May I introduce Joya, Taki and Ryu to you?

May I introduce you to Joya, the pink unicorn, Taki the yellow tiger and Ryu the blue dragon to you? 



As I told you before, I am a big fan of the creative online courses on Domestika.org and buy them like candies: ENOUGH! : ) Now it’s time to implement! 



I love mascots and maybe you know, in Japan, my second home, they are CRAZY about cute characters. Every city has their own mascot, every sports team - of course, every brand… mascots everywhere! And think hello kitty, pokémon, all the manga characters you name it. 



Do you experience the same excitement for cute illustrations where you live? Well, I can tell you: Switzerland is NOT in this game. We are not playful ; ). No, nooo, it’s not THAT bad, but compared to Japan, we are dead serious! 



Nevertheless I was always dreaming of a unicorn mascot for my business and my brand colors are pink, yellow and blue. Actually, Ronja, your logo is a unicorn already! : ) True! But I want to be independent from a graphic designer…I want to bring the images in my head to life and onto paper!



Then it suddenly clicked: I booked TWO kawaii style-illustration courses on Domestika, so I thought, let’s watch those and then create my own characters, so that I can draw them in all the different life situations and while DOING & practicing I can develop stories and ultimately my dream of children's books come to fruition.

My illustration of this week is a bit random… I started on the train when I went to the mountains with friends after Christmas and over time added some elements here and there… and THEN… the unicorn and tiger and dragon knocked at my idea-door. I have to show you the little dragon which posed for the drawing:

I bought this little fellow at a Japan Anime Fair in Switzerland 10 years ago. He is handmade and sooo cute and still fluffy. So when I thought of a third blue character after the unicorn and the tiger it was clear to me: I want to put him into kawaii (kawaii means cute in Japanese) style. I’m not there yet, but this is my first try at this kind of illustration. 



Now I will always draw these 3 together and try different poses and expressions… I also want to paint them on the sidewalk with chalk…and let them come to life there… sooo many ideas. One by one I’ll try them out and let you know how it goes!

I already see t-shirts, mugs, beanies and patches…they shall spread JOY and bring you good energy. We’ll see : ) My million-ideas-per-minute-brain needs to take it step by step! : ) : ) : )

Thank you so much for being on this journey with me!

What is a looong time dream of a skillset which you could fulfill yourself this year?

My wishlist on top of drawing-painting-illustrating daily is:

• Learning how to do a headstand and handstand (first wrist and other training for gaining strength involved…which is not sooo compelling to me… : ))
• Kayaking (I think I have a tangible chance for doing this in spring!)
• Practicing my violin again in a fun way…(I took lessons from 8 years to 20 years old)

This is YOUR life.
Do what makes YOU happy!
What makes you feel alive.
What brings you JOY.
What lights you up.

I send you so much L❤️VE!

Let’s make this world more colorful, playful and joyful!

PS: I added the rainbow colors to the illustration….yay or nay?

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This is a story from my weekly Joy-Letter that goes out every Sunday. Do you want to be the first to hear my personal scrapbook stories? Then sign up below.

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