© I create all illustrations and text myself; all content is copyrighted.
Examples from tutorials
I teach and in all these years I also enjoyed drawing and illustrating. Just for fun, using Adobe Illustrator. It was a bit predictable that I at some point would get the great idea to decide to tutorialize my own drawings. So, that's what I began to do, creating tutorials. They of course have to be doable so I explain it all step by step. And that's fun!
Oh, and even if I translated the below chances are I forgot a title or even a description (this applies to all pages): if it's in your face, I don't see it. I totally miss the huge 'Meeting Points' but I do see the chewing gum on someone's shoe.
avocados
I like to create tutorials to accompany the students' courses. This teaches them a lot of extras. I have started doing this a while ago, one of the good things that came from this doomned pandemic. But: it will pass, hopefully, and the tutorials will keep coming too if I continue to enjoy creating them.
I created this page just now and this means the illustrations are still neatly in alfabetical order. But erm...
an evening house
This is an example I use in the first Illustrator course, or I should say 'a portion of it'. This can be created with the geometric tools and the more intuitive drawing tools to understand how these combine and work together.
After that, playing with colours is a must! You can use colours to simulate a 'day house' and an 'evening house', or even a 'Winter' and 'Summer' house, of course.
Batteries
It's such fun to simply do something useful and lose myself in drawing.
This simple example was done after explaining the more technically correct one, I will add that one later as well. It can be done after just a few lessons.
And because it's still Pandemic Doom Time, I decided to turn the technically correct batteries into positive energy batteries.
porselain design
This decoration motif is very well known in the Netherlands. Most people say it's so typically Dutch. But... it is actually from Belgium, from the Boch company.
It used to come in different colours and shapes, this one is one of the more exotic variations.
It is based on one of the designs from the previous century, there are more variations and they all were used. But the most commonly known one is the one with the blue and red. So, of course, I did that one too in one of the other illustrations.
Design brushes
One of the things I enjoy explaining is how to create your very own elements in Illustrator: that's how your designs become unique. What's better than using something no one else has and that you created yourself from scratch, right?
Beautiful plants
One of my favourite indoors plant families is the Calathea family. These plants all have purple and green as a base colour but they can have white scribbly lines and patches as well.
My first Calathea made me curious; I would hear a sound and then a leaf would jump into position. Someone said it was an alien plant, but I didn't know the Calatheas very well at the time. I didn't treat her well, I must admit; they need much more water than I gave this first one. I pay more attention to that now.
Oh yeah, and they aren't toxic to cats, dogs and children. Not that you would want those to eat your plants, but still. Have a look on this page from the Laidback Gardener and find a wonderful list with non-toxic plants that you can use at your heart's content.
Coke with lemon
It started with this glass: I drew it and then it turned into a lot more. It had to contain ice cubes, for instance, and then I 'had to' add a lemon slice. And then I wanted to explain how to do it all step by step, so that turned into erm, something!
I really do enjoy explaining things though, and I often chuckle as I write the tutorials because I then imagine the students falling in every single trap I can think of heh heh heh... But I always explain the traps afterwards and help them out, so I think it's all right.
A Dopper bottle
This design of the Dopper bottle is so simple to do that I couldn't not tutorialise it. It is nice because it combines all sorts of handy stuff that you can use in other designs as well.
Bottles
A bunch of happily coloured bottles, all perfectly doable with the intuitive tools.
The leaf at the top right is from the Monstera Deliciosa. Which is one of my favourite plants as well, but unfortunately it is toxic to cats.
A flyer
Illustrator is so great to design flyers and posters! You add an image, do something fun with type, throw in an illustration or two. It's so nice to be able to combine all sorts of elements.
Gold and Coffee
I actually made this design for Adobe InDesign but it's okay to add it here because it contains Illustrator elements as well, such as the coffee cup, the cookie and the coffee beans.
In InDesign you can combine type on a professional level that allows you to tweak type in a way you didn't think possible. You can pay attention to all details you need to be aware of.
But InDesign also allows you to combine this type with images, illustrations and special type elements. That's what I did for this design here.
I was inspired by a coffee sales person who roasts her own coffee, and some of the packages come in gold. So, I mean, what's not to love?
A bar of gold
I love gold. And I could not resist to draw this on in Illustrator: if I can't have one, I can draw one, right?
This tutorial is doable if you're an advanced Illustrator desiger. I of course combine all sorts of tools and functions that came up during earlier lessons.
A deer and a lamp
This felt deer was first drawn separately. The Monstera (yeah, that Deliciosa one) was drawn individually as well, this allows me to later combine elements.
I like to keep my designs easy to adjust so I can 'quickly' (ahem, less slowly) adjust their shapes and colours. Keeping artwork clean and neat is one of the big lessons to prepare you for future designs.
