With this one I was trying to capture the feeling of the fun train rides we used to go on during our frequent convention visits. Those were great times!
Natalia Zaitseva
@nataliadraws.bsky.social
She/Her / Freelance Illustrator from Karlsruhe, Germany / Introverted History Enthusiast & Toddler Mom / I draw architecture & cute characters 🌞 / 💬🇩🇪🇬🇧 / nataliazaitseva.carrd.co
I'm finally back home... and if anyone asks me if I had a relaxing vacation, I'll snap 🥲 I don't like traveling, it's always stressful to the max and I need as much time to recover afterward as I spent away from home. It feels more like a quest where I should be applauded for making it home alive 🙌
I like to know and kind of feel a place's history, especially when I travel. We're currently in Belgium in the Ypres area for a friend's wedding, so I didn't pick this destination. The area is mostly farmland and WWI memorials, so now I'm deep-diving into history of the western front.
We're on a trip to Belgium and staying in a place where a huge part of the trench warfare during WWI took place. There are so many memorials here, it's really sad. But the Christmas Truce also happened right around the corner and has its own little memorial where people still leave soccer balls!
I try to make at least one personal drawing each months and always hope to do something small and quick but more often than not end up with a really detailed drawing. This month I told myself, no big backgrounds and ended up with 8 characters instead 🤷
Sometimes I wish I could stomach Instagram because some really cool artists still only post on there. I can't though. It feels like being constantly screamed at about things that are all very important while not being given the time to process all that densely packed information 🙃
Art I made of my #Elderscrollsonline characters over the past 6-7 years. And I'm still playing most of them ✌️
Life with a toddler means being in a restaurant bathroom and them shouting MAMA POOP the entire time, because they're excited they found a big toilet 😂
Creating has its ups and downs. Kudos to everyone for sticking with it despite the struggle!
Hello #PortfolioDay I’m Cleonique, a freelance illustrator and cartoonist seeking new projects in books, comics, games, posters, and more✨ . ⭐️ www.cleonique.com 💌 hello@cleonique.com . #cartoonist #illustrator #kidlitart
Today I've been looking for some art and ended up scrolling through old tumblr posts from some of my favourite artists. Not sure if it's just my personal nostalgia as a tumblr girlie, but looking back, the early to mid 2010s felt like such an exciting time for art
I'm particularly proud of this piece from 2021! And I'm a shocked at how long it's been. It feels like I just drew it the other week 😨
It really changed my attitude towards talking about my living situation once I started calling it a "multigenerational home" and "combining households" rather than "living with my parents". Which also helped me feel less ashamed about it in general.
Things are so difficult right now with art and work and I feel really burnt out from simply existing. At the same time my toddler is such a huge delight and I love the vibe of our multigenerational home that I will definitely remember this time as one of the best in my life 😌
On some days I find architecture easier to draw than characters. It still tells stories, but in a different way
For the past few months I’ve been very slowly working on updating my website design and now that that‘s done, I‘m looking at the art and I really want to update some of that too… it‘s a never ending project 🥲 (It‘s ok though, I‘m in no rush)
Once again and old one that sadly remains very relevant. There's so much less work for artists these days and constant suggestions of getting a "real job" instead and it gives me nothing but nasty flashbacks.
This one is from 2022 when I decided to try drawing atmospheric landscapes 🌿
It's hard to find the will to draw when it's late at night and I'm tired and overstimulated after another day with my supernova toddler. But then I think about how people advocate for genAI use to make life simpler, and it gives me enough spite energy to keep drawing after all 😤
So far, work-wise, this year has been the worst since I started freelancing in 2018. I feel everyone’s struggle a lot right now… I have many thoughts I can’t quite articulate, so for now I’m just trying to sit tight and wait for any kind of change
The fun thing about scheduling posts is that sometimes I'll open Bluesky, see that there's new notifications, and get all excited like "Oh, did I post today? I wonder what it is 👀"
