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2023

An altogether different project.

After thinking about it for quite some years, I finally did it! I have moved away from Amsterdam to a lovely small city in the province of Friesland. Moving studio after 35 years and resettling in a totally different place isn't done in a few weeks or months. It took me more than a year to get things up and running again.
One thing is certain. I'm out of the rat race. However, I am picking up work on my book and some small unfinished 2D animation projects.
Everything done at a slower pace, in a healthier and friendlier place.

 

2020

Projects done and new developments.

After spending a good year building 3D web applications and publishing some projects, it's time to take it further into the realm of Virtual and Augmented Reality.
The software I use and recent technical developments make this an attractive venture.

I had some unpleasant VR experiences in earlier years, but during the Verge3D and Blender conferences last year, I had the chance to have truly great VR experiences. It took away my previous doubts about creating for VR and wearing such a weird headset.

My first VR project is now ready and works with all devices that support WebXR VR. Check it out!

 

My interactive children's book entered the stage where I could bring all the bits and pieces together and create a structured workflow. I aimed to do all my storyboarding, animatics, final artwork, and animations in Blender, which supports both 2D and 3D art creation since the last few years. It makes it possible to work in a small team or, like at the moment, tackling everything all by myself.

 

2019

Creating WebGL applications

This year, many great developments in the software I'm using for my projects made me think of a way to bring my old interactive Flash animations back to the web again. These were 2D animations but I thought it would be feasible to use Blender and Verge3D to get the job done.

After sharing my experiences on the process with the Verge3D team I was asked to give a presentation on this subject during a Verge3D conference in the Netherlands. I was nervous about this but in the end, all went well and it was a joy to meet with developers and creators from all over the world. When I was asked to also make a video tutorial about this, I thought, why not give that a try as well.

My talk is on YouTube and my tutorial is on Vimeo.

You can find the featured Card Deck Theatre application in the Animation and 3D Project sections on this site.

All of my WebGL applications here are proofs of concept and in constant development. They may be updated regularly with new or improved features and animations.

Work on my interactive children's book is going on in parallel to these projects.

Any time to do other things than my work? Hardly! Something quite common amongst my fellow creators...

 

2018

Encouragement

In fall 2017, I attended my first Blender Conference It was one of the most invigorating experiences of my life.

Blender is an open source extremely versatile 3D creation and animation program with a great and quickly growing international community of developers and users.

Imagine what happens when a bunch of those people from around the world meet up to attend presentations and lectures, exchange ideas, experience, and knowledge. In the middle of autumn, the air was buzzing with energy, light, joy, and creativity.

This overwhelming experience helped me to exchange ideas, be encouraged by witnessing the progress of projects of fellow attendees, improve the projects I am currently working on, and keep on track.

A year later, while attending the Blender Conference 2018, although I didn't expect it, I found the bubbling excitement even stronger! Also of course because I could meet my Blender friends again.

My decision was clear. In the coming years, I will mainly focus on 2D and 3D animation and building 3D experiences for the web.

 

During the past 2 years alongside my other ventures, I have started work on a fully illustrated inter active children's book. I will use Blender's new Grease Pencil 2D animation feature and Verge3D for it. Both of them fearly new and in constant development, which I think adds an extra dimension to this project.

 

2017

Road to 2D and 3D animation.

After building highly customised websites for several clients, writing a lot of web language (Javascript, css, php, html) and after finishing building the website for signshop.amsterdam it was time to turn back to my own creative work. My mind was overflowing with creations and my studio and computer filled up with sketches, written stories, 3D characters, and small 2D animations.

In 2017 I decided to completely dedicate my time to further developing my own creations and stopped taking on commissions. I had to concentrate on my illustrated children's book (for print and as an immersive interactive 3D web application) and bringing my 2D and 3D characters to life in animations. For 2D animation I used the excellent program Moho Pro but 3D animation was a different thing....

