My first book that I illustrated by Kaan Haktan Icel

Finally the book called ''Zaman Tursusu'' by Haktan Kaan Icel arrived! I worked on the illustrations for this cute amazing and adventures book for children (age: 8 or more). Its just so hard to explain how it feels to hold something that you worked for. I always wanted to experience this and wow it is totally one of the most satisfying thing to do in your life! Now it really feels real and gives me so much hope and motivation for my next projects! Thank you so much for giving this opportunity and choosing me to work on this book! (Timas Cocuk yayinlari (publisher) and the talented writer Haktan Kaan Icel)

Stylized Self-Portrait

I finally decided to do my own self portrait. But I really wanted to try a different style so I can experiment and challenge myself. I think normally its tougher to draw yourself because you always feel its not good enough or doesn't really look like yourself:) I did my best and I know that it is normal to struggle when you try something new. When you understand some techniques while you draw you feel so happy which drives me to try a new way :D So try to get out from your comfort zone when you feel your so comfortable with a style you have been using for a while ;)

She was my best friend...

This is another illustration that I did from one of my childhood memories. Between age of 2-7 I lived in USA because my dad had to work there in that time. I was just 2 years old when we moved to USA. Even I was very young I had some problems to make friends because I didn't know English. My mom said that in the first year of my school (I think it was kindergarden) I couldn't make friends. My mom told me once she visited the school and saw that I was playing by myself because when  I tried to go and play with others they said ''go away we don't want you play with us''. So I think it might effected me because my mom said I was always very courage and easy to talk with everyone even strangers:) After that incident I got a little shy. So I wanted to share one of my important memory with this illustration. I had this doll and I never left it in that time she was always with me even I didn't know English:)

My First Steps

I decided to illustrate couple of my childhood photos. So this is the first one which I am trying to learn how to walk :) I was scared but forcing myself anyways:) I learned so much from this illustration! This was the first time for me to design a baby character. I draw many sketches to capture the moment and the feeling of the baby.After that challenge I tried to use different brushes to give a natural look to the illustration and I found out that photoshop has many brushes for this which made me so happy! So every time I draw something I really learn and improve so much which is so exciting. I love this journey.

Portrait For A Friend

So this is another portrait work that I did for my friend. I enjoyed to paint this so much. Every time I do I portrait it has its own challenges which is a great thing. It means I am learning and improving much more every time I paint a different one. This was the first time I painted a portrait that includes facial expression (smiling ). Thats why this time it was different for me. First I struggled but in the end I figured it out. I will try different styles for portraits later so it can be another challenge for me.

Dreaming of Turkey - Cotton Castle

This is the second illustration that I designed for the ''Dreaming of Turkey'' series. In the beginning I draw more then one characters. But later I thought it will be fun to just have one character and use an emotion that can be related to what we feel. Sometimes we really need to just be away from everything and have some time with ourselves. For me sometimes I love to be alone and away from everything by going to a different place which is related to nature. I don't know if I mentioned it before but I am obsessed with nature. I acted like a child who is so curious and amazed for every single natural thing I see. So it might make other people get bored of the way I acted but sorry I can't stop myself:))  I know I had some feeling for nature before but it become more stronger when I move to New Zealand :)

In this illustration I used a place called Cotton Castle which is located in Turkey and it is made of travertine. You can learn more details in wikipedia. Its a very interesting place to visit and you can go into some of the pools. Because some of the area is protected by the UNESCO which made me feel so happy:) Because it was in a bad condition since so many tourists are visiting the area.

In these series I wanted to use ottoman empire characters because I thought it will give a different perspective than we usually know them. We are used to see them in a serious and realistic historical stories or media. So I though why not use this as an advantage and make people smile when they see middle eastern themes depicted in illustrations...

