I’ve reworked an illustration that I made about five years ago. Back then, I tried to be more minimalist, but I’m way too fond of subtle textures.
Redraw: Little Princesse Read More »
It’s Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month once again. I thought I’d give you an update to follow up on my article from last year on the subject. I’ve been living with IBS for several years now. I started having problems when I was a teenager (I’d say around 15). It was an especially stressful time for me. My parents had divorced within the last few years and I was moving five hours from where I lived. Also, with all the changes, my diet had changed a lot. At first, my symptoms weren’t as frequent or severe as they were before I started the low FODMAP diet. Several people had wild theories as to why I was having problems. Even me, I frequently had symptoms when I was washing the dishes (I was washing the dishes every evening at the time), so I thought that hot water activated my digestive system (let’s remember that I was a teenager hihihi)! I mostly had symptoms around dinner at the time. Eventually, I started having some after any meal.
Last year, when I wrote my article, I was in the re-introduction phase of the low Fodmap diet (I describe the diet more in my other article). I have now completed this phase for at least 10 months. I found the foods that are the main cause of my problems. I now know that I am lactose and fructan intolerant. The two ‘bullies’ of my digestive system! I have fewer symptoms now. Often I have them because I ate unusual food and I didn’t have the reflex to look to see if it contains fructan, or when I need to take some ibuprofen or acetaminophen.
You might think it’s surprising that I didn’t yet know that I was lactose intolerant since I had symptoms for some time now. Additionally, I had someone close to me who is lactose intolerant and that it affects approximately 44% of Canadians according to a study which was published in the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology (Fung et al, 2020). There were several reasons why I never thought I had difficulty with lactose.
To begin with, I had the false belief that being lactose intolerant meant I couldn’t eat anything made with milk. On the other hand, most cheeses are low in lactose. Personally, I have no problem eating a normal portion of it. Also, each person can consume different amounts of lactose before having symptoms of intolerance.
In addition, since I don’t just react to lactose, I had similar symptoms even though I hadn’t consumed any. Besides, for a period of time, I had symptoms so often that sometimes I felt relatively ‘normal’ after consuming lactose (especially ice cream) even though I probably had symptoms from ingesting it later. Typically, symptoms should occur 30 minutes to 2 hours after ingesting the dairy product, but I had symptoms constantly. The low FODMAP diet really helped me sort it all out! I usually have symptoms within 30 minutes of ingesting lactose.
It is also important to note that there are also products that have modified milk ingredients and one would not suspect it. For example, I just recently discovered that certain brands of hot dog sausages contain some. It is therefore very important to read all the ingredients on the packaging when you eat processed foods and to ask for information in restaurants (even if you feel annoying with all your questions)! Personally, I really don’t tolerate modified milk substances, even a small amount gives me a big reaction!
Finally, I now know that even by consuming ‘lactose-free’ products, I can also react to lactose. Many lactose-free products actually have lactose, but it compensates for this by adding lactase which is the enzyme our body should produce to digest lactose. This means that most people who are lactose intolerant will be able to consume them, but not everyone depending on the person’s limitations. Even in my case, the famous Lactaid don’t always seem to do the job in certain situations.
( ! ) Some people who think they are lactose intolerant may instead be intolerant to cow’s milk A1 protein. There are dairy products that contain A2 proteins, which makes milk digestible for people with A1 intolerance. Here in Quebec, there is, among others, the Phylum farm which produces it and which makes very good cheeses!
Tests for fructan can be separated into several categories because some people seem not to respond at the same levels to all foods that have it. When I tested it, my nutritionist had me separate the garlic, onion and wheat. There are some people who seem to have problems with garlic and/or onion especially. Unfortunately, for me, I have problems with all of these.
Fructans are also present in many other foods (asparagus, pistachio, mango, etc.) and certain beverages (chamomile tea, black tea, etc.). The limits that we can consume are different for each food and, also, for each person. The low FODMAP diet allows you to find out how much you can consume of each type of food. The goal of the diet is not to completely eliminate foods from one’s diet, but simply to test a small amount and increase until symptoms are present. This allows us to know how much we can eat, while remaining symptom-free. Monash University has produced a super useful application to help guide our choices a little more (and it is possible to put it in French if necessary).
For my part, I seem to react strongly to the presence of garlic and onion, while I have a small margin with wheat. Wheat (bread and dough) was very present in my diet (daily). Garlic and onion also came up quite often (possibly daily too). I am also a big fan of black tea and I used to drink it several times a week (if not every day). So you could say that I was constantly feeding (hihihi!) my symptoms without knowing it.
My fructan-related symptoms usually occur the next day, but since I was consuming at least one fructan-containing source per day… Well, I had symptoms daily! Hence why my intolerance to lactose and fructan was difficult to distinguish. Now, I recognize the symptoms between the two a little more even if they are still quite similar. For example, I tend to get more bloating from fructans because the gas seems to stay in my gut longer since fructans aren’t passed out as quickly as lactose.
What you also need to know is that the limits for the same FODMAP do not add up. For example: if we eat wheat pasta in an acceptable quantity, we must be careful not to eat another food that contains fructan in the same meal. If one eats a food containing fructan during a snack, one may need to avoid it completely at the next meal. For my part, I was advised to wait at least two hours between meals to reset my limit to zero.
It’s also super important to read the ingredients to avoid fructan. Onion or garlic powder are often found in processed foods. Sometimes it is not written directly, because we only have the famous mention of ‘spices’. Also, if you want to avoid lactose with a plant-based alternative, they often contain inulin. Inulin is rich in fructan, so your yogurt may still not be adequate depending on your different intolerances.
