Magical self portrait

It should come as no surprise that I'm a serious Potterhead. And, as every other self-respecting Potter fan, I know which house I belong in. Every sorting hat test I've ever taken has placed me in Hufflepuff, which suits me perfectly. I'm proud to be a Hufflepuff!

For a long time I've been wanting to draw myself into the universe of J.K. Rowling, and this week I finally got around to doing just that. I tried to incorporate as many magical references as I found fitting, including the Hogwarts greenhouse, Hagrid's hut, the Forbidden Forest, the Whomping Willow, the Quidditch Pitch...

As well as several magic plants, including a mimbulus mimbletonia, some gillyweed and a sleeping mandrake!

I really wish I could've made a step-by-step post of this drawing, but sadly our memory card went missing (don't worry, we managed to find it again!). Still, I'm too pleased with this drawing not to share it with you. I had an awful lot of fun composing this drawing, adding all the details and dreaming of what it would be like to be a student at Hogwarts. It probably took me a good 5-6 hours to finish this piece (if not more), but it was worth every minute. 

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Are you a fellow Potterhead? If so, which house are you in?

Landscapes

Landscapes. Just the word brings a shiver to my artistic spine. I've never been one for drawing landscapes. I like looking at landscapes, and sure as anything know how to appreciate good scenery (I'm the kind of person you'll find glued to the window of the train for the entire duration of the train ride). I've just never figured out how to actually draw landscapes. How do you draw a tree when you can't draw each individual branch? How do you draw a bush without drawing each leaf? And how can you draw a forest on a hillside without making it look like a blob of green?

So when we started doing landscapes in art class, I was both intrigued (because I finally had a reason to work on my landscape drawing skills) and utterly terrified (because I have absolutely no landscape drawing skills). My first ever landscape ended up looking like this: 

Our teacher handed us the print on the left and told us to use it as inspiration, and create something similar in our own style. I didn't feel like using acrylics, but I knew I wanted to use colours, so the only option I had left was dry pastels. It worked rather well, I think!

As soon as I got back home I started doing research for next week's art class (we get to choose our own landscape inspiration this time), and came across this photo on Pinterest: 

It's Fjærland (Norway), a neighbouring village to where I grew up. At first I was planning on saving it for next week's art class, but there was just something about the photo that made me want to draw it straight away. So I did! First, I did a pencil sketch:

I then decided to try something new and use a brown liner instead of the black one I normally use (which was not a good idea, as it dried much too slowly and wasn't as waterproof as I'd hoped): 

Then I used ALL the colours! 

And since the brown liner was so crappy I re-did the line work with one of my trusted black ones:

Can you tell the difference?

And here's the end result: 

I'm slowly starting to realise that drawing landscapes can be a lot of fun. This Fjærland landscape took me approximately 5 hours from start to finish. Wonder what kind of landscape I'll do next?

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Have you ever tried drawing/painting landscapes? Did you like it?

Monthly Makers April: Spring

(My Monthly Makers contribution for February can be found here, and March here).

I've been especially excited about this month's Monthly Makers theme, as I knew straight away exactly what I wanted to do! For me, spring is synonymous with flowers and love, so I decided to combine the two in a drawing. 

The colour palette I chose doesn't really seem all that vernal at first glance: 

But once applied to paper, I dare say it does feel quite a lot like spring (at least to me): 

I decided to draw my boyfriend and myself, sat on a bench in the park, being all smoochy and romantic: 

Surely there's nothing more vernal that love?

Oh, and cherry blossoms and hepaticas, of course: 

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What is spring to you?

Universal Consciousness

I love listening to podcasts when I draw, and lately I've been going through a lot of sci-fi related ones, something that's clearly been reflected in the drawings I've been producing! Yesterday I had a go at drawing universal consciousness (or how I imagine it, anyway). You know, just for the fun of it. Scroll down and see it evolve!  

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What has inspired you lately?

Adopt a cat!

A couple of days ago I sat down and drew a whole bunch of cats. And now they're all in need of a new home! 

These lovely feline friends (except the one with the red ball of yarn, he's already found a new home) are all up for grabs in my Etsy shop. 

Meow! 

Personalised couples portraits?

As you all know I love drawing people. Lately I've been playing around with the idea of offering personalised cartoon-style couples portraits in my Etsy shop - wouldn't that be fun? I might put up a couples portrait listing sometime this weekend, just to give it a try. 

Stay tuned! 

The Gryffindor Common Room: Step by step

I've been on a bit of a Potter roll lately, listening my way through several of the books while working. Yesterday I started (and finished) a very Potter-inspired drawing, but before we get to that, allow me to share with you one of my favourite pieces of magical music to put you all in an enchantingly good mood: 

Now, where were we… Oh yes, the Gryffindor Common Room! Despite being a Hufflepuff through and through, I still find the warmth and cosiness of the Gryffindor Tower pretty inviting. I started off sketching (rather crudely) two comfy armchairs: 

One of which Harry immediately invited himself to sit down in: 

Ginny showed up to keep him company: 

Soon followed by Ron: 

And, of course, Hermione: 

Ron and Harry immediately immersed themselves in some sort of magical board game: 

Let the colouring begin! The second I'd finished colouring Ron's jumper, though, I realised I probably should've added an 'R' to the front of it, but oh well: 

The Gryffindor Common Room wouldn't be the Gryffindor Common Room without a proper fireplace: 

I decided to use the fireplace that can be seen in the later movies (for extra authenticity): 

Before long, the four friends were chatting happily and laughing in front of a roaring fire: 

I probably could've added more details to this drawing, I realise now, but all in all I'm pretty happy with it. And I had so much fun making it - it's been ages since I've drawn Potter fan art of any kind. 

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Do you ever create fan art?