by hand! Aren't you all excited? Yeah, so was I, actually, until I tried to scan this baby. Above: photograph, with realistic looking colors. Below: scan, with shitty colors that I got tired of trying to fix in Photoshop. Now, either my photoshop skills are deteriorating (hah! right), or my scanner is in need of replacement after a mere ten years of service. Yah, they don't make those things like they used to no more, do they? Now get off my lawn. 

© Anna Denise Floor - Click to enlarge

Anyhow, this was a little while ago. Because I was in New York for my birthday, of course Mr. Floor has to turn around and go to New York for work on his birthday as well. Always trying to one-up me, that one, un-bah-lie-vah-bah! ;-) In retaliation, I obviously proceeded to throw my own birthday party for my family on his very birthday, so I got gifts and attention on his birthday and was in NYC for mine. Having my cake and eating it, so to say, if only I ate cake. Nah, in truth, I was kind of sad and lonely and it was awesome to have them there. Awww...

© Anna Denise Floor

Dead or Happy

One for the Dutchies out there, just a little play on words with an expression we use in The Netherlands when someone gets you all excited over something, but then it turns out not to be so - "to be made happy with a dead sparrow". I turned it around and imagined what it would look like if you were killed with a happy sparrow instead. Possibly even more sucky. 

© Anna Denise Floor

Picturing March

Yellow and Green or Black and Blue?

March was a productive month for me (on Instagram, at least). I snapped pictures of pretty much everything from the view from the top of the stairs coming down from the bedroom one morning to my beautifully crafted (really) lunch. Behind those pretty pictures, however, much less romantic stories can be told, as I recently plummeted down those stairs to something that wasn't death, but was definitely painful, and the pretty little lunch box nearly bankrupted me (€15,-? Un-bah-lie-vah-bah!)

It's Alive (for now)!

You know how I am with plants right? Or rather, how plants are with me. I give them all my love and attention, and they die on me. I'm not going to say that this time around that won't happen, but with capable help (Mr. Floor), I am perhaps going to admit that gardening is kind of a lot of fun.

All Play and No Work?

Ha, far from it. Even though you wouldn't say so from my Instagram feed, March was actually kind of stressful. Both Jochem and I were away for work a lot and I think we saw each other a total of 5 days this month. Fortunately, we managed to grab a coffee at Blackbirds in Utrecht this month (very hip and happening), and we got some much needed family time in, because MY BROTHER GOT MARRIED!!! Yay! 

The Mothership

For my 30th birthday, I went to hang out at the Mothership, aka Etsy HQ in Brooklyn. Ok, maybe that wasn't the reason, I went there for work, but it still was pretty awesome. My colleagues threw me a smashing party, and I got lots of work done and met colleagues I had previously only seen via Google Hangout. Also, I had about 2 hours to stroll around Brooklyn before heading back, and came by these pretty doors!

And that's all folks! Was your month as busy and colorful as mine?
Let me know in the comments, or follow me on Instagram (and I may follow you back!).

Sybren's Birth Announcement

© Anna Denise Floor

A little while ago my good friends and bi-lingual couple extraordinaire Xander and Estelle from Brussels contacted me to tell me that they were expecting their second child and that I was the only one to know its sex and name before its birth. Now, I wish I could tell you that they singled me out as their only confidante because I'm such an awesome and special person (and very good at keeping secrets), but they actually wanted me to make their baby announcement, which is also if not more awesome and special (and I'm really not that good at keeping secrets).

Working with Xander and Estelle was fun and easy. They had the concept all worked out: they wanted a portrait of their daughter Juliette with her baby brother, and the text was to be her introducing him. She actually told Xander she looked forward to teaching her little brother "everything she knew", so that definitely made it on the card that was printed in both French and Dutch. Awwww. Adorbs.

© Anna Denise Floor

© Anna Denise Floor

It was such a fun assignment and once again I'm so glad that doing illustration allows me to be such a special part of those big moments in the lives of those around me and even strangers. Thank you, Xander, Estelle, Juliette, and Sybren!

If you're expecting and are interested in ordering a custom announcement for your baby, please check out my Etsy shop, or check out more invites and announcements I designed on Flickr! 

Podcast: Make It Then Tell Everybody

© Anna Denise Floor, cup by Kim Welling

I love hearing artists talk about their work and their making processes. It is one of the reasons I studied art history in college. By the time I graduated, however, I had figured out that the artists you study in art history are pretty much all dead and they don't tend to do a lot of talking anymore (at least, not to me, although that would make for interesting yet questionable research). Fortunately, some left diaries, which is how I found out that Van Gogh was kind of a dick, which then kind of made me sad. 

