Vivaldi

Vivaldi was a special hamster for SineCera Hamsters and I was happy to hear that they wanted me to do a portrait of him. I finished this drawing last week: Vivaldi in his last days.

Vivaldi • pastel • 20 x 30 cm.

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Three in a row

Finished today, this portrait of three hamsters in a row.

Pastel, format A3
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AW: General Lee

Last week I finished this portrait of General Lee, sitting in front of the Rebel Flag. I've already handed it over to the client and they were very happy about the result!

General Lee, pastel, format A4

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Happy Animal Wednesday!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

Wanted to post this yesterday but my body disappionted me so there was no time/energy to sit behind my computer yesterday.

Hope you all have had a wonderful Easter!

(photo: my hamster Sensa. Inspired by the annual photo-shoots by Martin Braak)

AW: Noa

Yesterday I finished this drawing of Noa, I was commissioned to do. Noa was very special to her owner: she was only 13 days old when she was rejected by her mother. Therefore Noa was raised by hand. She reached the age of 2 years and 8 months.

Noa, pastel (20 x 30 cm)

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Happy Animal Wednesday!!

Winter white

It has been some time that I've posted anything on my blog. I couldn't get myself to drawing/painting, but now I hope (and feel) soon I'll be drawing again! In the mean time, one of my hamsters died. Very suddenly, she wasn't ill.

And one of my other hamsters is turning white - she is getting a winter-white-fur. Although she loves to sleep during these dark days, she is always prepared to wake up for a little snack.

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Logo design

Some time ago, I got an e-mail from a hamster-breeding stable, Sine Cera. They focus on quality rather than quantity - their offspring is healthy and when youngsters are born, they get a lot of attention, which make them great pets. And they wanted me to design a new logo!

This is the result:

Of course there had to be a hamster in the logo. The colour was chosen because of the line of breeds they have ('gold'colored hamsters).

This logo will be used on T-shirts, all their print work and, of course, their site: I've also designed the new banner for the site - go and take a look at their site!

Welcome!

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Since last week Arya and Sansa are living with us. They are sisters and are about 10 weeks old. Arya only has 3 legs. Probably something went wrong during birth and was the mother forced to pull her out, that is when her leg was cut of. But there are no signs that Arya is bothered with that: she runs (well... it's more wobble) around and loves good snacks.

Maya has drawn the winner!

Thank you all for joining my blog give-away to celebrate the 5th anniversary of my blog! As promised, Maya has drawn two names who will get an ATC. To show you how unprejudiced she has been, we filmed the drawing!

I tried to add nice music, but that doesn't work (yet).

Inge and Teri C are the winners!

Of course Maya deserved a treat afterwards:

And to show that everybody had a chance to win: here are all the names.

Delilah

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Today I finished this portrait I was commissioned to do. It is Delilah, a beautiful hamster from Hamstery Sine Cera.

Tattoo design

A friend of mine was so grieved when she lost her hamster (Appie was his name), she wanted something to remember him. So she decided it should be a tattoo. A tattoo of his footprint as the symbol of the 'footprint' he left on her. I designed this tattoo and is done in graphite and colour pencil. Next week the real tattoo will be placed. I can't wait to see it.

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AW: goodbye Caprica :(

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Yesterday evening I found her, lying in her nest... she left me :(

She wasn't sick, gave me no indications it would be over soon. 

She came here about half a year ago; she and her sibblings were found on the doorstep of an animalshelterplace. No one knows something about her background. I took her in when she was 8 weeks old. She never grew to be a round and big hamster - she was a tiny, tiny hamster.

Goodbye Caprica :(

Animal Wednesday: Welcome Leela

Since last Monday, Leela is living here. She's only about 8 weeks old and I think she is adorable. She already is OK with me picking her up. I hope she'll be with us for a long time!

Animal Wednesday: Athena

Not much 'animal news' here. Just started with a new dog portrait. You can follow the progress on the left, at 'on my desk'. And the other things are just going as they go, and I crave for some spring and sun! 

But my hamsters don't mind the season. I photographed Athena, she has a kind of winter fur (more white than usual) and she still enjoys her mealworms. As you can see she'll come out of her safe coconut house to get some.

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Animal Wednesday: pretty hamster

Is it Animal Wednesday again? Ow, a camera - I have to look nice for all the viewers...

Happy Animal Wednesday!

Animal Wednesday: hamster present

In the Netherlands every year on 5th December we traditionally celebrate "Sinterklaas", patron saint of Amsterdam. He and his white horse arrive in his boat from Spain and brings presents for all the children. Chocolate letters and chocolate coins are often accompanied with these presents. Read more about our Sinterklaas-feast at Wikipedia.

Why this historical information: a friend of mine has taken, in the spirit of this feast, wonderful pictures of his hamsters:

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Both pictures © Martin Braak

View more of this series of wonderful pictures at Martin's blog (in Dutch).
Thank you Martin, for letting me use these pictures on my blog!

Happy Animal Wednesday!

Animal Wednesday: welcome Athena

Since last Sunday Athena is living with us. She is an almost 6 weeks old Russian dwarfhamster and she is beautiful. She still has to get used to me and my hands, but I am sure that will work out.

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Animal Wednesday: hamster Ivan

Yesterday I finished this double portrait of hamster Ivan, which I was commissioned to do.

Happy Animal Wednesday!

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Animal Wednesday: a movie

Last week I got an invitation to participate as member in Animal Wednesday and I felt so honored.

So here it is, my first contribution to Animal Wednesday: an old movie I made in 2006 of my Roborovskii-hamsters. They could do this for hours!

Enjoy!

Work in Progress

A few weeks ago I finished the drawing of hamster Yesse, in pastel. During the making of this drawing I took some snapshots for a 'Work in Progress'. I put all these snapshots together and combined them into a small 'movie'.

Enjoy: