Curly Sketches

25/10/2022

In between all these busy weeks, I’m happy to have my Patreon live sessions booked in for fun drawing ☺️✨

Last night we did some inking with bright coloured inks (of course 😉) and linework with nib pens.

These are two little illustrations using the prompt list again (great to just get going and not stare too long at a blank page!)
Cup of Slugs & Magic 🍄 mushrooms ✨

Hopefully I can work on some bigger pieces soon ☺️

15/10/2022

✨🐺 Hexed Wolf Teeth ~ another fun prompt by challenge 🙌🏽
This is the legendary boy that was gifted a hexed wolf tooth, to protect travellers in the forest ✨

—
After being knocked down by the flu this last week, I finally felt “fresh” enough to sit down yesterday and paint this ink illustration ☺️

I did the lineart with a nib pen and the rest with brush & ink. Played with ink as well as - which I love 👌🏽

Recorded the process for my Patreons so I’ll be posting that video up there soon 😎

Who else loves bright ink colours!? ✨

26/09/2022

I just had the most wonderful “welcome back” call with my Patreons ☺️✨

After a summer break where I paused Patreon to get stuff sorted, I felt very energized and happy to host a live session again! 🙌🏽

I did a sketchbook tour, showed new materials, and we drew a prompt from to get warmed up for October 😉 draw-tober / inktober etc

So if you need a little pep for this week, draw a “Lonely Pumpkin” 🎃 >> mine was inspired in a childhood pumpkin dress my mom made me and I didn’t like at all 🙈😂

23/08/2022

A little sneak peek of a spread showing the 9 levels to the Mictlan ✨ I love this page because of all the research I did to learn more about them. A journey meant to cleanse your soul, with lots of challenges… but what journey does not have these?

I’m trying to let go of perfectionism (like not stare too long at my handwriting) and just finish ~ make!

It feels a little quiet, but behind the scenes every morning I’m trying to work on a page! 🔥

I’ll be posting other work in the next days as not to bore you 😬 but will keep you updated on this project as well!

18/08/2022

Work in progress ~ sharing a before & after pic of a comic page ✨(I’ve made a stories highlight so you can follow this project!)

I always start with very rough pencil thumbnails that I then drop into procreate. From here I make a clean sketch like the one on the 2nd image.

This is my base for my clean drawing, which in this case has to be set to be printed in riso ✨😎

Making one of these pages is definitely time consuming 🙄 but I also need to stop looking at details and continue 💪🏽 8 more pages to go!

08/08/2022

Well this has been for sure the ultimate breakthrough ~ like a breath of fresh air I finally felt in the right head space to paint 😊✨🙌🏽

After struggling with a creative block for several months, this has been a really nice comeback. I don’t know if I should be celebrating too soon 😅 but at least it’s a start! 💪🏽🎉

Continuing on the Jaguar, rain god theme, this illustration is the conclusion of my previous research (and If I can pat myself on the back, that rain effect looks pretty sweet 👌🏽)

I don’t know (and don’t want to get stuck on this) of this is a series or a one only 🤷🏽‍♀️. But it has been a good exercise to get me on the drawing board again and apparently I can still paint 😂

Anyway, sept the other half of my morning editing a video for my sweet patreons 😊

Happy beginning of the week everyone!!!

25/07/2022

Last weekend was the Riso Club date at the studio and the prompt was postcards 😊 I decided to make tiny prints.

A jaguar 🐆 inspired by Zapotec culture (they bring thunder & rain)

Plants and a pattern inspired in old Mexican embroidery work ✨ it was so nice to take a spoon of my own medicine 😂 and push to ‘just make stuff’ with a deadline 🔥

I did some other prints that I’ll show in the coming days 😎

22/05/2020

Whoop whoop! Game is back!
Excited that we cane reach more families through our Mexican embassy.

Happy World Biodiversity Day!

¿Buscas inspiración para el Concurso de Dibujo Infantil 2020? 🎨Aprende más sobre la de 🇲🇽 y su cultura con “Alebrijes Kwartet”, proyecto mexicano lúdico de georginalira.com y Aafke Mertens Illustrations, basado en el popular juego de mesa infantil 🇳🇱: https://bit.ly/2LJvpFj

23/04/2018

I joined this years 100 day project! And today I’m already 20 days in - I’m writing a blog post to tell you all more about the learning process 🙂

For now a small Hyperlapse I did when I finished the first milestone: 10 days of desert scenes!

If you follow my Instagram you can see the whole project! :D

03/04/2018

Quick screenshot of my new homepage! :D :D

03/04/2018

Productive day!
Launching my new website for 2018 :P
Fully now designed to be focused on illustration and personal projects.

I'm looking forward to know what you guys think! Or what you would like to see/read? I'm pushing to have regular blog updates.

It's still a work-in-progress, but beter than a almost empty landing page, right?

https://www.curlysketches.nl

drawings, illustration, comic

26/03/2018

It’s always exciting to see a product finally finished and being used! 😊✨💪🏼 Little time lapse of the first-aid booklet for .chantal 💜

25/03/2018

A bit more than 2 weeks back, and jumping into the non-stopping wheel of work and life has been a bit exhausting.

From live drawing sessions, to workshops and moving things around in the studio.

There are many new projects and plans coming up, which give me energy! So it’s just a matter of slowing down a bit and taking it all in.

16/12/2017

Today was so much fun!
I’m really happy to have come so far with Àngela :) spreading the creative bug is one of the most fulfilling activities i have found.

05/12/2017

In between all craziness I pushed through and here they are: This years' Christmas/Winter card set!

3 original folded cards, A6 format with lovely quality paper!
The set is €5 - printed a limited amount so, as the Dutch say: op is op! ;)

Interested in purchasing a set? Send me message! :D

25/09/2017

Happy to share the article that I illustrated for the lovely people at ACCESS-Netherlands :D a very interesting subject that I think should definitively be talked about!

https://issuu.com/m-space/docs/access_magazine_autumn_2017_issuu/23

In this issue: Bird watching with the pros | Saving for etirement | “Rent-an-Oma” | Love for the Lumière theatre | Earthy, delicious pasta | Preparing to retire in the Netherlands | Open Monument Days are here |

06/09/2017

Another set of 12 to show you 😊 Mangroves, Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. Some of my favorites are here! Which ones do you like? •
•
•
•

04/09/2017

Working hard on finishing these fun creatures! Have 16 already and other 8 to go at least 😅 • Count down for our trip: 2 days 😬🙄 so yeah let's push through! 💪🏼•
•
•
•