Falling Leaves, Pumpkins, and Inktober

Hi, guys! Have you ever heard of the Inktober challenge? Inktober was created in 2009 by mister Jake Parker as a challenge to develop positive drawing habits. Now, it's a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year. Inktober consists of 31 themes, one for each day of the month.

My friend Xavier, who is usually not that much into drawing but did find the courage to accept the challenge, asked me to join him in tackling the 31 Inktober tasks. Well... To be quite honest, I started much too late (I think it was October 14 when I made my first sketch), and I'm not even sure if I'll ever finish this project. However, it would be silly not to share my first doodles with you, because some of the themes somehow forced me to think outside of my comfort zone. :) I think the illustrations are rather funny and cute, and I hope you like them too.

See you next time!

Leen

Inktober Challenge #1: FAST, October 2016

Black pen on paper

Inktober Challenge #2: NOISY, October 2016

Black pen on paper

Inktober Challenge #3: COLLECT, October 2016

Black pen on paper

Inktober Challenge #4: HUNGRY, October 2016

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Inktober Challenge #5: CRY, October 2016

Black pen on paper

Inktober Challenge #6: HIDDEN, October 2016

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Inktober Challenge #7: LOST, October 2016

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Inktober Challenge #8: ROCK, October 2016

Black pen on paper

The Princess and the Knight

Hey, buddies! It's about time to post some new updates, don't you think? I haven't had much time to share my latest creations with you, but rest assured! Art and cosplay are currently taking up all of my spare time, and that's exactly the way it should be. :3 While most of the recent Katwalk artwork is - unfortunately - top secret material, I still have a lot of other creative stuff to share with you, so don't run away just yet!

About two months ago, I got an email from a Flemish girl named Sara. She is currently engaged to a very sweet boy called Bruno, who recently became a policeman. In order to congratulate her hubby-to-be on his new position, Sara sent me the following art request. She asked for a Disney-style drawing of Bruno (wearing his cool, new uniform, obviously) and herself (wearing a wedding dress). The caption of the illustration says "Liefde is... elkaars dromen waarmaken" ("Love is... to make each other's dreams come true") - first of all, because joining the police corps was Bruno's biggest wish and Sara supported him in every possible way to make his dream become a reality, and secondly, because Sara wanted to marry him and Bruno proposed to her. Aww!

On a side note, do you remember that Undertale drawing from a few weeks ago? A big Facebook page called The Undertale Fandom shared it with their followers, and it received more than 300 likes! That's a personal record, for sure. :)

Stay tuned, more updates are following very soon!

Leen

Sara and Bruno, September 2016

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A Tribute To Undertale

Hey, guys. I'm afraid I have become one of them. You know, an Undertale fangirl. I played the game three months ago and, needless to say, I had a heavy-hearted and lonely feeling after watching the credits (Music by Toby Fox, characters by Toby Fox, WHOLE FRICKING GAME by Toby Fox. Fabled Fox loves Toby Fox). Finishing Undertale is like finishing a really great book: for a second, you don't know what to do with your life anymore...

That is, until you discover the fanbase. Thank God for the Undertale fanbase! There's art, stories, comics, and Facebook pages. Undertale proves that you don't need fancy graphics, 50 hours of gameplay, or the help of famous voice actors to win the hearts of the masses. The Undertale universe goes well beyond our wildest imaginations, inspiring thousands of gamers to get creative and make the black-and-white 2D characters come to life.

So, here it is, my own tribute to one of the greatest RPGs of all time! It took me about 17 hours to finish, but I really enjoyed every bit of it. From top to bottom, left to right, you may recognise the following characters: Flowey, Muffet, Napstablook, Asgore, Alphys, Undyne, Mettaton, Toriel, Asriel, Papyrus, Sans, Frisk, and Temmie. I also put in a little hot dog and spaghetti reference. :) I'm really proud of this drawing, and I don't say that often. I hope you like it.

