MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THE NOVEL "DUNKELWÄRTS"

During most of my free time (which always feels to be too short) I am writing, mostly still practicing to improve my writing skills, so there has not been much to show here. But now I illustrated a German science fiction novel: "Dunkelwärts" by Ulf Fildebrandt. (It's not published yet, I'll post a link when it's available.) This was my very first job as an illustrator (which feels pretty cool), but I found out that I would probably starve as such. I am just drawing much too slowly! Well, I guess I can say the same about writing, but I tend to ascribe that to the painful lack of continuous chunks of writing time ...

A RAVEN'S PARCEL FILTERED

I really am a true beginner at digital drawing! Ever heard of Filters? Textures? Esther, I guess you really do not get enough sleep to forget these things and to need your husband to remind you of such possibilities!

It does not make much difference at a small size, but at a bit larger size (or when printed) the version with some simple photoshop filters applied looks much better.

A RAVEN'S PARCEL

A quick drawing I did as birth greeting card for a good friend and (obviously) a fan of ravens.

While I am slowly adapting to the way of drawing with my tablet, I think I would have liked the look of a traditional drawing better - now that I look at the printed card. I guess I should have done this with black liners instead of digitally.

THE BOAR-RIDING LITTLE WITCH

A doodle of my little ones in their 'true form'? Who knows. At least they make us often laugh (and shake our heads) and think of a wild boar and a little witch. So I drew this kind of portrait and hang it up on their door.

ILLUSTRATION

An illustration of a temple of Boron (the god of death from the role-playing-game DSA). It accompanies a story lead by my husband, especially a passage written by him in which this temple is carved into a rock face by dwarves to commemorate the fallen of a battle. It is based on the monastery of Ostrog in Montenegro.

RESTORING PERFORMANCE

Last year's autumn has been very exhausting: The kids were taking turns in getting sick and we did not have a quiet evening or a good night's sleep for two months.

This changed just before christmas and I have been working to restore some of my creative routine (what a contradiction in terms!) since then. This drawing of our St Nichlas' Day was the first movement. The second one was a measuring rod for the kids, showing various animals at their approximate height (mostly shoulder height). And currently I am getting back to writing ...