Portraiture and Me

2018's Birthday self portrait - 25

Portraits are my thing, my jam! If I was only allowed to draw one subject matter for the rest of my life, it would be portraits - I don't tire of them. Faces are so interesting to me, which is odd because I often say to my friends and family that I don't like people. But what I really mean to say is people disappoint, intrigue and confuse me which is probably part of the reason why I'm always drawn to drawing faces. As a way of figuring people out. It's a strange dichotomy... If that's even the right word for it.

My love for faces can often give me a tunnel vision type focus. And so a lot of the time I have to make a concious effort to draw other subject matter. During my sketch a day and inktober I tried to space out my portraits to make sure I was drawing other things to widen my skillset. After all improvement doesn't happen if you don't step outside your comfort zone every once and while and challenge yourself. But because I have such an ease with faces I find them relaxing to do. I'm no master face drawer by any means but it is definitely my strength area. And with that comes a zone and flow of drawing that I often crave. The zone where you are not even actively thinking anymore but thoughts are just passing by and it feels like your in your own world with no sense of time. To get technical, it's probably a type of mindfulness meditation.

However since I've been limiting myself in regards to portraiture I've found I've drawn less and hindered my own improvement. When I get a strong urge or portrait idea I begin to stop myself either because I feel like the idea isn't good enough or because I make myself feel guilty that I'm not drawing something else. But I never end up following through and drawing anything else and so in the end I have a blank sketchbook page. I think it's time I put stop to this vicious cycle and just let myself do what comes naturally. It's time to draw all the faces!

2016

2017

So this year I've started myself off with the best place to start - self portraiture. Since 2016, I like to do a self portrait on or around my birthday. I actually did an inital blog post on self portraiture, its challenges and my first annual portrait which you can look at here. Even though I only have 3 portraits so far it's good to look back and see where I was, what I remember feeling and how far I've come. I know in the grand scheme of things 2 years isn't a long time but I can already see that my confidence has grown. 

This year I chose to do a double portrait to show different sides of me both literally and metaphorically. For a while I've been thinking about experimenting with limiting my colour palette with particular works of Jen Mann in mind. I settled on doing a tonal blue and red piece facing each other (giving strong vibes of JLo's Brave album cover which caused me to sing a lot of Jennifer Lopez both aloud and in my head while doing this piece). I'm already thinking of expanding the series, possibly doing a green piece, maybe purple. I also want to try a front facing monochrome piece with the reds and blues. I think it would fit nicely with the ones I've already painted.

The only problem I've encountered this time round with the self portraits is the feeling of vanity. It's been a while since I've drawn myself continually and so with that can come a feeling of stupidity which I know I need to check myself on. Back when I did my self portraiture work in high school - work above - I would draw myself everyday but didn't feel self absorbed because in the end it all had a purpose - getting a good grade. What I need to convince myself of is that drawing myself does have a purpose and significance outside of just grades. It helps me practice and experiment and plus if I want to continue doing original work I'm my best model at the moment a.k.a. I'm always avaliable. So shut up brain! Why do you try so hard to sabotage me?! At least I recognise I'm doing it. 

I hope in 2018 I will continue down this path of portraiture. I think I need to start trusting my gut more and my gut is telling me original portraiture is the way. 

Hazel, xoxo.

2017 Review and 2018 Resolutions

Instagram best nine 2017

As December draws to a close, my instagram feed is starting to fill with artist's best nine posts of the year indicating 2018 is almost upon us. So I guess it's time to evaluate where I'm at with my art and how I plan to go forward.

This time last year I made the decision not to set a concrete resolution for myself since I was just coming off of my sketch a day attempt and wanted to try and see if I would continue the habit of regular drawing without the accountability of people following along. However this year has taught me that if I want to improve on my skills, I need to have some sort of measurable goal to keep me motivated. There is only so many times where I can rely on inspiration or motivation falling from the sky and into my lap (I watched a TED talk about how to make your life better, how motivation is for amateurs and I haven't stopped thinking about it - Click here to watch and get a kick up the ass).

And so I definitely need to set goals for myself in some capacity - no matter how small. Inktober highlighted this for me since by the time October rolled around, I craved the incentive, and the 31 drawings as a result proved it. I just need to find a way to strike a balance of not burning myself out while also keeping up a regular practice.

But before I jump fully into my thoughts and plans for next year, I think it would be wise to look over the work I did accomplish this year and what I have learned from it. Even though I didn't produce as much as I would have initially hoped, what I did make I'm happy with, which is an accomplishment in itself.


Review - favourites of 2017

So let's talk my favourite piece of the year - the watercolour piece I did of my Nana and Grandma a.k.a. the two Margarets. My Nana sadly passed this year at the good age of 89 - she was made of strong stuff - and while looking through old photos, I found a rare picture of both my Grandma and Nana together and instantly gravitated towards it. My Nana was the last of my grandparents to pass and so when it finally happened it felt like the end of era in a weird way. Another harsh reminder that I'm not a child anymore. So to see these two women together who shared the same first name, but where very different people and played different roles in my life, in the one picture made me smile.
The painting came together fairly quickly and I enjoyed very much painting the side profiles. Despite a little mishap with the over use of water in one spot and a furry cheek, I think I managed to capture them fairly well. I uploaded the picture to the Women in the Arts Scotland Facebook page and someone commented that it reminded them of two Italian Nonnas which gave me a giggle. Maybe in a parallel universe they where part of the godfather/mafia. The piece also reminded how much I love working from candid old family photographs. Something I definitely will continue to do in the future.

This is probably part of why I love the commission I did for my friend to give to his gran. There is something about old photographs, especially black and white, that are so classic and esthetically pleasing. The smart outfits, the hair, the atmosphere. I'm sure in years to come people of the future will look at the photos we take now and feel similarly but for now I don't feel like our photos have the same romance to them.
In the case of this drawing there was face swap element from another photo for the grandad, in order to make him look a little happier. My aim is never to make my drawings look exactly the same as the photo. So knowing that I could play about with the reference images to this extent to create a new, unique image, raised my confidence a bit. Also the reaction from my friend Gran was so emotional to see and was another reminder why I love drawing family portraits.

I also had a similar experience with another surprise drawing for my best friend's mum of her late dad and dear dog, Woody.
These are the reactions that make doing commissions worth while.

Another favourite from this year is none other than my Betty Cooper from Riverdale drawing. This is by far my most popular piece from this year and when I drew it, I was genuinely taken aback because of how well it turned out. It's one of the few times where I have been able to see an improvement with my own eyes. Prior to drawing it, I hadn't done any portraiture in solely pencil to that extent for a minute. You can imagine my surprise when my own hand started producing the most realistic face I had done in a while with pencils I didn't particular like at first. Just goes to show that sometimes you can't plan these things and that you should never write certain tools off until you have fully put them to the test. I continued to draw other Riverdale characters, however Betty is definitely my best one in my opinion. However I will say Archie comes a close second.

My next favourite was done at the start of the year and was the first time I had used gouche paints - my Audrey Hepburn piece. At this moment in time I think I enjoy gouache paints more than I do watercolour, purely because I think they are easier to work with. When laying down the paint you have a good idea of how the paint will dry, unlike with watercolour where a colour lays down quite pigmented but then once it dries down it's a lot lighter in comparision. So in order for me to do good pieces I need to be patient and let the colours dry before I move forward. You might notice that don't possess much patience when it comes to watercolour. Similar to watercolour though gouache lasts longer than acrylics because you can still activate left over paint on the palette with just water once it's dried. It's a pleasure to use all round and I can't remember why I stopped at just two gouache paintings this year.