( ! ) Gluten intolerance is different, but it is possible to buy certain gluten-free breads or types of pasta and they will be functional for people with fructan intolerance. You just have to look at the types of flour used. Also, in restaurants, it is now often possible to have gluten-free breads (although not always super pleasant in taste or texture).
I’m a bit sold on psyllium because as soon as I started taking it without having started the low FODMAP diet, I already saw a certain improvement in the quality of my stools. Now, I still take it every day, adding it in the morning to overnight oatmeal. I see a difference when I don’t take it because I eat other things for breakfast and forget about it. I also tested two different brands and there is one that seems to be more effective for me (Rootalive). So I invite people to do some testing.
Even without the presence of FODMAPs, I have certain situations that seem to be determining factors for my symptoms:
In my experience, finding what can help you live better with IBS symptoms is specific to each person and their needs. I have read a lot of articles that heavily preach meditation and hypnosis. Personally, I tried both for a relatively long period of time without improvement. Others prefer to use medication or probiotics. For me, medications were not my preferred choice, as I tend to often have side effects with them. Also, I don’t like the idea of being dependent on a pill to get better and, in this case, I have the choice not to be (let’s leave that for problems that require it). Probiotics seem to do absolutely nothing for me.
I think the important thing is to feel good and not create additional stress for ourselves because of our choices. I was fortunate to have a partner who helped me with my diet (he cooks most of the time) and to consult a nutritionist to guide my choices. It’s not always accessible for everyone and I feel privileged to have been able to do it.
( ! ) In my last article on IBS, I included lots of interesting links for resources about IBS and the low FODMAP diet.
Update for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Awareness Month Read More »
This exercise was done as part of the course Find Your Style: Five Exercises to Unlock Your Creative Identity by Andy J Pizza available on the Skillshare website. The exercise presented in this article is preceded by other exercises I presented in the article: Exercises to Unlock Your Creative Identity (part 1).
Exercise III involves rolling two dice invented by the teacher that include different themes on each of the six sides. Then, you have to mix the themes obtained to make illustrations. Personally, instead of crafting the dice as suggested, I used a site that shuffles values randomly and took the first three values from the two given theme lists. Then, drawing inspiration from the results of the second exercise, we create at least three illustrations that talk about subjects that affect our values or our subjects of interest.
For the first illustration, I had the themes “guilty pleasure” and “your past”. I love soft toys as an adult while they are usually for children. We collect them at home. We especially like Squishable and Palm Pals. Before knowing the Squishable company, I was already drawing round animals, a bit like their plushies. I immediately loved them when I discovered their plushies!
When I was a kid, I had a blue teddy bear which was less plump than the one in the illustration. To my recollection, it had been given to me by relatives when they returned from a trip with my parents. I don’t know why I remember this one so much. Maybe it was because it’s one of the first gifts I received from them (at least in my memory). Maybe because it was the first time I had been separated from my parents for so long. I stayed at members’ of my family whom I did not know very well and with whom I was very uncomfortable. I remember that they were not particularly caring people towards me, they even often made fun of me because I was missing my parents and brother. Receiving a token of affection after this unpleasant week was probably much appreciated by the highly sensitive young child that I was.
For the second illustration, I had the themes “current inspiration” and “family history”. Lately, I have been very interested in “visible mending” which consists of repairing worn clothes using a thread that is clearly visible instead of trying to hide the repair. It is a way of honoring the life of the garment. It is a practice that was done a lot in the past when resources were less available and a garment could be passed between several generations. It also reminds me of quilts that can be made from several fabric scraps and can also be passed down from generation to generation in a family.
I chose to make a quilt depicting a “family tree” that includes my partner, my daughter, and myself. The illustration is inspired by a tattoo my partner and I have. In 2020, we decided to get a tattoo to represent our union, instead of buying a ring. I explain its story a little more in the article Family Portrait. The tattoo has since changed as we made it take up more space by adding foliage and a small bud that represents our daughter.
I have often done family portraits [1|2|3|4] where my illustrations revolve a lot around family life. Family is very important to me. Being present and having a partner to team up with are priority goals in my life. I had two parents who were often absent when I was young (physically or emotionally). It is therefore very important to me that my daughter feels loved, surrounded and listened to. Also, my two parents did not get along, there was a lot of bickering between them. There were even situations of parental alienation that caused a lot of distance with one of my parents. It is for this reason that I have made visible mending in my quilt section.
For the third illustration, I had the themes “copy yourself” and “slice of life”. I was inspired by another illustration, which I did in 2022, of my family taking a walk together. I still drew the characters in a natural environment. I have relatively the same haircut in both illustrations, but I rarely wear hair that way because mine is actually too short to do that. On the other hand, my daughter really has hair down to her lower back and I used to braid them everyday (now she wears them differently… a bit like the Disney princess Jasmine, but with more hair ties), because otherwise they get too tangled up. Finally, my artistic style has changed a little since then. I try to work on a style that I like, so each illustration evolves a little each time.
As a slice of life, I chose to represent my daughter and I returning from her school. At this time, she usually tells me stories of adventures that take place in her imaginary world. Last school year, the stories often revolved around slime, as we had played the game Slime Rancher which she really enjoys. In his story, we had several slimes including ‘Petit Peton’ who is a blue crystal slime (her invention) who is very fond of blue gems and eating. I usually do his voice. He doesn’t listen much, but he loves us a lot so he adopted us (and not the opposite hihihi). I also drew our luminous slime, which was called Lumi, and a plant slime, whose name I forgot. There were obviously many more, but I limited myself in the illustration. Also, we are cat people, because my daughter loves cats a lot, so we are always cat people in her stories. My daughter let me know that in fact, for her, the slimes were much smaller.