The deer solo
This is the deer in the original colours. I created this tutorial to explain how to use the simple drawing tools to create more complex designs. Because what's not to love about being able to design this after just a few lessons? Most students don't expect this is possible, but it is!
The beige colour is one of the most used felt colours around, so is the dark turquoise.
An interface, 01
Illustrator is a great tool to design interfaces for apps, for instance, or for complete websites. This is one of the simple examples that can be created, it's fun to use.
An interface, 02
It is so easy to adjust the colours in Illustrator, too. You can quickly replace an image as well, this helps you create designs that work for you and that are easy and fast to adjust.
A card
Cards are such fun to design too. And even though paper cards are less frequently used they are still popular. And the designs of course can be used digitally as well, so go and have fun with cards!
Another card
This card has been drawn using elements I created and explained before and is very simple to create with all that is addressed during the first course.
The hands are a bit trickier and even though they can be drawn after a few lessons too, they can be done in a much better way during the advanced course.
nice furniture
I so liked this furniture that it finally deserved a place in a tutorial. I explained everything from scratch, step by step.
Of course it included a plant! This time it's the Begonia Maculata that one of my former Illustrator students placed on her Facebook page. What a cutie, right? Oh yeah, the guitar was tutorialised in a different tutorial, just like the plant.
A soup bowl
I used this soup bowl to explain how you can use colours to jazz up designs and to point out positive and negative spaces.
The bowl is simply made with ellipses, and of course you can then pour in some yummie soup. The steam? You can do this after just two lessons as well. Illustrator simply is such fun to use!
And another bowl
This is the same bowl as the one in an earlier example, but I now use different colours. Colours can really make or break a design and have a strong influence.
I usually show a few variations and explain why something works, or indeed does not.
A landscape
I created this simple landscape to explain how depth works and to help students use gradients and fills for particular effects that should simulate something, such as the light 'in the mountain' where you would not expect it: something is clearly going on there.
This landscape too can be created after just a few lessons, really.
and a roomscape
This very simple roomscape (yeah, not a word) can be done with very simple, basic shapes after the very first Illustrator lesson...
This may seem impossible but trust me: it is indeed possible and you can do this too with this tutorial.
Mandala
You get a long way rotating and reflecting in Illustrator. Add the extra functionalities such as 'Pathfinder' options and a few more and you will have created a mandala in a jiffy.
Breakfast with cat
This tutorial is all about the bowl and positioning elements. Playing with space and colour will finish the design.
And of course, as can often be the case, a cat may come and play. Doesn't have to. Can.
Or breakfast without kat
This tutorial combines things as well but in this one it's all about the yoghurt carton!
This carton is explained from scratch and can of course turn into a milk carton. Or the Dutch desert 'vla'. Preferably the 'hopjes' variety, of course. Mmm...
Door & golden key
I sometimes go a bit overboard. This tutorial is all about drawing the key. Well, that's in. But then... I needed to do something with it.
The gold bar and the pearl necklace (or are they really pearls...?) had to go in, a door, some sort of jungle, and of course my favourite mystery object.
Oreo or hydrox
Two cookies that look a lot alike: the Oreo and the Hydrox. The Hydrox came first and I think it's taste and texture make it the superior cookie. Its decoration is the most beautiful.
The Hydrox was kosher to boot and had a big, loyal fanbase. But then the Oreo became kosher as well, so... One or the other: try them both and decide for yourself. What I think is 'the superior cookie' may not be yours, of course.
paardebloemen
This decoration teaches you how to draw a dandelion. With variations that are not real. The fun thing this can already be done after two Illustrator lessons, you'll see.
In Singapore the dandelion is going through a massive popularity wave. Seeds are exchanged, pictures are taken and the flowers are cherished. Everyone seems to go crazy about them and flock to admire them. Really! Just do a search. Oh, you can use, this link, too.
Drawing petit fours
Petit fours!
Someone gave them to me and their colours were so nice that I 'had to' do something with them. I did this! Learn how to draw petit fours from scratch with this tutorial.
Self portrait with glasses
This tutorial is not about me but about the glasses I am wearing! How to draw glasses, or an alternative of this model, is explained step by step. Feel free to put it on anyone's face afterwards, of course!
Ramekin
Yes, there it is again.
Look, I had never tutorialised it. I thought the time had come, so I explain how to draw this ramekin step by step. Afterwards, feel free to place and use it in any landscape or setting you like.
A ring
I had wanted a ring, made of wood with a wonderful stone in it, for ages. But they didn't exist. I showed designs but no one produced them. Until a few years ago, suddenly there were rings that were very similar to my designs. Very strange, but oh well.
How can you draw this ring? With the tutorial, really! I explain it all step by step.
