When you organise an event, you want your guests to have an unforgettable experience. Live illustration can be the perfect activation to achieve this. Why and how? It'll tell you. It's a fun and personal experience When I'm drawing live illustrations, people often tell me 'I've never had my portrait drawn before'. For many people it's a special experience and often a first. It's also a very personal experience. They get to see how a blanc piece of paper turns into their own portrait in less than 10 minutes. Your guests receive a truly unique gift to take home Many companies strive to make gift ..read more

Are you an illustrator looking to expand your circle of clients? Improving your personal branding is THE place to start. If you're not sure how to use personal branding as an illustrator, let me help you on your way! When we see a brand, we have certain associations with that brand. When you see the MacDonalds logo, you don't think of the same things as when you see the Dior logo.This is even true for brands that operate in the same area. Apple evokes different feelings than Microsoft. Why? It all has to do with their branding. Having a strong personal brand will make sure you stand out and st ..read more

Adding a creative workshop to your event is a perfect way to have your guests engage with your brand in a new and fun way. When Diptyque launched their l'Eau Papier perfume this spring, a Japanese sumi-e workshop seemed the perfect activity to give this press and influencer event some extra creative flair. The label of the l'Eau Papier perfume is created with the sumi-e techinque: a Japanese way of painting with ink, used by zen monks. It's a way of painting that's known to be calming and relaxing. And one of the benefits is: everyone can do it! Sumi-e is all about the flow of the ink on the p ..read more

This spring I created live portraits for Elle Belgium x Estée Lauder in Antwerp during their Mother's day event. I painted a number of lovely family pictures: mother-daughter couples, two sisters and even a grandmother with her granddaughter! It was a thrill to see everyones reaction to the portraits. All the people I painted were so happy with their on-scene painted piece of art! Below you can see some of the portraits from that evening. Want to know more about live portraits, made on-scene during an event? Check my page about live illustration at events ..read more

When making illustrations is your line of work, you're probably familiar with the waves in which commissions come and go. Sometimes you're buried in work and sometimes...not so much. Especially summer is a more quiet period for many illustrators. A great time to proactively work on getting more illustration commissions! Here are my 3 main tips. 1. Make new LinkedIn connections. How? By adding everyone you've ever worked with as a connection. This has two major benefits. One: Those poeple will be reminded of you and your work again. Two: When they accept your invite, you can see all of their co ..read more

A live illustration - something truly special to paint and to receive. Schaap & Citroen jewellers commissioned me twice in 2022 to paint these quick 10-minute live portraits for their customers in Rotterdam and in Maastricht. My live potraits are known for the elegants. I always try to capture the people I draw on paper as the best version of themselves. The reactions of the people a I drew were heart-warming! Here are some examples of the portraits I during those days. The event in Rotterdam was all about pre-owned watches. So at most portraits, I made sure to feature the watch as well ..read more

Everyone loves a good red lipstick and Max factor knows that. Last November I teamed up with them to create some custom on-scene portraits featuring their beautiful red lipstick at an event in Amsterdam. I painted part of the portraits before the event based on photos and part live during the event. All the red lips were added at the event with red watercolour. This way I could make sure every attendee would receive a portrait and still show the art of live painting as well. Below's a short video with an impression of the portraits and the event! Enjoy. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c88b4 ..read more

If I ask you: what's your favorite social media platform? I'm guessing the answer is going to be Instagram. And that's indeed a very important place to show your work as an illustrator. But in this blog I'm going to tell you why it's worth to put some real effort into LinkedIn. Lack of competition First of all, LinkedIn isn't used widely amongst illustrators yet. While on Instagram... well, we all know how hard it kan be to stick out I think. Of course there's a reason for this. LinkedIn is seen as very 'corporate'. I won't lie: at first I felt uncomfortable sharing my artwork on LinkedIn. I ..read more

Buckethats are all the rage at the moment and Prada understands that very well. That's why they commissioned me to draw live portrait illustrations in their store in Amsterdam featuring their bucket hat collection. I'll show my favorites below! These portraits were made in 5 to 10 minutes per person. Everyone person visiting the store could get one if they tried on one of the Prada hats. And as you can see below, I also got to wear a lovely Prada outfit! Live illustrations are a great brand activation for fashion brands, because it's a very personal and creative way to emphasize your collect ..read more

When I just started out as an illustrator, I loved reading blogs by other illustrators about their illustration careers. Sometimes I asked them questions directly via Instagram. It's been very helpful to me. Now I'm at a point in my career where other illustrators ask me about my career and my life as an illustrator. So here's a Q&A with the most frequently asked questions! I hope it's helpful. If you have any other questions after reading this, feel free to leave a comment or send me an instagram DM! Did I go to the Art Academy? No, I didn't, I’m a self-taught illustrator. But the urge t ..read more