September 17 - Silence

A train trip

Today, I'm gonna tell you a story of my trip to Prague (Czech Republic's capital), where we went to watch the RAW Analog Exhibition and to support a great illustrator from Brno - Slakinglizard. We went there once before for the semifinals, and same as back then, even today we were late and we had to run to catch the train. We were then able to sit down. But after a while we realized that, again, we sat into the silent carriage that is usually quite empty. We exchanged a few words and then we got rebuked by the train crew!

September 9 - Sickness

Being sick of being sick

A few days ago, I caught a flu and now I'm laying in bed, which kicked me to get back to my image blog. Sadly, the idea that I'll have time for drawing and writing blog didn't really work out... until now.

Anyway, today's illustration is a thematic one. Thanks to being sick, I had to spend at least the first two days in bed where my illustrating practice also moved. Not all of it, because I can't take the tablet there - I can't imagine how it would fit so I could draw with it - bud I pulled up my folders, some papers, pencils, brushes, inks, scissors, stickers, and so on...

For the last two days, I was working on a little paper package with a logo, so I moved my stacks of paper, scissors, and rulers, also to this new "workplace".

Two days later I found out it's actually not that great. Though it may seem like fun - relaxing in bed with a nice audiobook in my ears (now I'm listening to The Art of Asking, so I'll see how this will go) and a tea - this two day period of just laying around in bed really didn't do much good for my back and such...

... Looking forward to sitting behind a table again!

August 24 - Conflict

Inspiration with a mind of its own

I wasn't the best blogger lately. I was overwhelmed by illustrations I was making for you the past two weeks and so I wasn't productive with my other stuff. But today I said to myself that I'll work hard and draw for you some news from my life.

I'll share with you a little fun fact. Whenever I start working on a project for a client and I'm really focusing on it, a lot of new and interesting ideas come to my mind (I mean creative ones, cleaning up is still postponed). And so I say to myself: "Why now?" And at other times I just don't know what to do. In the last two weeks I had a head full of ideas, but no time. So we'll see how many of them will stay in my head and how many of them I'll still want to do.

August 18 - Ink

The smell that makes you keep going

Unfortunately I decided to start blogging right when I don't know where to jump first. But at least it pushes me forward!

Today's entry won't be about what I'm currently doing, because it would be an illustration about my head in papers. So just boring.

I would like to share with you my experiences from the drawing process. In recent days, I often doze off (at first because of the hot weather, now because the weather keeps changing - there is always an excuse), but what always wakes me up is the part when I draw with ink. It's hard to say if it's because the ink is now made differently than when I was in high school, or if it's because I have mine since I actually went to high school, but that STENCH! I thought it's just my personal opinion, but I found out that ink smells bad even in others "ateliers", not just in mine.

Anyway, this theme energized me ino making this illustration.

August 12 - H.O.C.

A creative evening

Every other Wednesday, I go to a regular artist meeting called Hearts of Creation. These people are mostly from Brno and we all will be happy if you would like to join us and draw or just chat with us.

And usually, we even get to do some drawings. At first, our fans gave us the ideas, but now we are using the origami fortune teller game (with questions like "who? which? what?" and so on). And yesterdays theme was: "A wet octopus peed with a cute lamb on safari."


August 10 - Trail

Some don't like it hot

Because more and more of you are demanding watercolour paintings, once a while I have to go to art supplies to buy papers that I run out of at the speed of light. For watercolours, I usually use papers from Diskobolos, because those are the only ones I found around here in the A2 format.

And even though I drove my bicycle (that I also painted - see the photos on Instagram) to downtown, I was sweating a bit - and a bit more under my helmet (if you like it, it's NUTCASE from Cyklospeciality), so I almost left a sweaty trail behind me.

August 6 - Crisis

It's dead, Jim!

Thanks to my decision to make illustrations for a living, I have no fixed working hours and so I'm my own master. But even this master is limited by her equipment and creative tools. And yesterday, one component that's essential for my work have gone ill. Within the two hour lunch break, my Wacon tablet has died, which puts my productivity at great risk.

