Favourite illustrators on Instagram (part 3)

Here's the third and final part of my favourite illustrators on Instagram (part 1 can be found here and part 2 here). Enjoy!

Gemma Correll:

Lize Meddings:

Helen Dardik:  

Abigail Halpin: 

Carolyn Gavin:

(All images have been linked to their original source)

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I hope you enjoyed these sneak peeks on some of my favourite illustrators! Do you have any favourite illustrators to share?

Drawing a decade: 1910s

A little while ago I got a brilliant idea - to draw my way through each decade, from the 1910s and onwards. The idea popped into my head after being told in last week's art class that the colour scheme and style of the pastel portrait I was working on looked like something out of the 1930s. And thus a project was born! My plan is to explore the art, style and colour schemes of each decade, and make my very own piece of art based on and inspired by what I've discovered and learned.

A few days ago I had some time to spare, and so I dived head first into my decade project. I started off by spending some time on Pinterest, searching my way through the 1910s. Soon I had a board filled with enough inspiration to get me started - below are the four pictures I ended up using as my main inspiration (the entire 1910s board can be found here):

(Source: Pinterest)

Before I started working on the actual drawing I did a 2-second sketch to see if the idea I had in my head would work on paper. I'm using my very best paper for this project (Canson, 224g/m2, 24x32cm), so I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing: 

I then played around in Photo Booth for a while, snapping pictures of myself to use as reference for the facial features. The final pencil sketch ended up looking like this (a significant improvement from the initial sketch, if I may say so myself): 

I decided on using an art deco pattern I found as background:

… Which made choosing the colour scheme a real dream! I simply used the colours from the pattern - cobalt, purple, gold, mint, light blue, black, orange, burnt orange and red. I also threw in some green for good measure. This is how I store my Promarkers, by the way: 

After the first round of colouring my decade piece looked like this (I love the contrast of the black - maybe it's a colour I should start using more often?): 

And here's the final result!

I'm really happy with my 1910s decade piece, and I can't wait to start working on the roaring 20s! 

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Do you have a favourite decade?

Monthly Makers March: Miniature

This month's Monthly Makers theme was, to my great satisfaction, miniature! There's just something incredibly pleasing about tiny things. I fittingly had some shrink plastic laying about, so I decided I'd try to make something from it to fit this month's theme.

This was my first time ever working with shrink plastic, and I quickly discovered that shrink plastic is not at all an easy material to work with if you do not possess the right knowledge/tools. I've thus had my fair share of difficulties, but don't worry, I'll spare you most of the details. But before we carry on to this month's contribution, let's have a look at the many missteps I've made on the road to shrink plastic perfection: 

1st attempt: Used the wrong type of markers, causing the colours to smudge, and only afterwards did I realise that the green plant behind the girl's head kind of looks like a marijuana leaf - oops! 

2nd attempt: Used only black marker, but managed to smudge it slightly nonetheless. Also the whole marijuana resemblance thing. Bah. 

3rd attempt: Used a different type of shrink plastic that was better suited for colouring with Promarkers, but neither bouquet turned out alright - the first one I managed to draw the wrong way around (?), and the second one turned oval in the oven for some reason. 

4th attempt: These actually turned out alright, had it not been for the fact that I baked them individually, which resulted in a size difference. OH WELL LIFE GOES ON and all that. 

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After the mishaps above I actually shelved the project for a while. But this morning I was like, screw this, this time I WILL succeed - and this time I did! I decided to try the white shrink plastic again:

I started off drawing a cat inspired by a drawing I made a while back: 

Wise from previous mistakes, this time I let the marker dry completely before attempting to cut it: 

I was really nervous about the whole cutting process, as I knew from experience that if you bend the plastic too much it cracks quite easily - something I did not want to happen! Luckily, though, I somehow managed to cut out the entire cat in one piece - phew! 

I used a paper punch to punch holes for the chain (as I was planning on turning it into a necklace). It's very VERY important to do this BEFORE baking: 

I then drew and cut out two cat friends to turn into ear rings:  

The particular plastic I used needed to be baked at 150 degrees celsius for about 3-4 minutes. I placed my cats on a sheet of baking paper and covered them with another sheet to avoid them sticking to themselves when curling (shrink plastic curls as it shrinks and flattens again when it's done): 

I also decided to bake two shrink plastic pieces that were left over from a previous attempt -  this time they all turned out like they were supposed to: 

 I then dug out my little treasure chest of unused craft supplies: 

And soon my cats had been turned into ear rings: 

The hands turned out pretty alright, too:  

My favourite, though, is no doubt the necklace. I didn't have the right type of chain, so I had to use an old one (I'll replace it with a new one later): 

All in all I'm pretty satisfied with the new additions to my jewellery collection!

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Have you ever tried shrink plastic?

Favourite podcasts

I always work a whole lot better when can I listen to something at the same time - especially podcasts! I love the feeling of multitasking, and actually learning new things as I work. I only discovered the world of podcasts about a year ago (I'm always lightyears behind everyone else), but since then I've never looked back. 

I prefer podcasts with long episodes that I can wholeheartedly immerse myself in. Here are some of my ultimate favourites: 

This American Life

This American Life is technically a radio show and not a podcast, but I've decided to include it anyway. The episodes are themed, and each episode contains three or four stories on that theme, and lasts about an hour. The quality of the stories and the way it's all been put together makes it one of the best radio shows out there. And the host, Ira Glass, is quite possibly the most charming man there ever was. Episodes can be purchased through iTunes or you can listen to them all for free through their radio archive here (which contains all the episodes from when they started way back in 1995 to present day!).  