In this exercise, I had to note similarities in my last three illustrations in order to create the beginning of a visual guide. I should normally do between three and nine illustrations based on what I wrote down. Since I also want to do other courses, I will apply what I noted during the exercises in other courses. I will possibly post a new article to follow up on this exercise in the future.
Here’s what I’ve noted so far:
I strongly recommend Andy Pizza’s course if you are looking to work on your style and create a guide for your style. Andy Pizza also does an inspirational podcast, Creative Pep Talk, for creative people where he gives great advice.
Exercises to Unlock Your Creative Identity (Part 2) Read More »
These exercises were done as part of the Find Your Style: Five Exercises to Unlock Your Creative Identity course by Andy J Pizza available on Skillshare’s website.
Things that define me and that cannot be changed.
[1] Grand’Mere rock (Wikipedia) • [2] Saint-Jean-des-Piles city, Quebec (Wikipedia) • [3] Assorted-color office items on table (Unsplash) • [4] Opened book on table (Unsplash) • [5] Person drawing wireframes (Unsplash) • [6] Photos of my cat when he is a baby and an adult • [7] INFJs explained [16Personalities] • [8] HSPs explained [@crazyheadcomics] • [9] What did you feed me ?! par Roxanne F. Corriveau • [10] Beginning [2 of 3] by Roxanne F. Corriveau
I come from a quiet little town called Grand’Mère in Mauricie, Quebec. Now the city is merged with another neighboring city called Shawinigan. I learned later that Mauricie is one of the regions with the lowest income families in the province of Quebec. I myself come from a family that had a lot of budget challenges. I have to say that personally I have never felt poor. I was aware that my parents were having financial difficulties, but I never felt like I lacked anything.
Behind my house was a small wooded area with some walking paths. I used to go play there frequently with my older brother. One of the paths led to my paternal grandparents’ house, where I went quite often. My grandmother used to make desserts with us. It was often there that we stuffed ourselves with sweets. Hihihi!
My maternal grandparents lived in a small village not very far from my town. I often spent the weekend at their house playing with a cousin who lived next door. My great-grandparents also lived right next door to them, it was a family place. They shared a huge garden and also raised animals (cows, hens, rabbits). I’m glad the photo I found of their city is in fall. This is my favorite season! Close to the city, there is the Mauricie National Park which is super beautiful!
Later, my mother lived for some time in the house of her parents, who had moved into their parents’ house [when my great-grandfather died]. During my college studies, I lived with my mother in this country house. I used to spend the summer reading on the dock by the river. I spent some very rejuvenating moments there.
My father is quite a handy and artistic person. He was drawing when I was a teenager, he was pretty good, but I don’t think he ever continued drawing after the class he took. I think I have long considered art as a hobby because of that.
My mother often read novels when I was younger. She frequently had a book to read near her favorite chair. We read a few novels in common when I was younger. As I knew she liked it very much, I used to buy her books as gifts for her birthday, but she finally told me that she had too many waiting for her.
I didn’t really know what to do as a job, art was seen as a hobby around me and I am curious by nature so I like to try new technologies. When I was a pre-teen, my father went back to school to study computer science. Then, my older brother also studied in the same field. The first studies I did were also in computer science, even though I was not sure where I was heading in life. Studying Computer Science gave me a false sense of ‘being part of the family’, as I always felt quite different from the other members of my family. I later did a master’s degree in UX design and worked for 5 years in the field. Eventually, I realized that although I was proficient, I did not like the field I was in for several reasons.
I had several cats when I was a child. One of my cats had a litter including one really tiny baby. I loved this cat! It’s probably one of my favorite animals. She was super affectionate. In the second picture, it’s the little peanut in the heart! You can see the other kittens from the same litter in the photo.
I am a Highly Sensitive Person [HSP].
I have been living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome since I was about 14 years old, and have recently started getting better thanks to the low FODMAP diet.
I am the mother of an 8-year-old little girl. I have a small illustrated series with a character named Bibou, which represents my daughter when she was younger.
Things that I love very much and that left their mark on my life.
[1] Flying Piglet by @squishables • [2] Cartoon Boumbo • [3] Cartoon Astérix et Obélix • [4] Beauty and the Beast animated film • [5] My Neighbor Totoro animated film • [6] Encanto animated film • [7] The Little Prince novel • [8] Muppet Christmas film • [9] The Hobbit Book Cover • [10] Harry Potter Book Series • [11] 2046 Movie • [12] Scene from 3-iron Movie • [13] Scene from Pride and Prejudice Movie • [14] World of Warcraft game • [15] Diablo I game logo • [16] Path of Exile game logo • [17] The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening game • [18] Yoshi’s Woolly World game • [19] Spiritfarer game • [20 ] Book Visible Mending by Arounna Khounnoraj
Picture: from @squishables’s Instagram
I really like plushies. We collect them at home. I have the one in the picture, it’s a Squishable. We call it ‘Cochon Pig’. Cochon means Pig in English.
I really like animated movies. Here’s a list of some of my favorites that come to mind: My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Aways, Arrietty, Ghost in the shell, A Silent Voice, Inside Out, Ratatouille, Beauty and the Beast, Encanto, and WALL E, UP .
Bumpety Boo [2] is the cartoon I recall the most from when I was young. I remember that I was constantly drawing it in kindergarten. The show is the story of a small car that does not use gas and loves nature. Today, what I remember the most is the theme song video when Bumpety Boo comes back to take care of a little flower. Maybe my environmental awareness started then!? I did an illustration in my style of Bumpety Boo last year as part of another online course.
