I’ve finished this one last week, so it’s time to share the process and the questions that did hit me on the way of the making! I learn more after each painting. Today’s lesson’s at the end of this article…

“I am still learning.”— Michelangelo (age 87)

This is the second painting the series, I want to play with lotr references with enough freedom so it does not seems like quoting but rings a bell to any connoisseur. I am having a lot of fun painting those characters. For this one I chose Boromir and the bacons of Gondor.

After working on my composition and draft, I made the drawing straight on my Ipad. I use Procreate here.

Once I’m happy with my sketch, I ink it so I keep clean lines before printing it. This allow me to draw on my paper without damage.

As always my first step is the masking gum. Then this time I did’nt quite start with the background but with this tricky burning pan.

Once the fire done, I did a background that reminds of a forest. I used salt on watercolor, creating the effet of the light through leaves.

This article has been originally posted for free on my Patreon page. Check it out to see the rest of the pics!

It is time for a little gift for you my friend.
If like me most of your days are made of to-do-lists, grocery-lists, book-wish-list, etc…
Then you will love this little freebie here!

A cute note sheet decorated with a Miromiro on a teapot, and surrounded by golden autumn leaves 🥰

You can download it and print it as many times as you need, to write all your favorite lists or just to make your everyday to-do a bit more romantic.

This post is originally posted on my Patreon page. Click on the link to see it and download your sheet!

A little sneak peek at one of my current project:

Southern-Earth
The Lords of the Wings

For my very first illustration of the series, I chose the most obvious one: my Kākādalf. I had lot of demands for this one and after finishing all my previous projects, decided that it was time to put this one as my main work for the next few months.

Winter is a perfect time to lock myself in the studio surrounded by my gouache and watercolors, with a movie I watched thousand times in the background (I let you guess which one)
I spent a bit of time on the prep for this one: doddles, composition, color roughs. And then 10h on the painting itself. I used mainly Talens gouache.

Hope you’ll enjoy this little commented photo dump. FULL DUMP HERE

I’m very please with this illustration (which does not happen as often as you think!)
It seems like not rushing the process and really taking the time to work on the composition and color choices pays off—who would have known? 😆
Let me know what you thing of it!

I am always very excited when I get emails that say:
“I’d like a tattoo of this animal, doing that, in your style. Have fun!”

And yes… I always have fun 🙂

I am also a big advocate for matching-not-matching tattoos. For friends, families, or couples. It is so much more interesting to have tattoos that respond to each other, rather than a copy-paste of the same design. Don’t you think?

So you can imagine how excited I was when I got this request.
Animals doing things. Full freedom in the design. A matching-not-matching couple project.

Yeepee!

The idea was a bearded-fancy-pipe-smoking fox playing cribbage with a cute-bookworm red panda. (Cribbage is a card game I discovered when I read the email.)

I fully dived into the design process, exploring a few different options to propose… while secretly hoping they would pick one in particular.

And guess what.

I lit some candles, burned some sage… and they chose my favourite drawing 🙂

If you have a project involving cosy animals, you are more than welcome to tell me about it.

For now, enjoy these few photos!

Like always, this post was originally posted on my patreon
join the forest HERE

Did you ever want to cover an old tattoo that you got a while ago, but that does not feel quite right anymore?

This is what happened to one of my friends. Twice.
And it ended up creating a little family… which I secretly hope will keep growing, because they are fun, cute, and colourful.

I thought I would share this one because it has been such a fun project.

A few years ago (or was it just a year ago?), they messaged me with a photo of an existing tattoo (not by me). It was getting a bit blurry and pale, so they wanted to refresh it and add something a little silly on top.
It was a teacup, with what looked like the remains of a mountain inside. Luckily for us, the mountain was made with coloured lines only, no black, which meant I could probably cover it.

Their idea was a kākāpō, a wonderfully goofy local bird, drinking a glass of wine. Perfect.

So we went for it. I tattooed this little silly guy while refreshing the teacup at the same time.

And not long ago… they came back. Same story, other arm.

This time it was a teacup with a big wave. And just like the mountains, no black lining. Great news for a cover-up!

So, to keep our little bird company, we created a takahē (another iconic local bird), holding a big glass of beer. Living its best life. Takahē have these amazing deep blue and green tones, with a bold red beak. It worked perfectly over the faded tattoo underneath.

And just like that… a little bird party was born.

Cheers to our local birds 🍻

This was originaly posted on my patreon.
join the forest: HERE

We are in May already!

In the little illustration world, May is the month of mermaids and sea creatures. If you are on social media, have a look at #mermay to discover new artists and get inspired by all things mermaidy.

For the occasion, I did my homework too.

I dived into an A3 mermaid painting. It has been a bit of a journey, and even if I did not fully enjoy every step, I still had fun and, most importantly, I learned a lot.

I wanted to make another feathered mermaid (remember my “Mother of Chicks” from last year’s Mermay?), and this time using a kea as a model.

I also really love the underwater aesthetic. I am myself quite scared on a boat, even though I grew up between a lake and the ocean. Despite that fear, the mystery of it always draws me back to painting it.

Here is my process and the final painting!

As I do not like working with a screen, I printed my references: kea birds and under the ocean elements.

After exploring a few composition ideas, I picked one and moved on to the colour palette.

I used a blue pencil for the drawing, which I realize I didn’t like that much. I will remember for next time. It was A LOT of scales to draw

I often use drawing gum to cover areas that I do not want to paint yet. I have a dedicated paintbrush for this specific use.

To have an interesting background texture, I use a paper towel and pat on the fresh paint.

FULL PROCESS ON THE ORIGINAL POST ON PATREON JUST HERE 👇👇

Did you ever have a project that really, really excites you… but you just can’t seem to get it done?

Not because you lack motivation.
Not because you don’t have the right tools.

But more because… life does not stop.
Kids still need to eat to stay alive.
Laundry keeps piling up.
There is always something on the to-do list getting in the way.

This is what has been happening to me. And to a few of my close friends too.

I’ve been wanting to write this super cool graphic novel. One friend has a full line-up for a fantastic romance novel. Another one had an important uni paper to write and was struggling to focus with everything going on at home…

So we decided we all needed a little push to finally get things started.

And… how convenient… we happen to live not too far from a magical place, tucked in the mountains, with little huts you can rent. No wifi involved.

Perfect.

So last week, I went on my second and a half writing retreat. (I am not counting my very geeky middle school graphic novel club.)

And it was amazing.

No mum mental load for a few days, meals prepared in advance, and only three things on the to-do list:

• write
• walk in the forest
• play salad bowl to unwind (if you don’t know this game, you are missing out on a very good laugh)

I can proudly say that I finally started storyboarding my graphic novel! I am about 6 spreads in. That is 12 pages… out of what will probably be around 200.

I have not worked on a long-format graphic novel since high school (and I am turning the big 4-0 at the end of the year), so yes… I am a bit rusty. But also extremely excited!

I mapped out the main events of my little heroine’s journey, and I am now deep into the storyboard phase. First draft. Messy. Fun. I cannot wait to share more of it here as it grows.

And honestly… We will definitely organise more of these little writing bubbles.

So if you are a writer at heart, let me know in the comments. I will keep you in the loop for the next retreat

Gears needed for a writing retreat in a hut in the mountains

view from the hut, doggies in bonus for a big hug at break time

More photos of the Storyboard process on the original post HERE 👈♥︎