djamilaknopf

November Reward

Hello friends!

I just sent out the rewards via private message. As always, they include my brushes (Photoshop and Procreate), Gradient Maps, and a 10% discount code for my store.

The layered PSD file, step-by-step images, inspiration/reference are taken from my illustrations "Funaya" and "Mountain temple" that I created in November as part of a little series of landscape paintings. I hope you'll like the bundles!

Everyone who has signed up before the end of November should h...

New Artwork + Calendar Info

Hello friends!

I just finished the painting I shared yesterday, which means that it will be included in the next round of rewards. I'm going to send that out on Friday! So it will be this painting, creatively titled "Mountain Temple", and the artwork with the little houses on the water, "Funaya". 

Also, I wanted to let you know that I ordered a few spare calendars for emergencies during the preorder. But now that we have shipped all of the orders, I can put them up in the sho...

Work in Progress

Hello friends! 

I just wanted to share this sketch with you before I finish the painting tomorrow. It's the fourth in a little series of lanscape paintings I've worked on recently. These are the other ones:

2022-11-29 20:58:17 +0000 UTC View Post

I need your opinion!

Hello friends,

For next year, I'm planning on creating another online class. The one I'm currently teaching is called "Story-Driven Illustrations" https://schoolism.com/courses/illustration/story-driven-illustrations-djamila-knopf  and it covers everything I know about creating illustrations, from ideation to colour, composition, perspective and more.

2022-11-25 13:46:06 +0000 UTC View Post

Komorebi Art Book Discount

Hello friends! 

I just quickly wanted to let you know that you can get my art book "Komorebi" for 20% off at https://store.3dtotal.com/products/komorebi-the-art-of-djamila-knopf-special-anniversary-edition.

If you’re supporting 3dtotal, you’re also giving to a good cause, because they donate 50% of net profits to charity.

Btw, toda...

New Artwork: Funaya

Hello friends!

I hope you're doing well. It's a bank holiday where I live, so it's super quiet outside for a change. It was the perfect day to finish a little painting. 

I love the sea and fluffy clouds, and the houses are based on"Funaya", boat houses,  that you can see in places like Ine in Japan. The painting will be included in the next round of rewards and I hope you like it! 

Recent Sketches

Hello friends!

I'm sharing a couple of sketches with you today. These past few years, I haven't dedicated a lot of time to simple pencil drawings, and instead, focused on more elaborate illustrations. But I sometimes have to remind myself how much I love working with just lines and a bit of shading here and there. Not everything I start has to turn into a huge painting. So I've been creating little drawings like these recently, just for myself.

The first drawing was done in Procre...

October Reward

Hello friends!

I just sent out the rewards via private message. As always, they include my brushes (Photoshop and Procreate), Gradient Maps, and a 10% discount code for my store.

The layered PSD file, step-by-step images, inspiration/reference are taken from my "Misty Lake" painting, and I have added a process video for the illustration I'm currently working on. It shows how I draw the detailed sketch for it. I hope you'll like it!

Everyone who has signed up before the end o...

Work in Progress - Basic Colour Scheme

Hello friends!

I've made some more progress on my current illustration. I went for warmer colours around the buildings (relative to the blue water), but the next step is going to be adding blue highlights, a subtle glow and caustics effects all around the scene. And rendering textures, lots and lots of textures! 

Stay tuned. 

New Work in Progress

Hello friends!

Are you ready to be hit over the head with a super detailed sketch?

I've been working on this one for about a week now, so I really hope you like it! It's a continuation of the underwater series I started in summer, and it includes the gigantic jellyfish I introduced in another painting. 

For this one, I had the idea to paint an underwater market, like the one in the book "The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea" (which was inspired by Spirited Away). I didn't ...

Misty Lake

Hello friends!

I hope you're well. 

Not too long ago, I shared the little painting I did of the rice fields and train station. This one was equally quick and fun. I loved painting the mist and distant mountains, and it felt great to tackle something simple for a change! I'll include the layered psd and all in the next round of rewards. 

But I'm also working on a bigger piece and I can't wait to show you the line art very soon!

Tree House Sketch

Hello friends!

I'm trying to get back into the groove after coming back from Lightbox Expo. I've had such a good time there, met lots of amazing people, but the jetlag was rough! Only got 3-4 hours of sleep per night the entire time I was there. So I'm taking things slowly now. 

I shared a table with my friend Sarah Buchholz (@papilionism) and she took care of business while I was running around doing panels and talks. This is us at Lightbox:

2022-10-20 20:07:34 +0000 UTC View Post

Interior Drawing

Hello friends!

I don't know if you remember those few photobash concepts I created back in 2020. I just found them in a folder and remembered that I never did anything with them. But I didn't feel like adding colour, and instead focused on the lines and shading. Personally, I love the simplicity of pencil drawings and I believe that not everything needs to be coloured and rendered all the time. 