The Adventures of Asterix [and Obelix] [3] I used to love these comics when I was younger. My favorite character was Obelix because he was sensitive and he also loved nature and animals. He is an artist too, because he sculpts menhirs.
Also, where I come from, during the holiday season, there is a special program during the holiday called Ciné-Cadeau, where there are cartoons of Asterix and Obelix that play every year on television. Listening to Ciné-Cadeau is one of my fondest childhood memories. Especially at my maternal grandparents’ house, there was a hot spot on the living room floor because of the wood stove in the basement and we lay down on it to listen to the huge wooden television with big round buttons to change the channel.
Beauty and the Beast [4] Belle was my favorite princess when I was younger. I find that it is the one that resembled me the most in the Disney princesses in terms of personality. She was calm, loved to read, dreamed of something different, and loved nature.
My Neighbor Totoro [5] I think this is the first Miyazaki movie that I listened to. I really like that it’s really told from a child’s point of view. Although we can learn lessons from it, the film does not moralize. It’s a very empathic approach to what children can go through. I also really like the imaginative side of the film with the spirit of nature. I liked to spend a lot of time in the countryside when I was younger and inventing adventures.
Encanto [6] I really got hooked a lot on this recent Disney animated movie. I recognize myself [to a certain extent] in what Mirabel and Luisa are going through. Specifically, Mirabel desires to be a part of her family, but to feel different from the others. Also, like Luisa, I feel like a lot of people rely on me without worrying that might be too much to ask of me.
I love stories that take place in futuristic, fantasy or dystopian universes: like 2046, Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Innkeeper Chronicles, etc.
The Little Prince [7] I had a cassette [it betrays my age] when I was young with this recording of the story[FR]. I listened to it tons of times when I was young.
The Muppet Christmas Carol [8] is one of the Christmas movies I love the most. I love the family spirit of the film. Also, I have a soft spot for people who are learning to change their bad side.
The Hobbit et The Lord of the Ring [9] When I was young, I often went to a family member’s lake house with my uncle. One summer, he used to tell us bits of The Hobbit book around a campfire. I read the book a little later, as well as the Lord of the Rings afterwards. I used to draw elves and dragons a lot back then. I really like elves, ents, and dragons. I was constantly drawing them as a teenager.
Harry Potter [10] It was my uncle again who introduced me to Harry Potter by buying me the first novel when I was a teenager. I really like the mysterious universe with imaginary “monsters”.
I like love movies and little “cheesy” tokens of affection.
2046 [11] This movie might as well be in the futuristic category. I love the atmosphere of this movie.
3-Iron [12] is probably the romance movie with one of my favorite romantic scenes, the characters are just touching their feet sweetly under the table.
Pride and Prejudice [13] I love the pace, landscapes and atmosphere of this film. I’ve listened to it tons of times.
I especially like cozy and adventure games. I like games that are aesthetically well done and that provide a good user experience.
World of Warcraft [14] I know a lot of people are still playing, but for my part I don’t play anymore. I added it because it’s the first game of the MMO genre that I’ve played. I’ve drawn a lot of elves over time because of it.
Diablo [15] et Path of Exile [16] Version 4 of Diablo was just released a few weeks ago. It’s darker than what I usually play. I’m usually not a huge gore fan, but the atmosphere is really good. I made a marriage proposal to my spouse using a trading window from Diablo 3 that I redesigned on illustration software. Afterwards, we had a couple tattoos done which are inspired by the heart-shaped gems that I had put in the illustrated proposal.
Path of Exile is a Diablo-like game that I also often play with my spouse. I often play an archer as my character. I have a thing for characters who fight from afar, and I’ve always found archers to be a close-to-nature character.
Zelda [17] I played Zelda on the NES when I was younger, but I’m not super good at console games in general. I bought the ‘remake’ when it came out and managed to finish the game. I really like the style of the game, it’s very cute and cheerful.
Yoshi [18] I find it really cute and cheerful. I really like the happy backgrounds and decorations.
Spiritfarer [19] I don’t think I’ve ever been so hooked on a game soundtrack as I’ve been on this one. The game is great too, very sad though, I cried several times when I separated from the spirits of the characters I was carrying. I like the visual style as well.
Visible mending and/or art with fabrics [20] Lately, I have been very interested in art on fabric or with fabrics. I added several artists on my Instagram. I admire their talent a lot, I don’t feel as dexterous with a needle as I do with a pencil.
Artistic things I have tried that may influence my style.
[1] Acrylic painting that I did during an Art Certificate at university. I have been able to try several traditional mediums. Now, I mainly use my computer to illustrate, but I sketch on paper.
[2] A sketch I’ve done in the past. I was drawing more realistic characters over time. I had a more tortured style as well. Hahaha!
[3] I took several photography classes. One during my Art Certificate and two others during my Graphic Design Baccalaureate. Two photography classes were with films and one was a digital photography class.
[4] A photomontage I made as a project for a class. The project was about domestic violence.
[5] Illustration I have done for a City-and-Nature-themed t-shirt contest. It was a period where my character style was different. A bit in the style of Gorillaz, I really liked their song Feel Good Inc back then.
[6] Illustration done in serigraphy. More minimalist, because you have to reduce the number of colors to keep it easier to print.
[7] Poster I made for a graphic design class. I loved to do clean projects.
[8] Plushies that I made by hand. I did some more after these ones. It’s more of a hobby that I have every now and then.
[9] Illustration that I did when my daughter was born. I have done a series with the same character. Then, I made a series with animals, there are several of them on my Instagram. I mainly illustrated in vectors, with flat color shape without texture, shading or light.