A satellite
This tutorial will cost you time, I think you can tell. It is quite extensive.
The planet can be done too and is in fact one of the examples I use during the first course.
Sneakers
These sneakers revolve around a new functionality in Illustrator. Or well, new, new... It's not all that new anymore. But it's such fun to use and perfect for designs such as these sneakers.
Soup bowls
These soup bowls are very basic to create a 'flat' design. By playing with shape, colour and position you can still create the illusion of depth.
South park
South Park characters are perfectly drawable in Adobe Illustrator. I did this now, it is so nice to see how you can do this. Just follow the steps in this tutorial, have fun!
Rocket
This rocket is very doable and is a perfect addition to the rest of the lesson material. Playing with colours is addressed during the course and can be used for the design. Use it to add the fun extras.
Speakers
Speakers are great because music can come out of them, and I do like music. I drew these speakers after an example but with a twist, of course.
It is all explained so you will be able to draw them exactly as this example.
Voting flyer
Illustrator, as I said before, is wonderful and fast to design a flyer, for instance. Like this one. Vote Green! But in red.
Designing stickers
Designing stickers for social media is a perfect Illustrator, erm... hobby. You will spend much more time on designing them than you thought because each sticker of course has to be perfect.
After designing them, use them in, for instance, Signal or WhatsApp, or even in Facebook if you get the option. The stickers are perfectly neutral and can be used in all sorts of media and apps once you learn the rules in this tutorial.
beach
Ah yes, the beach. I haven't seen it in years. As a child I could spent hours and hours on the beach but after that I hardly ever went on a holiday. But the times I went there, with the family, was wonderful.
I fished for shrimp when I was about four or five, wanting a shrimping net rather than a ball (like my normal brothers and sisters) and would catch a bucketfull: I could tell where they were because there were tiny air bubbles in the water, but also because I would sometimes feel them wriggling under my feet. My mum told me this year it was quite the job to keep up with what I would bring home to the Summer residence.
I remember the see, staring at the 'sea cucumbers', crying about the octopus the fishermen killed, I would smell the waves, caress the foam. The sea, the sea, I love the sea.
Sushi
Sushi in a variation on a bowl I drew before this.
I so like the shapes of sushi, they are beautiful if done well.
I still have to draw a small dipping bowl for the soy sauce, and one for wasabi would be nice too. I bought some dried wasabi a while ago: it's so good! The wasabi you buy in most supermarkets, yeah, even the Asian ones, are usually made with horseradish and colouring, or even with mustard in them. But pure wasabi is so great, it's a modest kick and then it fades into smooth and even slightly sweet goodness. It is not as sharp as horseradish!
Tea & peppermint infusion
Tea and peppermint 'tea'! And a cookie! So easy to draw, really, but okay: it's easy after this tutorial.
But most of all: it's fun to do. Of course it will take time, it won't be designed all by itself, and if you're very new to Illustrator it will take more time. But it's very doable, you'll see.
a garden gate
This tutorial is all about the garden gate. Because I was 'in the mood' while I was staring outside.
But well, once the gate was done I really wanted to Add Stuff. Such as the pot on the fence, the grass, and I explain both while I'm at it. The other details are all up to you! It's such fun to come up with your own elements, after all.
A garden hose
This tutorial explains how to create the garden hose.
It's a pure coincidence that you can find guinea pigs in this illustration as well. How in the world... But well, I really like guinea pigs I must say. They are so cute with their sounds and all. I used to only open the fridge to hear them whistle that they wanted to have 'some'. Clever cookies!
A business card
As I was creating this tutorial I finally had to come up with names, of course. This one came out without even thinking about it. It is one of the students' name, but with a twist. I had to laugh as it came out of my brain and showed her. She loved it. Tutorial it is!
Who the hell
One of the friends is a musician in the USA. One of his catch phrases is 'Who the hell is...' with his name behind it. When his account was cloned, I of course had to do the above, right?
So, a simple tutorial with extras on how to use images in Illustrator, accompanied with a few 'how do you' and 'how to's to help you along.
A yogurt carton
Yogurt! It's so yummie, especially the one that contains live goodness.
You can make your own yogurt and that's what I prefer. Just put the living starter in milk, wait for a while to have fluid yogurt, or for longer to have really thick yogurt (aaah...). You can make kefir yourself too, don't get it from the supermarket because that's usually either bogus or very expensive, or even both! Make it yourself from any milk you like. I still use the same starters a friend gave me a long time ago.
A sweet potato
Yeah, the sweet potato. I wanted to draw this one again too because their shapes and colours can be so wonderful. So; yet another tutorial.
I have so many more tutorials and restricted myself to the ones from last year and this year. If I decide to add the ones I did before this page might explode, I think I might need to create yet another page.