Though this is not real pencil, it's the HB Pencil that comes with Procreate.

September Reward

Hello friends!

I just sent out the rewards via private message. As always, they include my brushes (Photoshop and Procreate), Gradient Maps, and a 10% discount code for my store.

The layered PSD file, step-by-step images, inspiration/reference are taken from my illustration above, and I've also included some exclsive sketches and process videos. I hope you'll like them!

Everyone who has signed up before the end of September should have received either the reward or a message...

New work in progress!

Hello friends, 

How are you today? I've been taking my time gathering my thoughts to come up with things to paint. Turns out that I'm already in a cozy mood, which makes me want to make some artwork inspired by autumn and Dark Academia. 

The scene is based on a street corner in Edinburgh. I took some creative license with the elements in the scene and changed them up. I also tried to make the lines a bit imperfect and wobblier than usual, to give the piece some character...

2023 Calendar Release

Hello friends! 

I'm excited to announce that I'm releasing a calendar again this year! 

You can find it here: https://www.djamilaknopf.com/store
And don't forget that you can use your 10% discount code you received with the rewards. 

PRODUCT INFO:  
8.3 x 11.7 in / 210 x 297 mm
printed on 300 g/m² glossy paper   

The cale...

August Reward

Hello friends!

I just sent out the rewards via private message. As always, they include my brushes (Photoshop and Procreate), Gradient Maps, and a 10% discount code for my store.

The layered PSD file, step-by-step images, inspiration/reference are taken from both illustrations you see above. I hope you'll like them!

Everyone who has signed up before the end of August should have received either the reward or a message asking them to update their credit card details because t...

Coral Reef - New Artwork

Hello friends!

Phew, this paintings caused me more headaches than I expected. That coral reef proved to be super complicated and detailed. I didn't really know how to approach it and spend a good amount of time repainting various parts of it. Working with pastel colours was a lot of fun though! 

I hope you like it. Here is a close-up of the characters because they ended up tiny:

New work in progress

Hello friends!

I'm working on the third piece in my underwater series. I wanted to paint a big colourful coral reef. I hope you like it so far!

New Artwork - Early Access!

Hello friends, 

I felt like painting something simple and soothing, and a waterfall in the forest felt like exactly the right thing. This might also be the tiniest character I've drawn so far. 

I hope you like it!

July Reward

Hello friends!

I just sent out the rewards via private message. As always, they include my brushes (Photoshop and Procreate), Gradient Maps, and a 10% discount code for my store.

The layered PSD file, step-by-step images, inspiration/reference are taken from my illustration "Beneath the Sea". I hope you'll like it!

Everyone who has signed up before the end of July should have received either the reward or a message asking them to update their credit card details because thei...

New Artwork!

Hello friends, 

I just finished this painting, and even though it's nothing crazy or complex, I really like how it turned out. 

During the process, I added a second character to balance out the composition, and I shifted the colour scheme from turquoise towards blue. 

I hope you like it! 

New WIP - Early Access

Hello friends!

I'm working on something new and maybe a little weird: a house in the shape of a jellyfish. I've been playing with AI lately (Dall-E, Midjourney and Disco Diffusion), and it inspired me to explore a couple of prompts that are out of the ordinary. This concept is one of the results. So I guess you can expect a few experimental paintings in the near future. 

Also, I'm sticking to the underwater theme for now!

June Reward

Hello friends!

I just sent out the rewards via private message. As always, they include my brushes (Photoshop and Procreate), Gradient Maps, and a 10% discount code for my store.

The layered PSD file, step-by-step images, inspiration/reference are taken from my underwater illustration that still remains untitled until I make up my mind. I hope you like it!

Everyone who has signed up before the end of June should have received either the reward or a message asking them to upd...

Underwater - Early Access

Hello friends, 

I was able to finish this quicker than I had expected, and I'll be sending out the rewards tomorrow (PSD file, steps etc.).

I'm very pleased with the result and I honestly don't know why I've never painted an underwater scene before. It was a lot of fun!! I'm so looking forward to seeing this on the visitors' badges at Lightbox Expo this year. 

Btw, "Underwater" is just a working title. If you have a better suggestion, let me know.&...

Rewards will be slightly delayed

Hello friends!

I went on a little vacation on a beautiful island, and that's why I haven't been able to complete my latest painting just yet. I'm arriving back home tonight, and I'll have it done by the end of the week at the latest. Then I can send out the rewards.
I'm sorry about the delay, but it was time for me to take a break.

Book Talk

I read a few more books since the end of April, so let’s talk about them! Looking at the list below, I didn’t have a very good track record in my choices, because most of them landed in the “not my thing” category. But sometimes, that happens.

Small disclaimer upfront: My favourite genres are literary fiction and magic realism, and I love stories that are set in East Asia. I don't exclusively read these things, but they're what I enjoy most at the moment and they might mak...