UGH!

Printing drama is solved for now. And tonight's the big night of my presentation. Part of me is like: 'Let do it!!!' The other half......well, let's just say i'm dying on the inside. The most important thing is that i keep my calm this evening,

Lol, calm.

printing drama

So the magazine had some small corrections and it's time to print it. A simple step it would seem. Not so much. So far i've made about 6 pdfs.
I've sent it with bleeds, then i had to send it without bleeds etc. Then finally i had to make an 'inzet schema' (don't know the english word) in the original file. It works! Except that i got a call this morning from Sjoerd saying that white stripes are appearing when you print it out. Balls! So right now i've flattened my spreads in ps and grouped my pages together in indesign hoping that will do the trick.

It's all a tiny printing drama

First correction round

We've arrived at the first correction round. Here, the right people will look at the design, focus on the details in the spread and all those things. And let me know what they think.

All that's missing at this point are the cover (still being made), the colophon page, which has already had its corrections and one spread about the lions club. Last one is not done because i'm waiting for some handwritten names before i can finish it.
So have a look:

A mess of things

Hi one or two people that read this blog!
This week i've started working on the actual magazine for lions club. All texts are in, all photos are neatly stored in a brand spanking new folder. And after reading, writing and taking major notes on every subject i have started sketching and producing illustrations to go with each spread.

This thing has been saving my live throughout this journey. It's a simple layout schedule, but it shows me what i've planned, where what goes and the the project names. It is part of a book with all my notes on this magazine. And it is as dear to me as my turret in Borderlands 2.

One of the pages form that little book with short notes on key elements of the projects and where they take place.

I've restarted making Maj life's. Short comics from my journal. But i've turned one into a gif

it only has a small stripe that's animated. But seeing i'm horrible when it comes to animation i'm well pleased with myself. I'm as good with animation as i am with online flirting.

project boxes

I accumulate a lot of paperwork when working on a project. Al this paperwork gets disorganized. The sketches i need turn up in another project pile. It can turn into a mess. Bring in project boxes. At least now i know where my stuff is.
Got these at ikea, wrote something on the top and BOOM! Project box

Tiny update.

Hey all,

Just a tiny update on what i've been doing. Not much to show though. I've been working on making the 'rijden voor Ipse' spread a bit calmer and today i've had a phone date about it. It seems that i'll have more text then i initially thought to fill up the spreads with. Right now i'm waiting for more text.
Interesting discovery: When reducing the collums from two to one on a single page you create a calmer atmosphere.

Here's a bonus pic of a wolf

Hanging with wolves

Actually, just one wolf. Fenrir from norse mythology. Tiny break while i worked on crosslabs. I'll know tuesday if i passed the subject.

In the workzone!!

meetings and presentations

Yesterday i had my first presentation before a company. Last week i've been hard at work creating a layout and visual style for the magazine i'm making for Lions club Nootdorp-Pijnacker. I went through their briefing with them focussing on these important factors: A magazine to keep and attract sponsors. It shouldn't look like a glossy and it should show the fun of helping, the helped people and and not so much on the club it self. What I felt I needed to do was to create a lower threshold of helping.

I looked to my diaries. They have an extremely low threshold and people always seem to want to look at them. Not to mention they're sincere and most of all human. Something important when creating a magazine about people being helped.

A couple of pages from my last journal

So i went to work, and created something that would have that diary feel, yet be a bit cleaned up. And a bit easier to read. It should be fun, but informative as well. I came up and presented the following:

And guess what? They liked it! Pleasantly surprised they said. It was something they could work with. Of course it wasn't perfect. I need to make the second spread a bit more calm. But the whole style and look was approved. Presentation went well as well. I'm still too fast of a speaker and that really rattles everyone, but knowing that it's my fast speaking that's a big part of my presentation flaws means i can focus on that and fix it.

So it's an exciting week. Now i'll be waiting for text and making some illustrations for the magazine. seeing as we gave each topic a place in the magazine. (i'm at a loss for the proper english here)

warm up painting

Warm up self portrait from this morning

werkoverleg/work meeting

Today was my weekly work meeting. On todays agenda: planning, communication and concepts. All having to do with the magazine i'm making for the Lions club in Nootdorp- Pijnacker.
I get my ass whooped, the chance to take a step back and see what i'm doing and reassess myself and make the necessary changes to keep going forward.
These weekly meetings are extremely helpfull. And it's a good chance to keep conversation alive about what you're making and what you're communicating. Sometimes the ideas and opinions of others help give new insight.

Modern Icons

3 of a series of 5 paintings i've made about modern icons. I've looked at medieval icons and their use and meaning and then translated that to how we look at modern celebrities these days. And found that people worship today's stars in the same fashion as people once did with icons. Celebrities have become in a sense, modern icons.

small intern update

So school has started once more. And smack bang next to my intern ship i've been attending a theory class and catching up on crosslabs with a task.

Today i have a follow up appointment with the company Orator. A communications bureau that works mainly with large construction companies to get potential clients interested in their company and ideas. They take something like construction and give it an idea, give it a starting point. Make it human so to say. I originally went to get an internship. But i've been given the great opportunity of an assignment.  One that allows me to make a 12 page brochure/magazine for the lions international club. I'll be getting guidance from Orator, but it's expected that i show all the iniative. Something i'm completely up for.

