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Hello everyone, Rumeysa here!
This is my workspace where I spend most of my day. I love being here so much. Sometimes I get up with a sore back, sometimes I don't get up at all. I am not a neat and tidy person. Messiness gives me a sense of lived experience, so everything is everywhere on my desk.
I live in a quiet place so there are times when I want to have a little noise in the background while I'm working, I immediately put on a tune I like. My favorite at the moment is Lizzy McAlpine - to the mountain Sometimes it's the other way around, I need silence. I just listen to the birdsong and do my work. It gives me a lot of joy and motivation.
When I start a new book, I first read the text several times and try to fully embrace it. I wear it like a cardigan and don't take it off until it's finished. Then I have long conversations with myself about what I can do new and different. In my sketches, I mostly color over what I first drew before I do final sketches. It's more practical for me and there are times when I don't get my first lines the second time.
My color palette is usually soft colors, but sometimes I feel like a neon green, a bright red, a yellow that says "I'm here" and I sprinkle it in between. I am moving forward by blending the digital and the traditional. I also like to work in collage. Digital is a great convenience, but I don't want to get used to that convenience because I can't capture the feeling of the pen on paper in digital. It makes me happy to get up from the table with my hands dirty with paint stains.
When I'm not working, I can find myself drawing, or I have little things to keep me busy. These are things that definitely involve paper. These days I mostly spend time with tiny collage works.
I've been keeping sketchbooks for a long time and I can't tell you how much it has helped me. I both enjoy it and when I look back, it helps me to see which paths I have taken and how much progress I have made. I also use my notebooks as a diary. Even if it is ordinary, I immediately write down what I ate during the day, what song I listened to, a beautiful sentence in the book I read, and make tiny drawings next to them. When time passes and I look at what I have done, it feels very good to go back to those tiny moments that I forgot.
I think everyone should have a sketchbook.
Everything I see is a great source of nourishment for me. Sometimes a reflection, a clear sky, an old tree bark, or a butterfly flying past me with its colorful wings. Being in life with all of them is a source of inspiration for me.
Sometimes sitting and drawing on a lawn for hours helps to refresh my mind. Sometimes an afternoon walk prepares me for new stories. I am very interested in picture books. I can stand in front of the bookcase for hours and watch them. Watching is also a source of inspiration:) When I start a project, I always spend a long time with the books of my favorite illustrators. When I don't have a pen and paper in my hand, it is possible to see a camera. I have an analog camera. I love the excitement when I give the film to be washed:) Sometimes I can forget what I have shot and when I get the results, it is a great inspiration for me to return to that forgotten moment.
While drawing, I don't follow a certain path, sometimes I'll be painting one character and suddenly stop and move on to something else :) I also like to take videos while drawing, it helps me to see what I'm doing and how I'm doing it and to repeat the process.
When I draw traditionally, I mostly use dry pencil and oil-soft pastels, and lots of pieces of paper :) In digital, I prefer to use brushes that are closest to the traditional look. These are usually sketch brushes.
I am leaving a small drawing video for you here. That's all from me. I hope you enjoyed it. Goodbye!