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Hello everyone, As promised in my last blog post, today, I want to delve into my current journey as an illustrator and how I've adapted to the ever-changing digital landscape. As I mentioned before, losing my Instagram account was a turning point for me, and it made me re-evaluate my approach to sharing my work online. In this post, I'll discuss how I've diversified my online presence and focused on building my own website to regain control over my art and how it's presented. First and foremost, I've put a significant effort into expanding my website (foeshel.com). I wanted it to become a hub where people could explore my work and get to know me as an artist. To achieve this, I've added a few sections to the site. Along with my personal work gallery, which showcases a diverse selection of my illustrations, I've introduced a blog where I post articles about my thoughts, experiences, and current projects, combined with my illustrations. I see this blog as a window into my workflow and my way of thinking, giving my audience a more personal connection to my art. As I've realized that relying solely on one platform can be risky, I've made a conscious effort to diversify my presence online. I'm using TikTok to share short videos of my illustration process, creating both fun, edited clips and time-lapse videos to give viewers a glimpse into my creative world. While TikTok's future is uncertain, I still find it an engaging platform to showcase my work and potentially reach new audiences. I've also started using YouTube shorts, although not as extensively as I should. YouTube is a different animal altogether, with its focus on trending content, but it also has a long tail, meaning that people can discover your old videos and explore your entire catalogue. I plan to invest more time in YouTube shorts to grow my presence there and take advantage of this platform's potential. And then there's Twitter, a platform I initially wasn't fond of but have grown to appreciate. I use it as a hub to promote my work, directing people to new content on other platforms and my website. It also serves as a channel for direct communication with my audience. While I've added a comment section to my blog posts for feedback and interaction, I realize that it could potentially become a target for spam bots. If that happens, I'll remove it and encourage people to reach out via Twitter instead. In conclusion, my journey as an illustrator is ever-evolving, and I'm continuously learning and adapting to the changing digital world. By diversifying my online presence and investing time in my website, I've found a new sense of balance and growth in my art career. It's essential to prioritize your mental health and find a balance that works for you. Stay tuned for my next blog post, where I'll share some of my future plans and ideas. Until next time, thank you for your support, and please feel free to contact me via email, using the form on this site, or on Twitter.

Hello everyone, For a couple of decades... jeez I am getting old, I have been making illustrations so I have had the experience of going through a couple of phases in my career. In the past four years, I have focused on sharing my illustrations on Instagram, which has been a great way to reach a large audience and build a following. My insecurities have held me back. Before the age of 22, I never underwent any formal training or schooling, but that all changed when I was admitted into the animation program in Brussels. This was my second attempt to get into that university, and the teachers were straightforward about how much work I would need to put in. They were right, but this also built in an insecurity about the quality of my work. I always had this nagging feeling that I began to recognize as imposter syndrome. This is where Instagram helped me. I could post my images and build confidence in my work. It was a platform where, in the beginning, I could experiment and take risks without feeling any pressure. It did give me the freedom to create new works and experiment a little with techniques. Then you build a following and combine this with an algorithm, and you build some pressure for yourself. Because you want to make people happy with new illustrations. However, what gave me the biggest boost of confidence were the art fairs. This way I could connect with people directly and see their reactions to my work, and It was a reminder that art is meant to be shared and in my case experienced in a tactile way. As a kid of the nineties born in the early eighties, I spent many hours in my local video library going through VHS tapes and picking which four would go home with me that week. It was an adventure of discovery, and I loved the tactile experience of browsing through the boxes. A lot of times, horror flicks would go home with me because, in those days, many of them had illustrated covers. This was also the case with LP records going through the boxes, being mesmerized by the images. It was an adventure of discovery, and I loved the tactile experience of browsing through the boxes. This is why I like the square format. It was partly pushed by Instagram, but it reminded me a lot of those old records. So I came up with an idea of how people could browse my art at the art fairs. I made a box that could be split in two parts, and the square originals would be in plastic covers so people could browse them like old records. It's a reminder that art is not just viewed through a screen but experienced by holding it and looking at the pencil strokes. I've always found this lacking in the digital world, and it's something that I strive to bring back into my work. This is also why I shifted from digital mediums towards classical painting and ink illustrations. Seeing people's genuine reactions to my illustrations, particularly those of children, has been invaluable in building my confidence over time. Losing my Instagram account has been a weird feeling almost like a relief, as it forced me to rethink how I would share my work online. I realized how vulnerable it is to build a following on a platform you don't own, where rule changes or a hack can leave you with nothing. Instead, I've found a new sense of energy in building up my own website, where the connection with my readers and audience feels more direct. While I know I won't reach the same wide audience as on social media, I value the sense of community and connection here. I am still figuring out how to setup a comment section on my site, but in the meantime, please feel free to contact me via email, using the form on this site, or contact me through Twitter. Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will talk about discuss approach to building my art career and how it relates to my mental health. Remember, it's essential to find a balance that works for you and prioritize your overall well-being. If you want to read more, check out the other blogposts.