No Such Thing as a Fish

If you're a fan of the British TV show QI, you're going to love No Such Thing as a Fish. The show is hosted by Dan, James, Andy and Anna (the QI elves whose job it is to look up facts for QI), and also includes the odd guest from time to time. In each episode of this weekly podcast each of the QI elves present their favourite fact from the past week, and the discussion that ensues is usually nothing short of hilarious. Plus, this podcast is a really good source for random trivia, and never fails to make me laugh. Episodes can be found for free on iTunes (or wherever you download your podcasts from).

Answer Me This

Answer Me This is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Helen and Olly (two good friends from way back when), and Martin the Sound Man. They're on holiday at the moment (as Olly recently became a dad for the first time!), but most of their old episodes are still available (the earliest one you'll have to pay to gain access to, but the recent ones are all available for free on iTunes). Helen and Olly spend each episode answering questions sent in by the listeners, concerning anything from veggie weddings and circus music to whatever happened to Tom from MySpace. 

Serial

You're probably all familiar with Serial by now, as the first season was released back in late 2014. The first season concerns the case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted for murdering his ex girlfriend Hae Min Lee in Baltimore back in 1999. Adnan has always claimed to have been wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit. Reporter Sarah Koenig brings the case back out into the daylight, trying to figure out if Adnan really did kill Hae, and if not, then who did? I've just finished listening my way through the first season for the second time, and it's just so so so good. The second season of Serial is currently airing - this time Sarah Koenig is looking at the case of Bowe Berghdal who was held captive by the Taliban for five years after having walked away from a U.S. Army outpost in Afghanistan back in 2009. Serial can be found on iTunes. 

Mariell og Sara

Mariell and Sara are best friends. Mariell runs the wonderful blog Hjartesmil and lives in London, and Sarah studies and works in Oslo. Together they host this podcast through Skype! They talk about pretty much everything, like good friends do. The podcast is well worth a listen, and can be found on iTunes (it's in Norwegian, mind). 

Thinking Sideways

Thinking Sideways has been a favourite of mine since the very beginning. I'm a sucker for mysteries and unsolved crimes, and if you're anything like me you'll love this podcast. The three friends Devon, Steve and Joe (who sounds just like Tom Selleck!) discuss unsolved mysteries, ranging from real life crimes and murders to more fictional ones. What I really appreciate about this podcast is that they always try to come up with logical explanations, avoiding conspiracy theories (even though Joe has a tendency to blame everything on the chupacabra). Available on iTunes!

Originz and Mysteries Abound

Both Originz and Mysteries Abound are hosted by Paul Rex, an Australian who makes the entire podcast himself. He looks up interesting articles online that he then proceeds to read out loud. Listening to these podcasts is a bit like surfing around online and having what you find read out loud to you by a man with the most comfortable voice. The scope of articles included in the Originz podcast is wider, while the Mysteries Abound podcast concerns mainly mysteries and the supernatural. Available on iTunes! 

(The images have all been linked to their original source)

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What are your favourite podcasts?

Drawing without a plan: An example

I always have an urge to draw, but I don't always have a good idea readily available in my head. Luckily this isn't always the case, but it can be very frustrating when it does happen, as nothing is quite as intimidating as a blank sheet of paper. However, I do have a solution, and that is drawing without a plan. 

 Whenever I find myself desperately clutching my pencil but not daring to put it to paper, I try to think of one thing, one object (be it a carrot, a tree, a bug or a tea cup), and I draw that object. This time, I drew a cat.

Once you've started drawing, carrying on drawing is a whole lot easier, even if you don't have a clear idea of what you want the finished piece to look like. I decided I wanted my cat to be outside, and thus drew a wall for him to lie on.

I then realised the wall was probably enclosing a garden, and so I started drawing a garden.

And, as I'm sure we can all agree, no garden is complete without a hammock, so I threw one of those in there as well.

A house followed suit.   

And before I knew it I had filled the whole sheet.  

Colouring it all in was, as always, very meditative, and served as a fitting reward.

I want to be this cat. <3 

The finished drawing! Excuse me while I pack up my things and move into this house. I'll only be a second.  

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What do you do when you lack of inspiration?

An attempt at drawing Adam Scott

If you've been following me on Facebook you've probably noticed how I have a thing for people. I love drawing people, and especially people with interesting faces. Adam Scott is one person whose face I find interesting, and since I've been watching a lot of both Parks and Recreation and Party Down lately, I thought I'd have a go at drawing him. Again. Because I've tried before. Several times. And each time I've failed miserably. Adam Scott has a very defined and easily caricaturable face, and should thus be easy peasy to draw, right? 

Nope. Nuh-uh. I don't know what it is about him, but I never really manage to make him look like himself. This time I felt I was so close to actually catching him on paper, only to realise that I'd made him look like Adam Scott with a hint of Simon Cowell (especially in the photo below) and a pinch of David Tennant (is it the hair?).

 But at the same time he kind of looks like himself. I mean, you can probably tell that it's supposed to be Adam Scott if I tell you that it's supposed to be Adam Scott, right? 

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What do you think? Does it look like Adam Scott to you? Have you ever had a similar experience when trying to draw someone?