I hope that I'll still be able to bring it back to life with a component that will be waiting for us in stock on Monday.

This text is boring, so jump to the image that says it all!

August 5 - Duties

All work and no play makes Lusym a dull girl

Nowadays, I'm busy from dawn till dusk. And when I'm not, then something else will always come up.

So I think the following image doesn't need any comment.

Samá práce a žádná zábava dělá z Lusym nudnou patronku

Od rána až do večera mám co dělat. A když ne, tak se vždycky něco najde.

Takže myslím, že k obrázku není potřeba žádných komentářů.

August 1 - Fish

A fragrant stroll

Tyson (our cute little dog) was a really good boy and gave me a first topic for my blog.

My and my friend Kamča went for a walk to Anthropos (a museum in Brno) and Tyson was very excited for going into the river. Usually he comes when I call for him, but not this time. Why? Because the chance of rolling in a stinky dead fish was more powerful than my words. And so Tyson made a pleasant journey for everyone in the public transport on the way back. :)

Voňavá procházka

Tyson (náš psík) byl tak hodnej a dal mi hnedka první námět na první den s příběhem v tomto blogu.

Šly jsme s Kamčou na procházku k Anthroposu a Tyson byl nejvíc nadšenej z vody. Jindy, i když mu to občas trochu trvá, tak na zavolání poslechne… Ale v jednu chvíli se mi ho vůbec nedařilo zavolat. Proč? Větší sílu než má slova měl puch a skvělé vyváleníčko v mrtvé rybě. A tak Tyson zajistil příjemnou cestu všem v IDS JMK. :)

July 14 - Graduation

Graduating

Starting 14th of July and a graduation ceremony, I now have an engineer's degree (earned in International Territorial Studies at the Mendel University in Brno, if you're curious).

But what does that mean? Mainly a lot of questions from people around me, like... "What are you gonna do?" I have a lot of opti­ons and ideas in my head, like looking for work in the field I studied, or to become self-employed or an employee (as an illustrator or a graphic designer).

So I'm gonna draw. Because it's FUN!

Absolvuji

Počínaje dnem 14. července a slavnostní promocí nesu před svým jménem titul Ing. (pro zvědavce, tak je to z oboru Mezinárodní teritoriální studia na Mendelově univerzitě)

Co to však pro mě znamená? Hlavně mnoho otázek z mého okolí, jako… "Co budeš dělat?" V hlavě mám plno nápadů a možností, jako třeba hledání zaměstnání v oboru, který jsem vystudovala, nebo stát se živnostníkem či zaměstnancem (ilustrátorem, grafikem).

No a tak já budu kreslit, protože mě to BA!

July 5 - Hello

Who am I and why have I decided to write a blog?

I'm Lusym, an illustrator from Brno, Czech Republic, and I have decided to expand the current trend of blogging. Due to my lack of capabilities in expressing myself via writing or speaking, I'd like to use my most favourite communication style: images.

People I meet often ask me what is my actual job and what it takes? What techniques do I use? What inspires me? Who are my most often clients? And so on...

So through this "diary", I would like to express my illustrator life experiences.

Kdo jsem a proč jsem se rozhodla vést si blog?

Jsem ilustrátorka z Brna s přezdívkou Lusym a rozhodla jsem se současný trend blogů trochu rozšířit. Vzhledem k tomu, že moje písemné a mluvené vyjadřování není nejlepší, rozhodla jsem se využít svého nejoblíbenějšího stylu komunikace, tedy obrázků.

Často se potkám s lidmi, kteří se mě ptají, co přesně dělám a co to obnáší? Jak se tím můžu uživit? Jaké techniky používám? Co mě inspiruje? Kdo jsou moji zákazníci? A mnoho dalších otázek…

Tímto „deníčkem“ bych se proto chtěla se všemi podělit o mé střípky ze života.