sunflowerwinters – Illustrator and writer of the casually magical. The work of Myrthe Hooijmans feels enchanting and ethereal, and often includes themes like the beauty of daily life, mythology, art history and the imagination.

A page from my Edinburgh travel journal that I kep

A page from my Edinburgh travel journal that I kept on our holiday ✨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Is moleskine no great paper and did the (too intense for moleskine) pen bleed through the pages? Yes. Will I use another pen for our London visit next week? You bet 🤦🏻‍♀️. Do you keep a travel journal/sketchbook when you go somewhere? If so, do you write? Do you collect tickets and receipts? Do you draw?? I’m curious! 📝📖 (and for you to marvel at Scotland’s incredible beauty: photos that barely capture it but try to, picture yourself at the foot of the mountains and feel the breeze!)

Book reviews will be on this page now too! 📝 So

Book reviews will be on this page now too! 📝 So here’s an essay collection I read some weeks ago :)

✨Girls Can Kiss Now // Jill Gutowitz ✨

Details: 224p, 2022, essays/memoir
TW/CW: sexual harassment, rape.

First notes: I read a review saying ‘lesbians obsessed with Taylor Swift’ and to be fair did not read more because I was already convinced and went on a mission, to the bookstore, as one does :)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜: I was not yet familiar with the writing of Jill Gutowitz, I was, however, familiar with the topic and since there are quite a lot of queer books, not many are sapphic, so a win! And like I said I didn’t know the author, but apparently she’s known for her articles on pop culture with a queer view, but there’s a LOT of pop culture in this essay collection. So if you’re not familiar with the time period she grew up in (2000s-present), it might be a little hard to get through!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠? For me it was engaging enough, but again if you’re not into pop culture and are not familiar with the examples she shares, it can be an obstacle. Amen to all the Taylor Swift references though, it would be a crime not to recommend this to people solely based on her enthusiasm throughout every essay, contagious.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Essays, but they did relate to one another and I did feel the connection between all fifteen!
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 + 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞): Once again insisting on the 2000s-present timeline, for me it was perfect, for others it could hit the nail … not hit the nail haha.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞: Beside the timeline, the writing is also one to note, it could be a hit or miss! Her tone reminded me a little of Dolly Alderton, but slightly different humor and more exuberant in layout and tone (and gay).

Final notes: I do need to mention that some of her points felt a little pretentious, and more memoir-ish than essay, because in some I didn’t really see what point she was trying to make. A lesbian essay collection like this should absolutely exist though, and there were some really great reflective parts in it that I underlined like a crazy lady, I’d still recommend it and go back!

4⭐️

Didn’t share much yet about our trip to Scotland

Didn’t share much yet about our trip to Scotland from some weeks ago, but here’s an impression of our Highlands day! ✨🏔️ Nothing better than having time to spare and sit at a loch and draw in the sun ☀️ One day I’m coming back in summer to see the Highlands all green and blooming instead of just-before-spring Highlands and sit and draw again :)

Another year, another @kingdomofelfia visit! Dress

Another year, another @kingdomofelfia visit! Dressed up this year as one of my favorite characters: the one and only Jo March 🕯️🗝️📝🕰️🍂 Where pretty much all credits go to my mom because she made almost all parts of the outfit herself, she dressed up as Claire Fraser from Outlander which she also made herself! Will not shut up about how amazing her dress is (everyone: how was the fantasy fair? me: good but diD yOu SeE my moM) haha, she’s incredible. And yes we’re plotting for next year already, though I’m also going to @dutchcomiccon in June and *might* make a dress myself Tangled inspired.. *might*… (totally dependent on how intricate I decide it to be and time management haha I can see myself one week before the day realize I’m too late) So there’s that! Here’s to our favorite fictional characters, may we become them every once in a while or aspire to be like them ✨

And then suddenly it’s March 🪷🌦️ It’s

And then suddenly it’s March 🪷🌦️ It’s ironic how much I have saved on my phone to post and how much of it I actually end up posting (not much)(at all), so here’s one I found from over a year ago 🐉 I made these for my grandparents and parents two christmases ago, wooden paintings always make fun gifts 😌 My life is once again a bit chaotic, how are you? I ask this every time I come back here, anything nice you read, heard, saw, visited? ✨

I just cried buckets over a dutch short story (Wee

I just cried buckets over a dutch short story (Wees Lucie by Astrid Boomstoppel, read it) and then forgot I made this reel and then I watched this reel and cried again because why do I come up with things like this and forget about it and it’s just true!! You can create anything at all! Go for it! I’m definitely not emotional at all, totally fine ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Sketchbook is alllmost full, but to be very honest

Sketchbook is alllmost full, but to be very honest only the first few pages are ‘nice’ and the rest of the entire sketchbook is rough pencil sketches because as it turns out I need these way more for concepts and ideas and there’s much much less pressure on how pretty it all looks! How do you use your sketchbook(s)? ✏️

Journal page about Cinder in the art diary treasur

Journal page about Cinder in the art diary treasure chest (collective name for the journal with all my reviews and thoughts on any book/movie/show/album etc)! ✨ Off to a great reading start for 2023 because that was incredible, I didn’t expect to love it so much but I did! Amazing retelling of cinderella and very clever use of modernisation without it becoming too sci-fi nor too fairytale?? I’d recommend anyone really to read it! I also read it for @crestfallenpages bookclub this month, a book that’s been on your tbr for a long time (come join if you want 😌) 🕰️📚

Reminder that even though the art I share most is

Reminder that even though the art I share most is polished and finished and aesthetic but they all went through some serious stages of rough strokes and lines ✌🏼✏️

Friends how are you! My mental health (and physica

Friends how are you! My mental health (and physical health sadly, sometimes, often, they go hand in hand) rolled very steeply down the hill lately so I’ve been better, but as long as we try to walk up the mountain and sing a little every now and then, we’re good, I promise the view up there is worthwhile 😌 So here’s your friendly reminder that you can do it!! No matter what you’re going through, you can do it and please know you’re loved and at least I, care 🧡 So here’s a tiny illustration of the mountain glory that I try to see when I feel low and the music that makes me sing from the inside ✨🎶 Hugs to you!

Stars (aka bookmarks) by the pocketful ✨✨ What

Stars (aka bookmarks) by the pocketful ✨✨ What would you want to have on your dream bookmark?? Any ideas welcome!

Another year another #artvsartist (#artvsartist202

Another year another #artvsartist (#artvsartist2022 , a day late but who’s counting) ✨🕯️🏰☂️🥀🍁🥧🍓🧜🏻🌄🧣🐈📖 I seem to blend in with my own art more every year haha last year it felt very red/green (still the superior contrasting colors), but it’s still like that, guess I found the colors I’m comfortable with? This year I want to learn more about light in scenes and how it affects colors and shadows and highlights etc, and I really want to take model drawing classes again! And draw for the sake of drawing, may we not get into our heads too much about what’s ‘good’ and what is not 😌 Anything you want to learn? Here’s to the new year! ✨

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