I completely forgot to update this blog, so I will be uploading more drawings soon! :)

Leen

A Tribute to Undertale, October 2016

Paint Tool Sai

Exit June, Enter July

Hello, guys! I haven't posted in a while, but I'm still alive. In fact, I have made several drawings over the past few weeks, and I have discovered a brand-new way of sharing my art with the outside world: live streams! I have hosted a number of creative sessions on Twitch - make sure you follow me, so you will receive email updates as soon as I go live again. :) I have to admit, it's so much fun to have a chat with random visitors. The community is really awesome, but I'm also very grateful that my friends regularly stop by to have a look at the drawing and talk with me.

So, what exactly have I been doing? Last time, I told you about a new children's book project. I would like to share my first three drawings with you, although I am not sure if I will post any other Katwalk-related drawings in the near future. I'm scared that, in the end, nobody will buy the book! Although the story will be worth it, I promise. ;) The forth drawing is a Generation 7 Pokémon illustration. The hype is real! Everybody is currently playing Pokémon Go by downloading the APK file illegally, and here I am, waiting for the official launch. So I have been drawing some Pokes instead. Like the good girl I am. *Sigh, I reaaally want to play that game!*

Take care, everyone! See you on Twitch, maybe?

Leen

Katwalk Drawing #1, June 2016

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Katwalk Drawing #2, June 2016

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Katwalk Drawing #3, June 2016

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Pokémon Generation 7, July 2016

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A New Beginning

Hi, guys! In one of my first blog posts, I showed you some of my illustrations for the Dromeria stories. Dromeria: Biggie and Dromeria: Lode were written by the Flemish author Marc Geyens. As you might know, I am not a professional artist. I work at a university and I just like to relax during the weekends with a big cup of tea and a nice piece of (digital) paper. Finishing two children's books was a pretty big accomplishment for me, as I don't really have a lot of spare time, but these projects also helped me grow as an artist and they gave me the motivation to continuously keep practicing my skills. Then again, I was not bound to any deadlines or schedules. Which is also a very good thing.

Lately, I have been thinking about working on a new children's book. In fact, my mother and I always used to say that we would release a children's book together, long before I actually illustrated my first one. And with all these great story ideas flowing through our brains, I think it is about time to make this a reality: my mom will write the story, and I will take care of the drawings! I already made a number of illustrations of some of our characters and I think these guys have a lot of potential. :D I'm curious to see where this project will bring us, but I certainly won't give up!

See you soon!

Leen

Concept Art, June 2016

Pencil on paper

Doodles Of May

Hello, guys! I just came back from a meeting in Madrid and I am already preparing for my next conference in Slovenia. To be quite honest, it's not really the best time ever to work on time-consuming digital projects, so I decided to just sit down with my sketchbook on my lap while watching American reality shows on MTV. Even though I lost a good amount of brain cells while staring at my television screen, I did manage to finish five new doodles, using nothing but a ballpoint pen! :) As you can see, I am very excited about the new starter Pokémon. My favourite new Poke is Litten, but I think the other designs look very promising, as well. What Pokémon will you start your adventure with?

See you soon!

Leen

Generation 7 Starter Pokémon, May 2016

Pen on paper

When Marnie Was There, May 2016

Pen on paper

Zidane (Final Fantasy IX), May 2016
Pen on paper

Kiki's Delivery Service, May 2016

Pen on paper

Joy and Sadness (Inside Out), May 2016

Pen on paper

What If Disney Animals Were Real People?

Lately, artists have been re-imagining Disney characters in many, MANY different ways. Think of Disney princesses who have been turned into handsome men, classic characters wearing today's fashion, an endless number of My Little Pony counterparts,... Well, I guess I've seen them all! :) Recently, my friend Eva showed me a series of drawings in which a number of Disney animals had been transformed into their humanized form. Oh my Bolt that is the best idea ever.

In this drawing, I show you my own attempt at humanizing the following characters: Marie (The Aristocats), Tumper (Bambi), Mushu (Mulan), Shenzi (The Lion King), Scar (The Lion King), and Pumbaa (The Lion King).

