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Sylvia Strijk

@strijkdesign / strijkdesign.tumblr.com

Freelance artist. Crafter of pretty things. In love with design, illustration, photography and art.
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"Sakura"

In the garden's hush, 'neath twilight's pall, Cherry blossoms sway, a silent thrall. Their petals whisper soft goodbyes, In mirrored depths where dreams arise.

With mournful grace, on mirrored sheen, The blossoms pirouette, then fall unseen. For in their bloom, they dance, they sigh, But all too soon, they fade and die.

In hues of pink and fragile white, They paint the waters with soft light. Even as they grace the water's gleam, Their fate is sealed, a fleeting dream.

Like whispers lost in evening's glow, In nature's cycle, swift they go. Each blossom, a reminder clear, Of life's ephemeral veneer.

In every fall, a solemn plea, To cherish moments, let them be. For life, like blossoms, swift and fleet, In moments past, we find it sweet. ...

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To kick off #MerMay, I enjoy reflecting on my top mermaid artworks from the past 6 years. Each piece symbolizes a year of personal growth. I'd love to know which one stands out to you.

I took a brief hiatus from creating mermaids last year, but I plan to be more active this May, so stay tuned for some new pieces ;)

You can find prints of these paintings in my Inprnt shop

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"Green knight"

The tale of the Green Knight really resonated with me. I just loved the image of this imposing emerald figure striding through a snow-covered forest, its path leading to Camelot. I made this painting for the upcoming Bad Apple art auction, which is centered around the theme of "Arthurian Legend". The auction will start at 5 PM EST on March 28 on the BA Facebook page.

The painting is 21 x 30 cm (incl. white border) on 300gr aches watercolour paper. It's created with a mixture of watercolour, markers, coloured pencils and gouache

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A set of ghostly woman wandering the garden at night for this month's Bad Apple auction :) I wanted all of them to fit with the night garden theme but make them 2 sets of twins so I could experiment a bit with different colour schemes.

Each artwork is 2.5 x 3.5 inches on 290g/m Hahnemuhle cold-pressed watercolour paper. They will be available at our online Bad Apple Artist Collective auction this February 26th, 22u GMT till February 29th! All pieces in this auction will start at $25 with no BINs.

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A while back I started working on a new cover for Ninja Paap-Luijten. I'm happy to share the end result now it's available. For any Dutch fantasy lovers it's available at any Bookshop in the Netherlands, or you can buy it directly from her to get your hands on a signed copy ;)

Bestel een gesigneerd exemplaar >hier<

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"Girl with wolf in autumn"

I had a great time working on this piece. Instead of sticking to my usual traditional or digital methods, I decided to do a digital paint-over of the original mixed media study, just like I did with my "Green Witch" painting. I really enjoy this process, although I need to give myself more time to work on a single piece.

I'll be putting the original study up for sale later this week, with a first dibs on my Patreon.

Signed prints of this artwork are available on my Etsy shop.

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"Ancient Pact"

As the Chinese New Year approaches, bringing with it the auspicious Year of the Dragon, I'm thrilled to announce the launch this years first Bad Apple Art Auction, titled "Year of the Dragon." This special event will take place this Sunday, January 28th, at 10 pm GMT, and run through January 31st.

And for this special occasion, I've been inspired to create a mixed media painting titled "Ancient Pact". Featuring a forest dwelling dragon and its priestess, a tribute to the harmony between two mythical beings. This artwork will be among the treasures up for grabs during Bad Apple's upcoming auction.

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I've finally taken the plunge and started my own Patreon page! Why, you ask? Well, I love sharing my work, and I'll keep doing that for free. But Patreon feels like a nice way for those who enjoy what I do to support me if they want.

For those awesome souls willing to support me on Patreon, I want to give a little extra love. Expect behind-the-scenes glimpses, work in progress, sketches, and more.

If you're curious, you can now find a step-by-step version of my painting "Flow" on my Patreon—check it out

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"Winter lights "

I took a little break from my socials after the holidays. Now I'll be back to my regular schedule. During my break I dedicated some of my time to the #WondrousWinterTales art challenge. Although I am a bit behind in sharing them, I would like to share my painting inspired by the first prompt, "Antler Crown & Winterlight." I aimed to evoke a fairy tale atmosphere and experimented with different rendering techniques.

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I can't believe I haven't shared this one yet, I made this earlier in the year as a tshirt keychain design. It's a bit different from my usual style and inspired by my love for a certain anime movie. Any guesses on which one? 🎬

Psst! You can snag stickers and keychains of this cutie on my Etsy.

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