[10] I did a series of environmental illustrations which I used to print on t-shirts. It’s preferable not to have too many small details for a great result.
[11] Illustration that I made during the Inktober period (but I was doing Chilltober instead). My style is still quite minimalist, but I have started to put borders.
[12] Illustration made during the Inktober period (but I was doing Illustober instead). I put it on because I love my color choice.
[13] Illustration I made for another class on Skillshare. I liked the simple style with the addition of light.
[14] Illustration with more textures, I was trying to break my habit of having flat color by putting more textures. Not easy!
[15] In recent years I started doing Punch Needle which I love and which goes well with my style.
Events that I have experienced that can influence my artistic vision.
[1] Ciné-Cadeau Advertising • [2] Brown wooden dock near calm body of water surrounded by trees (Unsplash) • [3] Pathway between inline trees during golden hour (Unsplash) • [4] Gray wooden farm (Unsplash) • [5] Tim Horton camp at Kananaski • [6] Divorce Child par Javad Alizadeh (Wikipedia) • [7] Moving boxes by a window (Unsplash) • [8] Blue backpack beside book and silver macbook (Unsplash) • [9] Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst (Wikipedia) • [10] Disney theme park castle • [11] A foggy forest filled with lots of trees (Unsplash) • [12] Illustration from the post Grieving in the Age of Estrangement and Division by The Tyee drawn by Semillites Hernández Velasco
Probably a lot of people back from where I live have a lot of nostalgic memories of Ciné-Cadeau (which is Télé-Québec holiday programming). For me it means the Christmas holidays have really started. It’s when you come home with frozen feet after playing outside for maybe too long and warm them up while listening to cartoons.
One of my family members had a lake house where I often went during the summer with my uncle or my grandmother. I loved swimming there and jumping off the end of the dock. I loved these weekends, it’s one of the favorite moments of my youth. My uncle always made us try different foods than what we used to eat at home.
Early fall when the leaves turn golden is my favorite season. I love wrapping myself in a scarf and I find the air has a particular smell that is relaxing. Also, the landscapes are beautiful.
I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house. They owned a farm. We used to run through the fields and the forest. There was also an old farm where we often played, hiding in haystacks or making up stories of spies and adventurers. There were also often baby kittens hidden in the farm, we had fun trying to find them.
We didn’t have a lot of money when I was younger. I was selected by the parish of my city to go to a summer camp in Alberta near the Rockies. I had a lot of fun and was able to try activities that I had never done. I think what impressed me the most about the trip, however, was the starry sky there. I’ve seen starry skies before, but there were so many more than I was used to seeing.
My parents divorced when I was around 12-13. I think it was a very good decision for them, but I still had a hard time with the changes it brought. I was asked who I wanted to live with and sincerely I would have preferred that they decide for me, because I had the impression of hurting the parent that I did not choose. I made my decision totally logically, I went with the parents who I felt like I was a lesser budgetary burden. This choice meant that I eventually lived for two years in a place where I felt totally uprooted and out of place.
After my parents divorced, I moved to a town quite far away. I had a lot of difficulty adjusting. I was far from my friends, my mother, my brother and my grandparents (especially my paternal grandmother to whom I was very close). In addition, I did not feel like I had my place in the new house I was living in. My father frequently argued with his new partner and often said that we were going to leave because things weren’t working out. I was constantly living with the stress of having to pack up my things to move again.
I finally moved again after two years, following one of my father’s shouting fits where he threw a plate on the floor and injured himself. I was exhausted living there, because I was constantly striving to be perfect and trying not to take up too much space, but I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough. As an adult, I realized that I was totally exhausted with the anxiety of not knowing how people were going to react around me. I had no more energy to continue. My dad didn’t speak to me for over a year following my hasty departure.
I often tell myself that I would surely have been happy being a scholar. I love studying and learning about different subjects. In fact, I studied for a long time before entering the job market. Then I went back to school later. Come to think of it, I went back to school twice, but the first one was only after a year in a workplace as a 2D animator.
It’s a group that I really like. When we were in college, my brother and I went to see them in Portsmouth in the United States. We did a little “road trip” and slept in a Walmart parking lot (it was really cold). It was an out and back so unfortunately I did not visit the city. We took the time to go see the ocean during the day, but it was not a temperature for swimming and it was a rocky beach. I would love to see the blue ocean with sandy beaches one day.
I went to Disney with my partner during one of our vacations. The rides were good fun. We ate good food. I especially enjoyed Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. I would love to go back there with my daughter.
I had two fairly difficult periods where I was not doing so well psychologically. The first time was when I was a teenager and moved to a new town with my father and my father’s new partner’s family. The second time was after my maternity leave, when I went back to my old socks at work. The first time moving again adjusted how I felt, but I probably needed more support (possibly seeing a professional). The second time, I cleaned up my head (with the help of a professional) and I cleaned my life a bit. Luckily, the second time around I had wonderful people helping me get better.
From the events precipitating my departure at the end of high school, I never really managed to reconnect with my father. We had a relationship that became more and more distant over time. A few years ago in my process of getting better following a sick leave, I needed to surround myself with people with whom I could be myself and talk freely. The events that followed eventually caused the bridges between us to be completely severed. I mourned the relationship I would have liked to have with him, because we can never be the person the other wants in his life.
For the second exercise, we had to choose the illustrations that spoke to us the most from the other boards and extract the pattern we saw there. It was also possible to add illustrations that made sense to us as required.