I've been busy with another assignment which i've put on the back burner for now because of the task i mentioned above. I've been making pictures for that. So i'll post those tonight. I'll also be showing some of the work i've made in the previous months.

Ola amigos!

I've been busy as can be these past weeks, scratch that...these past MONTHS.
Now i'm not going to show exactly what i've been working on until the big reveal when i present it in one go. But i can give snippets and the general jest of the assignments i've been doing. Communication, experiment and bringing illustration and painting together are some of the main lines.

I've been creating a way of working and making work that i see myself doing in the future. And that I am comfortable with.  I've been pushing my own boundaries to create work that keeps stepping forward. And i've been having fun to top it all of.

The only thing i'd change is my current working location, home. I've not been able to find an affordable studio so far. But on the up note, the food is free and i have a roomy workspace. Which is more then some.

Weekly updates are a must. I'm putting them in my calendar as i type this (which is difficult, but doable if you practice)

One moment you promise to upload your blog much more, the next life takes over and you forget. Or even worse you have little to nothing to share.
In my case i think it's not that pressing because i have one follower. Hi Eline!


For these past few weeks i've started a new job as cassiere. Selling items such as porn and cigarettes. And the occasional book. And i've been working on a series of modern icons. Amy here is one of them. I'll be uploading them all pretty soon.

Serious art making 

And iv'e been working on a comic/story thing with my friends. I might be sharing some of that, but it's all pretty much in the 'fresh' stage. All i can say is that it's pretty darn swell to do.

I live the hulk way of live

For now though, i'm of to sweden to get tattooed.

Howdy guys!

I just realized two things. 1. since I temporarily pulled the plug on my studies I haven't posted a single thing. And the name of my blog makes me seem waaay more poetic then I actually am. A dirty limerick i can do. Full out poetry...not so much.

I've decided a moment ago to keep this blog a going. So here I am. With some spreads from a book I was commissioned to do a while ago.

Alright! published

got my proof copy for asthma news today. So here are some pictures.

update

een schets voor Artis.

Kleine update om te delen waar ik mee bezig ben. Ik ben op dit moment druk bezig met de projecten voor bij mijn mailings naar Artis, natuurmonumenten en het Singer museum. Het belangrijkste hierbij is dat ik opval, originaliteit laat zien en goed communiceer. Hierbij wordt ik begeleid door Henk Haselaar. Het valt me op dat wanneer je freelancer bent je dubbel zo hard moet werken om op te vallen. Een simpele mailing is niet voldoende.

Schilderij onderzoek beeldverhaal

Ook ben ik deze week benaderd om illustraties bij een verhaal over een Gorilla te maken. Hiermee ga ik de komende weken verder. Het is een commissie, Het verhaal zal niet uitgegeven worden, maar ik krijg wel voor mijn illustraties betaald.

En ik ben bezig met mijn beeld/strip verhaal voor de Benelux beeldverhalen prijs. Daarnaast probeer ik elke week minstens 2 schilderijen te maken

Dit is er één van

In de volgende update is mijn werkplek aan de beurt! Exciting stuff.

I'll be documenting it all, starting now.

Last week, first month done

I forgot to update last week, because i had a bit of a weird one. Not much to show. I've been working on concepts for extra projects to go with my mailings. Mailings which will be mailed in the next two weeks. (that's the plan)

I've also had some sales this week. I've sold my commissioned food painting and two of the birds i've made last week. And i got paid for the painting i made for asthma news. If i already had an external workspace i could've paid the rent this month :D.

So i'm hard at work, keeping busy and hoping that the next month will be even more successful then this first month. I have to say, freelancing is tough nuts, but good fun.

Featured above are two free works i made this week and a bit of the food commission i made.

Politiek in prent 2011

And update on a non thursday. Absolutely wild.

Yesterday i ended my intern day with the opening of the politiek in prent exhibition in the persmuseum in Amsterdam. It was a pretty great opening. I was surrounded by great illustrators as Joep Bertram, Peter van Straaten and many others. I got introduced to the director of the museum which was pretty great. Winner of the Junior inktspotprijs, (if only i had a great english translation for inktspot) an award voted for by young people from schools all over the Netherlands went to Argus.

I'll end with some warm up drawings i did today. Since i can't really show what i'm working on right now. I'm working on a comic i redid about ten times already. And i'm preparing some exciting stuff for a mailing. So i'm keeping busy.

Mornings

I've had a week with a illustration job for asthma news and a chance to mail some characters to a advertising agency. But that's not what i want to share today. Today i want to talk about warm up drawings. The drawings that get you into the right gear for the day. I have a ton of fun making them and i'd like to share some.

A try-out for a story i'm working on

And i've been collecting old people wisdoms. So if you have one, let me know. I might add it to the collection.

Fun with fish

After half a week of extremely useful yet boring things this first week. Things like sorting out my work, starting a new porfolio, mailing a ton of people etc. I get my hands dirty, with fish! A fishy still life commission.

The whole place still smells like these guys, but figure it's well worth it.

Howdy All,

Welkom op mijn stage blog. De plek waar ik je up to date houd over mijn stage periode. De plek waar ik hopelijk meer awesome-ness dan sadness deel. De plek waar je me langzaam in een miljonair ziet veranderen (not really, but a girl can dream).

Als het nog niet duidelijk is. Ik ben Maj-Britt Elferink, student illustratie aan de Willem de Kooning academie, en dit is mijn stage blog.

Hi Mom!