Greetings from the Netherlands
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Hi all!
My name is Florian, 35 years old and a dad of two young kids. I have studied communication and graphic design. In my work for clients I miss my creativity on a personal level. Deciding for yourself what to make and which stories to tell is very liberating.
I started with drawing in 2020 and now it has become a daily habit, which gives a lot of joy. It would be great to publish my own book one day … But for now I am enjoying the process of learning and just drawing …
In the (wonderful) SVS podcast they mentioned the benefits of sharing your work in a community of like minded people to improve. So here I am!
In 2023 I really would love to join the monthly critique arena to level up.Thanks for reading this and I hope to participate in the forums more often!
PS This is my latest work. Perhaps a bit too dark for children
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@pisang Welkom! This is a great place to share your work and get feedback. I think your design background really helps to get these nice layed out illustrations. Your work is a bit dark with the snake hanging there yes
. I'm 37 and from Utrecht, also have two little kids so time is always a challenge and have a background in environment. Just started this summer and svs helped me to think that I can learn this. Love to see what your entries will be for critique arena. -
@Chantal-Goetheer Thank you! Timemanagement with a family and a job is indeed a challenge. Just curious … when and how long do you work on illustration during the week? What do you mean with environment?
I lived in Utrecht for 2 years during my study. Still my favorite city in Holland!
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@pisang Welcome! Glad you've decided to share your work mate. It's very reassuring to hear from folk who are working on their art while having kids. Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff.
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Welcome Florian!
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@MarcRobinson It's reassuring indeed! Do you work with a schedule or just see how the week goes?
@ArtistErin Thank you!
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@pisang I have 2 boys who are 2 and 9 years so my days are quite full. I'm lucky to be a stay at home dad for the next year or so. I manage to get some artwork done for an hour during the day while the little one has a nap and maybe 1 or 2 hours on a night time. It's hard, but I've been pushing myself recently. How do you manage?
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@MarcRobinson Nice! I have a daughter of 4 and a son of 7. I have a parttime job for 3 days a week and reserve one hour a day for drawing no matter what. If I can manage more, thats bonustime
Also I have once a week the whole morning until 1 pm for myself and usually I spend that time on drawing. Now a days that feels as a real luxury!Last year I read atomic habits by james clear. That book really motivated me to practice on a daily base.
(Sorry for typo’s).
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@pisang my kids are 2 and four. I work three days a week as a teacher in a university of applied sciences course Environmental innovation (in Dutch milieukunde). Some parts of the term i can't escape overtime so my evenings are then erroded away. But mostly i try to get one or 1,5 hrs in the evening. On my days off twice a week when my son is in school and my daughter naps I manage an other hour/1,5 hours. In the weekend during days it's family time. So it is quite limited. Whenever im commuting or biking somewhere alone I listen to the podcasts. So it's slow going. Because i also take courses at svs within that limited time. When my youngest will go to school i hope to get more hours a week.
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@pisang that's great! All those hours will build up. It really is hard finding the time and energy isnt it?!
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@Chantal-Goetheer its definitely hard finding the time, and at the end of the day lack of energy is a thing too. Loving your determination!
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@Chantal-Goetheer Like @MarcRobinson said: It's reassuring to read that someone else is almost in the exact situation. Balancing life with kids, a job and finding time for yourself. I found/find the ages of 2 and 4 very tough, but at the same time (cliche to say) time flies. And maybe also cliche to say (haha). Enjoying the process of making and learning instead of only focusing on the end goal is most rewarding
Thanks for sharing!@MarcRobinson Finding that energy at the end of the day is indeed difficult at times. Binging a serie or play a videogame is always easier to pick when lacking energy
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@pisang Love the book Atomic habits. It definitely changed my mindset when I read it as well. Tiny changes to habits create big results in the future! Welcome to SVS. I'm pretty new too. It's great to see so many new people starting the journey alongside me. Loving the snake image and the evil mice standing their ground. haha. Might be a bit dark but I'm into it. Cool concept.
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@katsuds Thank you! His newsletter is also great! One of the few I actually read