[1] Ville de Saint-Jean-des-Piles city, Québec (Wikipedia) • [2] Loving Planet by Roxanne F. Corriveau • [3] My Neighbor Totoro animated film • [4] Illustration by @worry__lines • [5] Illustration by María Hesse • [6] Beauty and the Beast animated film• [7] Divorce Child par Javad Alizadeh (Wikipedia) • [8] Red Hood by Roxanne F. Corriveau
Result: The patterns I see in my choices are: nature, family, childhood, emotions, imagination.
The exercises presented in this article is followed by other exercises I presented in the article: Exercises to Unlock Your Creative Identity (part 2).
Exercises to Unlock Your Creative Identity (part 1) Read More »
It is currently the end of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month. I wanted to share on the subject, since I have been living with IBS for several years and it is a health problem that has a lot of influence on my life. In the past, I didn’t really talk about it to people… We don’t talk much about our bowel movement in conversations. Moreover, some people around me were not patient with my condition and made me feel responsible for causing problems as a result of my symptoms (canceling activities, causing delay, not wanting to do certain activities, etc.). Today, I am surrounded by people who are understanding, more respectful of my limits, and who don’t make me feel guilty for feeling bad.
My experience may differ from others, as IBS affects each person differently. There are three types of IBS: constipation-predominant (IBS-C), diarrhea-predominant (IBS-D), mixed (IBS-M), and undefined (IBS-U). I myself live with IBS-D. When I have symptoms, I need to go to the bathroom quickly and often several times in a row before I feel better. I have discomfort in the abdomen, bloating and sometimes big cramps. Sometimes I have severe hot flashes. Afterwards, I have a big drop in energy that can last between one and two hours (sometimes longer depending on the time of day, e.g. in the evening when I am already tired). Then I’m really hungry!
Over time, I have tried several things to feel better. I tried: medicine to reduce cramps, hypnosis with a psychotherapist, acupuncture, osteopathy, several strains of probiotics, I went to see a nutritionist who put me on a restrictive diet for two weeks when I ate only a few ingredients (the low FODMAP diet was not yet popular), talking about my stress with a psychologist and the Nerva meditative app. I am not the type of person to be closed to suggestions that would make me feel better (except participating in a cult hahaha!). I was, however, unsuccessful.
When I eat smaller portions and less fat foods, I’m more likely to be well after my meals (when you know how the low FODMAP diet works, that makes a lot of sense for portion size). I stopped drinking alcohol in society several years ago and I even take it very rarely at home. I stopped eating certain foods that seemed to cause me a lot of problems: onions, garlic, leeks, the white of green onions, etc. I avoid consuming carbonated drinks (now I don’t drink them anymore). I rarely eat food from the restaurant if it’s not a takeout order or I eat there at times when I know I have time to feel bad afterwards. Also, I usually share my portions with my partner or my daughter.
The Magic Bag has long since become my best friend any time of the day when I feel my digestive system working a little too hard. I take hot relaxing baths to unwind when I’m feeling ill or tense.
Stress is a contributing factor to the problem, so I avoid taking on too much at once and make sure I have time for myself. I reduced my interactions with people who used to make me feel ‘cheap’ to cancel when I was feeling bad and/or who made me feel bad for not wanting to participate in certain activities that I didn’t feel comfortable doing if I had symptoms.
Some people, who don’t know my daily life, judge me by saying that it’s because I didn’t do enough sport. I was also told funny reasons for my condition, for example: you ate too many grapes so it’s normal that you had diarrhea (I didn’t eat an exaggerated quantity of grapes and some days when I felt bad I hadn’t eaten grapes for several days), or you ate too much cinnamon stick younger, etc. This kind of comment does not help to feel validated in what we live on a daily basis. It’s really important to have allies in your loved ones. As with any health issue, you need people who are on your team, not against you!
In the last few years, I have heard more and more often about the low FODMAP diet (which stands for Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols which are short chain sugars that are difficult to absorb in the bowel). Despite making its appearance somewhere in the 2000s, the diet was not immediately popularized as a treatment for IBS in Canada. The diet is quite complicated, it requires a lot of changes in the food you eat. It took me a while to start because of that. I made up my mind after a few rather difficult weeks during which I felt quite miserable. Luckily, I have a spouse who had no problem changing their habits to help me feel better. My daughter finds it a little less easy, because we have to try new recipes and modify recipes that we liked a lot, but she is still adapting well. I am currently seeing a nutritionist to help me make decisions and guide me through the diet. She has the Monash specialization. Monash is a university in Australia where they developed the low FODMAP diet.
The diet happens in three phases. The first phase involves eating a low FODMAP diet for two to four weeks depending on how symptoms improve. Consume the acceptable limit or eliminate foods high in FODMAPs (e.g. strawberries limit is 65 grams and celery is 10 grams). Each food has a different permitted limit. To my delight, I myself had quite rapid and quite striking improvements during the first phase.
I am currently at the end of the second phase which consists of testing the different molecules involved. The molecules that cause me the most symptoms are fructan (e.g. present in foods high in gluten, in certain other foods such as onions and garlic, and in certain fruits), mannitol (e.g. present among mushroom, celery, sweet potato, and cauliflower) and lactose (e.g. present in yogurt, milk, and ice cream, and cream cheese; many cheeses are too low in lactose to react; fun fact some people may not react to the lactose in chocolate milk because of the cocoa). I have no problem with sorbitol (e.g. found in avocados, apples, cherries), fructose (e.g. found in many fruits including berries, grapes, tomatoes, and honey and galacto-oligosaccharides (e.g. found in legumes, soy milk). I also want to see what my limit might be for consuming fructan (I miss wheat pasta). In the long term, the goal of the low FODMAP diet is not to stop eating foods containing the molecules difficult to digest, but simply to find the limit that it is possible to eat without having symptoms and what are the foods that you don’t have to avoid after all.
