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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Podcasts, InspirationAnna Denise FloorAugust 30, 2015 Comment

Journal Pages: Croatia truly Europe

We just came back from a two week tour around the Croatian coast! Our schedule was quite action-packed, and I'm not sure we'd necessarily do that again, but on the other hand I'm not sure what I would cut out if I had to, everything was so beautiful. Here's the journal pages for our trip! Enjoy!

Journal Pages, Personal, TravelAnna Denise FloorAugust 19, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: An Itch

No words this time around, just some journal pages, style sketches based on people leaving a church nearby, and itchy scratchy insect nastiness.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorJuly 31, 2015Comment

Comics Workshop by Emily Haworth-Booth

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

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

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

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

Inspiration, Personal, Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorJuly 25, 2015 Comment

Journal Page + Elcaf Haul

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

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

Books

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

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

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

Zines

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

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

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

Poster by Planeta Tangerina

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

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

Journal Pages, London, Comics Heroes, InspirationAnna Denise FloorJuly 19, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Great Britain

One of the best things about living in a different country from your own is being able to learn about your new home country. In a way, you're getting the best of both worlds. You can learn all about a country and culture from directly from insiders, and experience them as a local would, but at the same time you're somewhat removed from it all and you kind of 'pick and choose' your experiences.

I can imagine if you move to countries very far away from your own that culture gap might be difficult to bridge (or if you've moved out of economic or social necessity, your perspective might be different - I realize we're quite privileged here), but the UK and The Netherlands are close enough yet plenty different from each other for it to be interesting and fun.

This past week has been all about exploring the UK, marked first by a weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland . The cloudy yet magical city was all it should be and I imagined. No, I did not eat haggis, but did try black pudding (for breakfast, no less) and fell completely in love with the tartan outfits, the dramatic history (knights! swords! ghosts!) and the castles. Aye!

Speaking of outfits, the week after was very much focused on outfits (and royalty) as I wore my first (serious) hatted ensemble ever. The hat was really more of a fascinator, but I think it counts. I needed the hat, as well as a dress of modest length, as I was invited along to the first day of the Royal Ascot by my friend and colleague Hannah. Squee!

Hannah is probably the most British person I know - she lives on a dairy farm, bakes cakes for village fairs, and is an excellent clay pigeon shooter person. Her life is pretty magical, is all I'm saying. Hannah and her family were amazingly kind in taking me on for the day and they proved excellent guides into the world of royal processions, horse racing, and gambling. My father-in-law (who owned two race horses in his day) was on speed dial as well, and the whole day was just a fantastic experience. I can get into this British thing, I think. As long as it involves great outfits, some ceremony, and a Prince or two (alas, no Kate this time) - I'm game.

Next up: traditional cream tea. Apparently the question on whether to put the cream or the jam on the scone first divides the nation.

Travel, Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorJune 24, 2015Comment

Journal Page: So Emotional

I've spoken about color before, most notably in part two of my Art Journaling tutorial (gosh it's weird to see those old drawings), and I still do love a great color scheme. This drawing of a particularly great Wednesday (I'm a bit behind on my drawings) was inspired by a 1970s stamp from Israel. I found this stamp at Present & Correct (and a few more, but I decided to send those to a stamp-loving friend) and was instantly inspired by the cheerful combinations. Scans to follow.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorJune 20, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Singapore Slings, Tioman Time, London Greens

Journal Pages, London, TravelAnna Denise FloorJune 9, 2015 Comment

Journal Pages: Sleep, Sing, Suffer

Question: how is it May already? How is my trip to Singapore only one week away? Time is a weird thing and it seems to slip away from me these days. The only antidote to time slippage is taking note of tiny, lost moments. A man in a pink suit on the bus. A book before getting up and ready for another day of work and email. A well cooked meal for one. A drawing, here and there. You should try it.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorMay 10, 2015Comment

London: Doors

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

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

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

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

Brussels, Instagram, Inspiration, London, Utrecht, TravelAnna Denise FloorMay 3, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Up and Down and Down and Up Again

Journal Pages, LondonAnna Denise FloorApril 26, 2015Comment

Our Wool and the Gang Knit Party

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inspiration, Craft Projects, LondonAnna Denise FloorApril 16, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: In Bloom

Oh what a difference a week makes. From the freezing Brighton beach we went to summery sunny days in London. We've been having a great time exploring this new home town of ours that seems to have finally woken up from its slumber and my allergies are finally acting up. I'm not complaining. Just expressing myself is all. Hope it's sunny wherever you are, dear reader - enjoy!