Dreaming of Turkey-Cappadocia

In my previous post I have shared two of my illustrations that I designed for the Auckland Art Festival. Totally I have prepared four designs. But I just had time to paint two of them in the festival. After the festival I decided to finish these illustrations. So this is the Cappadocia one which is my favorite. I did some adjustments for the composition, colors and shapes. So naturally because of the medium there is some differences between the glass painting and this digital painting.Now I will continue to the other illustrations for the ''Dreming of Turkey'' series.

Tioka Toi - Dreaming of Turkey

 Today I had the opportunity to be an artist in Auckland Arts Festival's Family Day event! Before the event I did my research and sketches to come up with whimsical and fun illustrations. I decided to show my origin culture so people who joined the event can get the taste of Turkish culture. Originally I prepared 4 illustrations for this event so if I have spare time I can draw the rest. But in total 5 hours including the break times I finished 2 of my illustrations. But It was so fun and children loved my creations which made me so happy. So in this event I did two illustrations one was about Cappadocia with whimsical dreamlike hot air balloons including with sultans. The other one was about Maiden Tower which I got inspired from a legend that is related to this tower.

 Also I have prepared two coloring sheets for the children. When I am painting they had the option to color them or draw on the chalk boards which where next to my glass painting.

 I started with Cappadocia concept as you see in this photo. As this was my first experience on painting on a glass it was a bit challenging to control the pens but it had its own unique way to handle it. So I just used the advantage and colored in with texture. Also when you paint on a glass you need to think about the negative space more then you do. It is so much fun and interesting to paint some areas and leaving others with just outlines and making people to enjoy looking through the glass. Empty areas can give you the advantage of spontaneity of background colors because the glass is transparent so you just let the background decide the color for you:)  

 As you see you can REALLY take ADVANTAGE of the NEGATIVE SPACE :))

 I mentioned that children had the opportunity to use the chalk board so you can see they really enjoyed and create their own designs.

 I always wanted to illustrate Cappadocia in a interesting and fun way and I finally did it! :)

 By the way it was so hot so that was the only disadvantage for me but of coarse it was worth it!!! Now I have a good trace of it on my skin :))

 Sarah and Morgan were the volunteer in this event and they were super helpful! They were very helpful and friendly. Thank you so much for making this experience more fun and easier. They were so engaging with children and I saw they played and talked with them and had so much fun.

 This one is the Maiden Tower illustration that I prepared for this event. As I said before I got inspired from one of the Maiden Tower's legends. The name of the story is ''The Princess''. One day a fortune teller makes a prediction to the King that his daughter (princess) will day by a snake. After learning this, King made a castle built so the princess can be safe. But he couldn't protect her because the snake was hiding in a fruit basket which is sent from King's castle. So the fortune becomes true.

In this one I just used the story as an inspiration and made my own way of depiction. The snake is trying to kill the sultan's daughter but soldiers are there to save her by using bow.

 Here me and my husband just having fun with my art:)

 One of the volunteer is having fun with a child by using the negative space of the glass:) This was a great way to interact with children.

 There were other events around the festival and this one was one of the most interesting activity for me. I really want to learn to do fabric painting by using those wood blocks. I want to design my own patterns! So it was great to see this which made me more excited about this tool.

In this event they also had music. I loved this band because they were wearing fun costumes and playing instruments that I am in love with :) Also in the morning there were a group of Maori students singing their traditional song. I felt so happy and emotional ... I really felt goosebumps! I think I easily feel happy and emotional in little things :) Happiness is in the simple things! I always believe in that...

Today was fun, inspirational and I learned so much! I am very lucky to be part of this event! Thank you to everyone who was involved in this lovely, magical, amazing day!

Aphrodite

I started to design Ancient Greek Characters and this is the first one.This time I am trying a different style which was challenging but I learned some important lessons from it. It is always fun to learn new things.

Illustration for one of my best friend

This is one of my best friend and she is an amazing musician! She also plays bass, drums and piano and is also a vocalist. Her website is http://www.burcuozdereli.com .

I used her photo reference to paint this image. I had so much fun with every part of it. Also I played with lights to make it more interesting and dramatic. This really helped the overall mood.