The third phase of the diet, which I won’t be doing for a while, is to reintroduce foods that are ok for us. Then we can try after a while to reintroduce different foods that were problematic in the past. Some people won’t be able to do this, but some people may be able to eat a larger portion of this food.
For now, I’m super happy because I’m finally having longer periods of feeling good thanks to the low FODMAP diet. Just knowing that I can easily control the symptoms is genuinely nice. Slowly, I learn what I should avoid to feel good. I know that I can attend events and activities without feeling bad if I eat the right thing. I still DO hypervigilance sometimes, because I’m afraid of having a stomach ache, but I imagine that it will get better as I feel good. I find it surprising that I don’t have a stomach ache when I have just eaten.
I plan to test, in the next few days, an antibiotic, Rifaximin prescribed by a last gastroenterologist that I saw recently for a second colonoscopy. Studies of the drug show improvement in symptoms in people with IBS and SIBO (Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). SIBO is another health condition that causes the same type of symptoms as IBS. SIBO is not often diagnosed where I live (Quebec, Canada) because the test to do so has too many false positives and false negatives. A meta-analysis from 2017 indicates that between 4% and 78% of people with IBS may also have SIBO.
Where to find tools or information:
Our favorite low FODMAP products:
Here are several recipe sites:
Our five favorite low-FODMAP recipes:
For more inspiration, you can consult our recipe spreadsheet where we note the recipes that we try and that we like, but be careful not all of them are low in FODMAP.
Disclaimer: I did not receive any money for writing my blog post. I’m only talking about products I’ve paid for or content that’s available for free.
I do not work in the health field, so I cannot advise people on their health problems. Please consult your doctor and/or a nutritionist if you think you have irritable bowel syndrome. These people will be in the best position to advise you!
Irritable Bowel Syndrome Awareness Month Read More »
With the goal to do style research (I like doing that), I decided to take a course called Make Art Your Own: Exploring Artistic Identity on Domestika. The exercises I present in this article have more content on the Domestika web site, I am only presenting what is relevant to my article. I found the course interesting, but a little superficial. I did another exercise recently in a Skillshare course that went into more depth. I’m still happy to have done the exercise, because I made illustrations that I like and that I would not have done otherwise.
Since I had made a self-portrait just before starting the course for the website, I cheated a bit by using the same one. On the other hand, there is a little story behind this self-portrait… I don’t often draw human characters, so I didn’t have a very defined style for drawing them. So I did some sketches looking at some illustrations I had done in the past and other artists that I like.
The second exercise was to have a short interview to introduce yourself. I think I added some questions from another article I read around the same time that I completed the exercise (but I’m not sure anymore).
How does your life impact what you do as an artist?
I don’t show it in my clothes (I’m pretty neutral on the clothing side), but I really like cute stuff (plushies) and animated movies. I have a young heart! That’s why I love making cute illustrations so much.
I want my art to be able to bring joy, but also to raise awareness among people around me on topics that are important to me. I sometimes do illustrations that touch on environmental topics.
I’m more of a minimalist person and I don’t like clutter much, so digital art is a good medium for me. I am also a reformed interface designer, my background on this side makes me skilled in using drawing software.
How do other people describe you as a person?
People who are close to me would probably say that I am calm, creative, loving, open and caring.
People who don’t know me well probably think I’m shy, but I’m just not a talkative person, and while curious, I like to respect people’s privacy. Being of an introverted nature, I tend to prefer quality moments with the people who are dear to me. I still know how to be friendly with people who are less close to me.
What do you remember from your childhood?
What do you collect?
What does family mean to you?
Really important people (like my husband, my daughter, my friend Karine). For me, family is made up of people I choose and not necessarily blood related.
What and how are you celebrating?
Christmas (with close family), Halloween (with my child), Birthday (with family and close friends).
Where have you traveled?
USA (Disneyland, Portsmouth for a show), Alberta (summer camps), lots of places in my own province.
I’m not a big traveler, because I like the comfort of my house (and my bed). I wish the teleportation machine existed hehehe!
What’s going on in the world that you want to interpret through art?
The need to appreciate and take care of the planet.
The importance of connecting with what really matters to us.
What are your daily rituals? What do you do before you start your day in the studio?
On weekdays I take my daughter to school. We usually go there on foot and I like this moment because she tells me stories coming out of her fertile imagination or about what is going on in her life. Then I come back on my own and plan what I’m going to do in my head. At home, I make myself some tea and start what I intend to do.
In this illustration, I’m back to a more imaginary character. The purpose of the exercise was to illustrate a character and to test different artistic mediums from those we used to work with. As I illustrate on my computer, I had plenty of choice in more traditional mediums. I took the materials that I had on hand, which I use when I craft with my daughter.
Being influenced by his youth
I chose to reproduce a character that I loved when I was little. I still have a visual memory of painting a big Boumbo in yellow gouache in kindergarten. I won’t talk much more about this illustration since I’ve already done a blog post about it.
Being influenced by your family
I invite you to read the article I wrote on my blog about this illustration. The one thing I think I left out of this one is that the characters are currently in the middle of an eye. Meeting my spouse and being a parent has really opened my eyes to what I want a family to be and to my values as a human being.
Being influenced by other cultures
You could say that I cheated, because not being a big traveler, I decided to be inspired by another type of trip that one can do: a literary trip. I’ve always been interested in fantasy worlds or science fiction. I really like angels, fairies and elves. I think that’s what I drew the most when I was a teenager.