Nowadays, besides working at Etsy and helping makers get started on their own business, I love listening to podcasts while I draw and paint. I've recently discovered a new one to add to my playlist: 'Make It Then Tell Everybody'. In interviews of roughly an hour, cartoonist Dan Berry talks to fellow illustrators, comic artists, and designers. Conversation flows naturally, and Berry covers topics like materials, working habits, and making a living as an artist, but also discusses more theoretical topics like visual literacy, art as journalism, and authorship. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting podcast, and I've bought a few graphic novels just from hearing the author's talk about them (reviews soon). 

Journal Page: Getting Our Hands Dirty

Two weeks.

A mere two weeks I don't post to the blog and all of a sudden, you make me turn 30! There I was, minding my own (well, everyone else's) business in Brooklyn on a work trip - next thing I know, people are singing happy birthday to me (in Dutch!) and handing me shots of tequilla. I was absolutely flabbergasted. One minute you're enjoying youth, hotness, full of promise, and then next thing you know, BAM you're thirty. In hindsight, I probably should have seen this coming for a while, but you know, thinking about age is très mundane. 

© Anna Denise Floor -- Click image to enlarge

Nah. Enough with the hilarious jokes. I had a great birthday, and then had another awesome birthday when I got home w/ the fantastic Mr. Floor.

But! All of that has nothing to do with this week's journal page, which is actually a journal page from two weeks ago, but I was busy trying to stuff sixteen outfits into a broken suitcase, so I forgot to share. We gardened (may or may not have been my very first time, ahem) and it was actually really fun. Look at me! All domestic and stuff!  

Picturing February

I know, it's been March for a while now, but you know, things. 

Rainbows and Reads

I wasn't very active on Instagram in February, mostly because I was too busy traveling and working and felt a little down, for some reason. I feel like February is just one of those months where that inexplicably happens to me.  It's probably the lack of sunlight. Also, I read Stoner, which is a beautiful but depressing novel. Fortunately, London welcomed me with a rainbow (and coffee).

Doors & Dusk

Whenever I wasn't traveling, we spent some time exploring our new neighborhood (we found these awesome doors on our way to the supermarket), witnessing some pretty dramatic sunsets. 

One More Thing

And then, February turned bright blue and sunny! I walked around Amsterdam some, where our office is located, and started reading a new book (One More Time by B.J. Novak).
Exciting times. 

March, so far, has been much brighter and creative. To see what that means, you can follow me on Instagram here. 

Journal Page: Starfish Style + Reclaiming My Journal

© Anna Denise Floor

Last weekend was a good one, I got spoiled by my man, slept in, went out for coffee, cake, and vintage record buying. Also: I drew a journal entry! Click on the image to see it larger. 

I know, yay, right? But I can hear (at least one of) you thinking:

What happened to the daily journal pages?

Sometimes people ask me what happened to my daily journal pages (on paper). Well, to be honest, after almost six years of doing daily illustrated journal pages (see them here), I was just kind of worn out. It wasn't exciting to me anymore, I felt empty, uninspired, even a little resentful. The daily drawing and sharing came to feel like a task. Another thing to do on my never ending list. With the crazy changes going on in my life last year and the months leading up to it, I just dropped it. I had nothing to say, and the things I did draw felt too personal to share. 

When I started in 2007, the daily drawings were a way of getting back in touch with my creative side, to re-train my hand-eye coordination, to turn drawing into a habit. It then changed my life. I started drawing and sharing my work, I met other (closeted) creatives and collaborated with some amazing artists, I started working on my Etsy shop, got involved in the community, and finally started working at Etsy in my dream job where I can both be creative and feel inspired, use my intellect and OCD-style love for organization, and benefit from running a blog and freelance business on the side. Mission accomplished, and the daily drawings no longer felt necessary (and I'm a sucker for goals. I'm kind of like a dog, really, if you switch balls with goals, minus the drooling and hair and yucky smell. I don't like dogs). Kthxbye. 

I let days, trips, travels, big life moments, go by without recording them on paper, and I didn't really care. I wrote some, got addicted to Instagram, did the occasional commissioned piece, but mostly just let it be.

Having fun again

And then I started missing it again, and now I'm ready to reclaim this journaling thing for myself again. That probably will mean that I'll do them in this new semi-digital format, as it's more of a challenge to me, and right now I'm inspired by doing this. I'll probably only do it on weekends only, not daily (unless I feel like it), but I'll make it a goal to actually do it. In short: I'm ready to have fun with this once more. So stay tuned!