During the last few years I used 3D creation programs like zBrush and 3D-Coat to build my 3D characters and prepare them for animation.

3D animation is complex and therefore going back and forth between different programs to get the job done is part of the trade. One's computer skills become very flexible through the process but it's not an ideal situation. I tried out 3D animation programs like Lightwave, Poser Pro, Maya, Blender, Houdini. All are great programs and each has its pros and cons.

 

In spring 2017 I (re-)embraced Blender. Blender – founded by Ton Roosendaal – is a free and open source program that has made tremendous leaps in its development. It enjoys an enthusiastic and growing community of technically highly skilled, highly creative, helpful contributors and users.

Learning and using Blender has become a joy. By the end of this year I will be able to publish some work in progress.

 

If you are an aspiring 3D artist and animator, I would highly recommend climbing Blender's steep learning curve. A steep learning curve is part of animation anyway. Be persistent and the rewards will be enormous.

 

2015

Up and running again!

A few years ago after two small accidents and some unfortunate circumstances, I found myself not being able to walk, work and function without considerable pain. Also drawing became almost impossible due to the injury.
Luckily with the right therapy given by a great team of fantastic people, I slowly recovered. Unfortunately keeping my part-time job turned out to be too demanding and hampered my full recovery. In 2015 after a period of trying and trying I decided to give up this job and fully devote my energy to recovery and completely returning to my creative projects. That's how I could turn something unfortunate into something fortunate.

 

During the last few years I did manage to work on a number of mostly technical commissions: Building a few Responsive Websites with animations, sound and social-media feeds for advertisement and design studio SameSame and an iPhone app "Cardcha", designed by multi-talented composer-designer Eelco Claassen of theming company ThemeSake, for which I wrote all code. I also helped some clients with building and securing their WordPress website.

The projects were gratifying but now that I am able to draw again I will focus more on 2D and 3D character design, rigging, and animation. Working with 2D animation programs and 3D programs like Moho Pro, zBrush and Blender is a time consuming but fantastic experience. It combines all of my interests and skills: drawing, painting, sculpting and technical logic so it's a natural leap to take into the future.

 

2010

No more painting?

My computer has won! After my last exhibition at Kunsthuis Theo Hubens in the lovely city of Maastricht, I mostly spent long periods at my computer writing code, developing interactive animations and working on websites for clients.

After the crisis in 2008, I had to take on a part-time job because some of my clients ran into bankruptcy and being a full-time freelancer wasn't a realistic endeavour anymore.

I did enjoy the job and I could combine it well with my freelance work. Besides that, it gave me a financial basis to work on my own projects and spend more time venturing into 2D and 3D animation, a desire I had for a long time.

Characters for my animations were living in my head and on many sketches I made over the years. Now, with new technical developments and skills, I could bring them to life.

It also meant that I had to make a choice in favour of the computer. After all, there are only a limited number of hours in a day...

Does it mean no more painting?

No, certainly not! 2D and 3D animation projects require a lot of digital painting and drawing. It only means my oil-paints and brushes will stay untouched for a long while.

 

2005

Easel or computer?

Besides working a lot for a client on diverse digital projects, during the last period I dived into Flash animation and perfecting my general web-building skills.

Spending most of my time at my computer I doubted whether I shouldn't be working more at my easel or drawing table. So many drawings and paintings are waiting to be finished, so many new ideas to explore and develop, both on paper and canvas and the computer. What to do when.....

What should I do? Work at my easel and drawing table or behind my computer? Probably a question many artists ask themselves nowadays.

A commission to paint the portrait of professor Anna Sågvall Hein, Dean of the Faculty of Languages at Uppsala University in Sweden drew me back to my easel. Painting Anna and the warm welcome I received in Uppsala were a wonderful experience.

I thought my easel had won, especially after an inspiring stay in "Barrancas de Gebbas" in Spain. But it had not. Freelance computer work quickly took over. A good thing, a bad thing?

 

I don't know!