My Paradise at the edge
of the forest...
Welcome to Beast of Paradise, a place where roe deer wander through the streets and the calls of owls can be heard at night.
Here, I find a little magic in the everyday. It is a place where I can observe and create—my source of inspiration… my paradise.
Together with my dogs, Maddy and Alice, and a cheerful little flock of chickens, my studio at the edge of the forest forms the heart of Beast of Paradise.
This is where my drawings come to life, new products are dreamed up, and orders wait to be packed. It is not a large design studio or an anonymous warehouse, but a personal workspace where everything passes through my own hands.
My studio may well be in the loveliest part of the house. It is the room with the most natural light, and where I work every day. It is rarely perfectly tidy. The table is usually covered with coloured pencils, packing supplies and drawings I am still working on. Scattered among them are loose sketches, notes and projects I once started but have not quite finished—yet.
There are often several ideas on the table at once, and whenever I need some space, I simply move everything aside. Pieces of cardboard lie on the floor and boxes are scattered around the room. It can be a little messy, but that is simply what my workspace looks like.
Orders are packed here too, which means my studio is also my design space, packing station and, well… living room. Oh, and Alice and Maddy can usually be found lying somewhere among it all. They have completely accepted my chaos.
Behind the Scenes
Animals take centre stage in my work. Animals are at the heart of both my work and my life. Anything I find or encounter—whether it is alive today or lived long ago—can inspire a new drawing.
This is how ideas usually come to me: sometimes I spot an animal outside that I would love to draw. Other ideas begin with something I read, a photograph I come across or a species I want to learn more about. Some ideas are developed straight away, while others remain untouched for months or even years before I finally begin working on them.
Behind every design are many hours of drawing, a sense of fulfilment, motivation and, at times, disappointment and frustration. Redrawing part of an illustration—or starting all over again—is simply part of the process.
Because it is not always clear these days how an image was created, I would like to show you how my work comes to life. You can also see and follow the process on Instagram.
The Beginning
The difficult thing about all the ideas in my head is that what I imagine is not necessarily something I can find. That exact reference photograph simply does not exist. To draw an animal accurately, however, I do need visual references. That is why I search for different photographs, videos and animations that help me determine the right pose, proportions, colours and details. I then use all those separate pieces of information to build my own composition.
I find it difficult to draw entirely from scratch. I first create a rough reference on the computer and bring the different elements together in an initial sketch. I then make a second sketch, which eventually becomes the outline of my drawing.
The Layers
I draw with coloured pencils, working from light to dark. This is necessary because coloured pencil does not really allow you to work the other way around. Erasing is hardly an option either. With paint, you can simply paint over something or make it lighter if it has become too dark. With coloured pencil, that is much more difficult, and often the only solution is to start all over again.
A drawing is built up layer by layer. With each new layer, the colours become richer, the coverage improves, and the details become clearer. Slowly, fur, feathers, scales, patterns and shadows begin to emerge. Sometimes I spend a few days on a drawing, while larger or more complex pieces can take several weeks to complete.
The Character
There is often a bit of a creative tug-of-war while I draw. On the one hand, I want to portray animals as faithfully as possible, and I enjoy creating serious illustrations with accurate anatomy and recognisable features. On the other hand, I also design cards where an animal is allowed to look funny, sweet or a little peculiar. Combining these two sides is not always easy.
No matter how realistically I try to draw an animal, it almost always ends up with a personality of its own. This usually happens naturally. A certain expression, pose or tiny quirk can suddenly make an animal look curious, friendly, angry or smug. It is not something I really plan beforehand, but it has become a recognisable part of my work.
The Design
Once the final layer of coloured pencil is complete, I scan the drawing. Because the scanner often makes the colours appear slightly too light and too red, I adjust them digitally until they match the original as closely as possible. I then carefully cut out the drawing digitally and remove the white background. After all those hours of drawing, the paper is rarely completely white anymore. Faint pencil marks remain that are barely noticeable on paper, but can suddenly become quite visible in a card design.
Removing the background allows me to use the drawing freely in different designs. For example, I can place it on another colour or combine it with text and other elements.
The aim is not to recreate the illustration digitally, but to ensure that the finished printed product resembles the original drawing as closely as possible.
The Chicken Coop
My products are made in small batches and shipped directly to me, after which they are taken to ‘the warehouse’. Fun fact: the warehouse is so spacious that I can reach almost everything from the doorway. Most people would probably call it a walk-in cupboard… a broom cupboard… or, in other words, a chicken coop.
The cards arrive unfolded and are neatly organised by number. By now, I know all the numbers by heart and usually know exactly where to look. Yes, the logistics department consists of one cupboard and two arms. I bundle the card sets myself and also design and print the product tags.
The Department of Everything
Beast of Paradise is a small business, and I do everything myself apart from printing the products, which is mainly done in Groningen. Alongside drawing and designing, I take product photographs, write copy for the webshop, Instagram and Facebook, keep track of stock, order materials and respond to customer messages.
I also make my daily walk to the post office—or take the car when there is too much to carry or a parcel is too large. But I much prefer to walk.
Whenever an order comes in, I gather the products, check everything carefully and prepare it for shipping. Wherever possible, I use recycled or reused packaging materials.
The Great Wide World
Beast of Paradise ships worldwide. Through my own webshop and Etsy, I sell directly to individual customers, while Faire and Orderchamp allow me to supply shops both in the Netherlands and abroad. Most individual orders travel to the United States, and my cards and calendars can be found in gift shops, bookshops and other stores around the world.
If you ever happen to come across one of my products somewhere, please send me a photo—I would love to see it!
And so, from a small studio at the edge of the forest, my animals find their way out into the rest of the world. You can find more behind-the-scenes glimpses and works in progress on Instagram and Facebook: @beastofparadise
x Berith