As an artist and illustrator, I've always been drawn to different styles and techniques, and over the years, I've experimented with a variety of mediums to create my unique artworks. In this post, I want to share with you some of the different styles I use, from my black and white pen and ink style to my latest love, Holbein Acryla Gouache. When I first came across the works of great artists like Gustave Dore, Francisco Goya, and Albrecht Dürer, I fell in love with the black and white pen and ink style. I was mesmerized by their intricate lines and the way they brought their subjects to life. Although I later found out that they were actually etchings, I continued to experiment with pen and ink to create my own unique style. Goya's depictions of demons and monsters and Mike Mignola's Hellboy, who played with blacks in such an incredible way, also served as a significant source of inspiration for me. Finding the perfect pens for my illustrations has been a journey as well, but I've finally settled on a few favourites. Micron black pens and Mitsubishi Unipen fineliners both provide rich, deep black pigments that are essential to my pen and ink style. Additionally, I've found Kuretake inks to be of great quality for refillable pencil pens. However, I always felt a nagging feeling that I wanted to experiment with color. I began to use digital coloring for my artworks, but I missed the feeling of creating originals. I tried watercolor, which I found to be a great medium to work with, but it had its limitations in terms of color palette and how it reacted to water when it dried. I also experimented with coloring pencils in the past, but it was too laborious for my liking, especially when it came to animation. I even tried adding Ecoline to my works, which offered a vibrant range of colors, but I didn't like how it reacted to water once dried. I eventually came across spray cans and began using them to make marketing materials for myself. This was a game changer for me because it introduced me to new ways to experiment with color and gradations. I also used black and white markers to add contrast and was pleased with the results. This resulted in a new style for my recycled spray cans, which had a strong graphic style and frequently conveyed political undertones. (More about this in the future.) Eventually, this style made its way onto paper, and I started creating separate images using the same techniques. But my search for the ideal color medium continued. I remembered a watercolor, gouache, and acrylic paint course I took during my education, and I decided to broaden my palette once more. I found that I loved gouache for its even, clean layers of paint, which gave my artworks a graphic, almost printed quality. However, gouache had its own limitations, such as a poor reaction to water once applied to paper. That's when I discovered Holbein Acryla Gouache, which has been a game-changer for me. This paint allows me to thin it like watercolor and lay it on thick and evenly. Once it dries, it has a matte and even finish, without the plastic feeling of acrylic paints. With its strong and varied pigments, I have finally found the perfect medium that suits my needs. However, as an artist, I know that the process of creating is never-ending. There will always be new styles to discover, new techniques to master, and new mediums to explore. And that's what makes being an artist so exciting, as there are endless possibilities to create something truly unique and beautiful.

As an artist, losing my Instagram page felt like losing a part of myself. All those connections and followers, some of whom I met at art fairs and others who started following me on Instagram, are now lost to me. But the show must go on, and with spring comes a new season. The art fairs will start up again. I need to update my marketing materials because they all still refer to my previous Instagram account, and I have a lot of fresh illustrations to show off. New business cards need to be printed as well. Let's just say that there is still work to be done. To keep everyone up to date on my work, I've set up a Twitter account (@Foeshel) to announce new content and where to find it. I'll also be posting work process videos on TikTok (@Foeshel), where I've even purchased a microphone and plan to speak despite the fear it brings. I'm following my own advice to my daughter that things are scary because they are new or because we need more practice. Both are correct in this instance, so on to new and scary things. These videos will also be shared on YouTube Shorts (Foeshel). It's a scary time, a new beginning, and another voice calling out in the void of the internet, hoping to be seen. Check out my personal website, www.foeshel.com, for more blog posts and to see all my new illustrations. And stay tuned for my upcoming newsletter - still figuring out the details on that one!

As an illustrator of children's illustrations, darker mature content, and comic art, I've dedicated years to building an online presence across social media platforms. However, my focus on Instagram meant that I didn't invest enough in other channels, which proved to be a vulnerability in the end. Recently, I suffered a setback that exposed the precariousness of building an internet presence. My Facebook account was hacked, and Facebook's automated system deleted my entire account, including my Instagram profile linked to it. Despite providing evidence of my innocence, I received no response from Facebook's customer support, and all my efforts to create, engage and connect with my audience were wiped out. This experience left me feeling frustrated and disappointed, knowing that I had not violated any community guidelines but had no means of proving it. The decision was made by Facebook's system, and there was no opportunity for me to appeal. The experience taught me the importance of diversifying my online presence by investing in other platforms, including my website, TikTok, and YouTube. To better reach my audience and protect my work, I am now putting more effort into these channels. I hope my experience serves as a reminder to fellow creators to diversify their online presence and avoid relying solely on one platform. Building an online presence is like climbing a steep mountain, and diversification can protect against the risks of losing everything in an instant. So, invest in multiple platforms and stay connected with your audience.