And the beginning of a new.

I am referring to “Pencil Drawing Adventures” of course. As you might have noticed, I rebranded my site and social media recently. “Joanna Vu Pencil Art” had become “JoannaVu Art & Design” to include most of my current work which unfortunately isn’t pencil work…

It’s kinda sentimental actually because for me everything started with a pencil. I feel that the pencil is the natural extension of my hand, drawing seems the only logical thing to do. 🙂

So what happened?

Well, life happened. And pencils got a break. Actually it started a long time ago. Soon after becoming accustomed to pencil drawing, I took up digital painting. In the meantime I started a company with my husband, where I had to do a lot of digital design. (Yep yep yep it’s codeheaven studios!) However I was determined to keep my pencils sharp as well.

And then, two years ago, we had our daughter! Everything became more difficult work-wise, but still manageable. I was working at a slower pace but still felt productive. With some changes. I rarely used a computer any more, most of my work was done on an iPad Pro. My pencil work was done on the kitchen table, as my drawing room became my daughter ‘s room. And while traditional drawing was becoming more and more difficult, I became interested in tattoo design, as an alternative way to express my creativity…

Then, 2,5 months ago, we had another baby. And things changed again. For a while I tried to keep up with everything. But it is practically impossible.

What now?

Now I have made peace with myself. I know that the next years will be devoted to my family. Sometimes I feel my life is over. Fortunately I come quickly to my senses . Whatever free time I have, (usually before sleeping at night!) I devote to digital stuff, tattoo design and font making.

When I feel the inevitable urge to grab my pencils, it never ends well. I stay up all night (which are sleepless anyway due to my newborn), set up the drawing table (which is also the kitchen table), manage a couple of hours before someone in the house wakes up, then un-set up the kitchen table, so that it will be ready for the next day, spend the day as a zombie (which I usually am anyway) and keep telling myself that I will never do it again. Whew!

So, yes, news are not good for “Pencil Drawing Adventures”. That’s why I went as far as rebranding, renaming and reimagining my site, to include most of my current work. And who knows? Maybe in a year or two I will be able to draw again. 🙂

For now, goodbye Joanna Vu Pencil Art, welcome Joanna Vu Art and Design.