I did not use any references, except for the original Disney characters. My goal was to highlight some of the characters' key features, such as their hairstyle and body language. To be honest, I think that using colours would make them more easily recognizable. Think of red hair for Mushu and Pumbaa, grey and beige accents for Thumper, or Marie's pink ribbons. My personal favourite ones are Pumbaa and Mushu! They look so unique. :D What do you think?

See you!

Leen

What if Disney animals were real people?, May 2016

Pencil on paper

Disney Doodles, Part Two

Hi, guys! As you may already know, I am currently in the process of drawing my favourite cartoon and anime characters... which is, basically, a never-ending project that will keep me busy for quite a while. ;) Since I really enjoyed creating last week's Disney doodles, I have decided to draw some more Disney characters this weekend. What have we got today?

• First of all, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde from Zootopia. Unfortunately, I have not seen the movie yet - so it might indeed be a bit weird to say that they are my favourite cartoon characters. :) However, these guys look so awesome, I could simply not resist drawing them.
• Next up, Wreck-it-Ralph's adorable Vanellope von Schweetz, the ruler of the arcade game "Sugar Rush", before she was turned into a game-destroying glitch. Guys, you know how much I love Artificial Intelligence! Especially if they have delicious candy in their hair, omnomnom.
• Another very recent Disney movie that I've enjoyed was Inside Out, which tells the story of five anthropomorphic emotions inside a young girl's head. The complex relation between Joy and Sadness is easily one of the cutest and most original storylines I've seen in a long while.
• Finally, a golden oldie: Timon from The Lion King. After all these years, Timon is still as charming as ever. Hakuna Matata!

I can't wait to draw the next batch of characters. See you soon!

Leen

Disney Doodles #2, April 2016

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The Fan Art Project

Hey, guys! It has been a while. March has been a great, yet incredibly busy month. Our research group won an award for the Picto engine, and I have been stuck in Barcelona with Niels for almost one whole week. Well, of course, there are worse places to be stuck at. ;) Hola, where's my sangría?

Another important reason why I haven't been drawing much lately, is because I don't really have any interesting projects to work on. That's why I have decided to create a series of cute drawings featuring my favourite characters. And here's the first batch! As you can see, this one is Disney-themed (Guys, that's my very first Baymax right there! He's actually too easy to draw lolol), but I'm also looking forward to creating Pokémon sets, Harry Potter sets, Final Fantasy sets, etcetera. Heck, I have SO many favourite characters! The life of a fangirl is so tough. I guess this project will keep me busy for a little while. Do you have any favourite Disney characters?

See you next time!

Leen

Disney Doodles, April 2016

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Pokédoodles

2016 is a very special year for geeks who simply refuse to grow up! The first Pokémon games, Red & Blue (or Green in Japan) were released exactly 20 years ago. It's weird to think that this franchise is still alive and kicking. And while we, veterans, might not be too crazy about the newest generations of Pokémon, the television episodes are still a big hit amongst Belgian children. A few months ago, I was wearing a custom-made Pokémon bag during my "Draw With the Flow" workshop and two kids instantly recognized Fennekin, one of the more recent starter Pokémon. When I told them that my friends have been very big fans of the series for over 15 years and that we still like to play the Pokémon games, they were really surprised! SO. CUTE.

About one week ago, Nintendo released Pokémon Red and Blue in the 3DS eShop. I grabbed the Blue version for 10 euros. It is just wonderful to see that the game is still as charming as ever. The graphics might be very outdated, but the gameplay formula never gets old. In fact, the formula has never changed. So, here is my modest tribute to the old games: six Pokémon doodles. Drawn with my Eevee pencil, under the supervision of Raichu and Leafeon, two of my favourite Pokémon! I can't wait for another 20 amazing years.

See you soon!

Leen

Pokémon doodles, March 2016

Pencil on paper