Being influenced by your hobbies
One of my favorite hobbies, which I would like to do more often, is hiking. It is also a hobby that I enjoy sharing with my family. I chose to make an illustration with my husband and my daughter. The trees were probably what took me the longest to do, but I like the result so my patience paid off. Also, from this illustration, I started to hide tiny snails in some of my illustrations.
The last exercise was to combine the themes explored in the previous exercise into a final illustration. I chose to draw myself lying on the grass, because I like being in contact with nature. Most of my artwork contains natural elements. My most precious memories are the little moments spent in nature (in the forest, on the farm, at the lake).
My conclusions from the course are that I want to include more natural elements such as flowers and plants in my illustrations. I started developing a color palette that I like with lots of green. I will slowly add to it as I do new illustrations.
Exploring my Artistic Identity Read More »
First, I want to thank Studio Versie on Youtube who gave a free Skillshare trial of a month that made it possible for me to take a few classes on the platform. I can also give a free month to someone right now if you don’t have one. You can leave me a message on the Instagram post showing the illustration I am talking about in this blog.
For now, I watched a few classes about illustration, stamps, punch needle, plant care and yarn dyeing. I’m a curious person. Here are some nice classes to watch :
Now to the real subject of the post! I also tried a class by the illustrator Stephanie Fizer Coleman called Develop Your Digital Art Style: Draw One Illustration Six Ways. I didn’t try all the styles that she proposed, I actually kinda mixed them by trying some stuff that she was proposing.
Bold Line and Offset Color
This one is the closest to my usual style. I mostly use flat colors with bold lines when I color my work, but I don’t usually do offset. Instead, I do flat light and shadow. I also cheated a bit because I didn’t offset everything, because I don’t like it when there are too many of them.
For my bold line, I actually use my own vector brushes that I recently made for Affinity Designer. I was a bit tired of trying to obtain exactly what I wanted with other people’s brushes. I’m very happy to finally have my very own brush kit.
Bold Texture
I know some people may find it’s not so bold on the texture, but since my usual style is more minimalist, I kinda find that I was bold on the texture. I’m working with Affinity Designer to illustrate and for this one I use a mix of the Designer Persona Brushes and Pixel Persona Brushes. However, I mainly use the basic Chalk Vector Brushes of the application.
Watercolor Texture and Ink
For this one, some people will probably find it doesn’t look much like real watercolor. It was always one of the mediums I had the most difficulty to master when I was an art student. I love the result of this medium on other people’s art, but I’m mostly frustrated when I work with it. I use it like a texture layer that I put in overlay mode to achieve some nice effect.
I use a mix of differents brushes in the Designer Persona and the Pixel Persona on Affinity Designer:
Disclaimer: I didn’t receive any money for my blog post. I’m only talking about content that I received for free without the obligation to make a review or that I paid for.
Exploration: Red Hood Read More »
The story of our small diamond heart (symbol of our love)
In 2018, on Valentine’s Day, I decided to propose to my spouse. I already knew that he was “the man of my life” when I decided to have a child, my little girl, with him. On the other hand, the challenges of parenthood and other difficult events in my life made me realize that I had truly found someone wonderful to share the ups and downs. I wanted to form a family in a more symbolic sense with him.
My spouse being a gamer, I made my marriage proposal inspired by a Diablo trade window. I had placed it as wallpaper on his computer, and I watched him out of the corner of my eye, a little stressed, to see his reaction. You can see two little diamond hearts, like the one in my new illustration. The little red heart represents his heart full of love which has helped me (and still helps me) to get through the difficulties. The little heart of gold was mine… a good and empathetic little heart.
Since we both don’t like jewelry that much (he has sensitive skin; I don’t like to feel jewelry on my skin [so I take it off often] and, besides, I easily misplace my things ), we decided to get a couple tattoos (which will soon be bigger). We decided to use the little hearts to make our tattoos.
Finally, I also used the little golden heart for a gift I made for her birthday in 2020, if you are interested I made a blog post about it.
When I was little, I really liked Bumpety Boo. I don’t remember much about the cartoon now, but I remember that I was always painting and drawing Bumpety Boo when I was around 5-6 yrs old.
I chose to do a drawing with the flower because the french intro song was really catchy and I still remember when Bumpety Boo helped a flower. Here are a few of the lyrics of the song in English that have been stuck in my head since my youth : “When you breathe a flower, it goes boom-boom in your heart”. 😉
Cartoon from my childhood in my style: Bumpety Boo Read More »
I wanted to make funny and positive illustrations that show family love. I tried to keep them gender-neutral so that everyone could relate to the characters.
Once my sketches were done, I opened Affinity Designer, my vector graphics editor of choice, and did my first illustration. When I do a new illustration, I sometimes make a few adjustments to my sketches and try different things from what I had planned based on the inspiration of the moment: I put the little baby in a little blanket; I removed the grass and tried to put little feet; I placed the baby in a more natural position in the parent’s arms.
My color scheme was decided using the color swatches from the Printful printing service, since I thought I would use it to print my t-shirts, but unfortunately, although the print looks very nice, I found that the t-shirts were too expensive to produce if I want to sell them on Etsy as print-on-demand.
After that, taking inspiration from the style and color of my other illustrations, I made the following ones. The one with the whole family was actually added following a comment from a friend who said it would be fun to have one with both parents. I tried again to keep them gender-neutral so that more family types could relate to the characters. I didn’t keep the style of the mushrooms from the second illustration, because even though I was inspired by a real kind of mushroom, they actually look like male organs…
Here are all the final variations that I chose to keep:
Finally, after printing the first design on a t-shirt, I didn’t like the shadow effect, so I removed it from the final version. I really enjoyed doing this personal project.
My Process for Designing My Cute Mushroom Family Read More »