London, Personal, Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorApril 14, 2015Comment

Update: Brooches Up in da Shop

There's seven of them for sale right over here, or just click on the 'shop' link in the menu above.

I know they're expensive, that is because they took forever to make and the supplies cost me a pretty penny, so I don't want all of you to go and just buy them for cheaps and take away my life and my moneys.

Anna Denise FloorApril 9, 2015Comment

New Project: Personal Abstract Brooches

It's been on my mind for a while.
I want to make something. Something tangible. Something I can hold in my hands. Something meaningful. I wanted to handle paint again, manipulate its texture and shape. I wanted to create something meaningful you can bring with you and use as a conversation starter, perhaps.

So these past few weeks, I've been thinking. Tweaking. Sketching. Sourcing. Prepping. Painting. Polishing. A series of brooches. Small, wearable, abstract paintings based on personal polaroids. My polaroids right now, but possibly your photos in the future for custom orders and gifts?

The varnish has dried and clasps are being attached. I'll wear my 'wedding brooch' to work tomorrow just to take it for a spin around the block. I am excited.

Stay tuned. More information on this series and where you can buy one / order yours (spoiler alert: Etsy?) will follow shortly.

Etsy, PersonalAnna Denise FloorApril 8, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Brrrighton

As perhaps you've seen on Instagram (I am obsessed with Instagram so much, it's like my new best friend), Jochem and I were in Brighton last weekend! I booked an AirBnB for Jochem's birthday as a surprise, but I messed up and totally told him beforehand. I also got him a toaster, though, which he totally didn't expect, so at least there was that element of surprise.

The weather was absolutely terrible, but we still managed to have a very nice time, and it was great for me to see a bit more of this country we moved to, as I'm ashamed to say this was the first time outside of London for me. Shaaame.

London, Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorApril 6, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Switzerland, New York, Belgium

People ask me about what living in London is like and I'm like 'normal, I guess?'. Yes, everything is expensive and I feel like we've reverted back to graduate school standards where it comes to housing and budgets (, but other than that - we're enjoying it. It's normal, even, in a good way. I enjoy being at home and living my little life here. A large part of that might be that we've actually not been home very much this past month - being home doesn't get boring that way. The title says it all. Ski in Switzerland, work in New York, present in Belgium, and hang out in Holland. Tough times and I haven't done a whole lot of drawing during most of it, but I did some here and there and I thought I'd share. Which almost rhymes. Oh, and I turned 31 last week. Yayzers! Enjoy, peeps.

Journal PagesAnna Denise FloorMarch 24, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Yoga with Tupac & White Powder

Anna Denise FloorFebruary 18, 2015Comment

Journal Pages: Caves and Bear Hats

Journal Pages, LondonAnna Denise FloorFebruary 11, 2015 Comment

Journal Pages: Out & In

Last week marked out one monthiversary of living in London! It feels like it's been much longer, but at the same time we're only now starting to find something resembling a groove.

Last weekend it was time for some serious touristing around our new home town and we picked Notting Hill. Yes, from that movie with Hugh Grant. Spoiler: no we didn't see him. It was a gorgeous but cold day so we made several pit stops along the way for coffee and food and coffee and food. If you're not shaking, you need another cup, my friend.

We walked a record number of steps on Saturday (according to my fitness app) and even did a little detour to buy drop (Dutch licorice) and other necessities at the HEMA on Victoria Station. Perhaps it was the drop, or possibly the excitement of successfully pulling off a vegan zucchini cake (amazing recipe here) but Sunday was about as quiet as a Sunday can get. Oh well. Cake and a couch are all you need sometimes.

Enjoy your week, everyone!

Anna Denise FloorJanuary 27, 2015Comment

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