Since I've already done a favourites post about inktober I won't go into detail about these pieces but I will say that the inktober ones that make the 2017 faves are my NOPE Turtle, my Thor: Ragnarok piece and the Scream drawing. Ink is such a challenging but fun medium to work with and I have no doubt that I will continue to use it in 2018. It has helped me improve on my line work, colour values and let go of some of perfectionist tendencies.

And finally I'll give my 13 Reasons Why piece an honorable mention because of how much it highlighted the fan art debate and opened my eyes to the world of copyright. And also how I should probably watermark more of my stuff to help prevent people stealing my work and putting it on phonecases. Yeahhhhh .... That was a thing.


Resolutions for 2018

So where do I want to go from here. My overwhelming feeling is that I want to paint more. I was looking at my portraiture work from 2009/2010 thinking it's time to up my painting game. Even though I have made improvements I don't think they have been that drastic from back then. I might talk about this more next year in another blog post and show you my advanced higher pieces. In regards to how often I want to paint I'll keep the number low so the resolution is achievable. Let's say sitting down to paint at least once a month with the hope of finishing a piece a month.

I also need to use those oil paints I bought at the start of the the year. Why does it say everywhere that oils aren't hard to use but then follows it with a warning to remember to watch out for combustible rags. I'm sorry.... WHAT! But aside from that the oils will be used.

This year I did a few more original pieces than normal instead of solely fan art and I want to continue with that thread. And in line with this thought I think I'm going to get myself a sketchbook soley for drawings that I don't intend on showing anyone. So like composition sketches, ideas, quick drawing exercises. I think it's easy to get caught up with making everything look nice but sometimes you need a space where you can allow yourself to be rubbish. Original pieces don't happen over night and if I can develop my style in private I think that will help raise my confidence when I do finally decide to share personal pieces.

And with that thought it's time to get ready for 2018. Hope you all have a lovely new year when it comes and I will see you in January.

Hazel, xoxo

May Sketch A Day Faves

This month has been a continuation of the #makeasplash watercolour challenge and it has reminded me of how much I like working with the medium. It's just so easy to set up, especially with block palettes. And since I can be quite lazy in the preparation stages of painting it is so much more convenient than say acrylic. If I was to leave acrylic to dry on a palette it would be a nuisance to reuse which means having to measure precise amounts of paint in order not to waste too much. But with watercolour just add water and hey presto your good to go!

Unfortunately I have not as been as consistent as I would have liked and missed quite a few days this month. I'm looking on the bright side though because I'm just glad I haven't thrown in the towel all together. Since i've been using watercolour paint all month it's a much more colourful month to look back on.

It's funny to see at what points I enjoyed using particular colours. Even though I like trying out different colour schemes, I always seem to revert back to certain colours and combinations. For instance near the start of the month I favoured greens and reds but then started to use oranges and blues more as time went on. 

I was so please with how my Lizzie McGuire piece turned out. It's far from perfect but the way the light shines from the middle was almost exactly how I wanted it - without using too much white paint and letting the paper show through. Plus I'm from the Lizzie McGuire generation of Disney so this basically screams childhood to me. "Sing to me, Paolo" could be the sickest burn of all time!

The heathers painting is in my favourites due to how tricky I found it to do but I'm happy with how it turned out. I managed to push through and find a way to paint it how I pictured. Whereas the tree painting just reminds me of a 70s travel ad because of the colour palette. Definitely want to revisit some 70s colour schemes.

I painted this one during Mental Awareness week and so wanted to create something that would illustrate how my head feels sometimes. These things can be hard to explain so painting is much easier. Plus I really enjoyed using the blues and reds minimally with the white showing through. 

 

 

These last few where just fun from start to finish and I can only hope for this to continue.

Even though the #makeasplash watercolour challenge is complete I will definitely be using watercolour more. Maybe not straight away just so I can flex my other muscles but definitely soon. Next month I'm aiming to do some acrylic canvas work. Back in January I worked on some small canvases and there is something so gratifying about seeing a finished piece on canvas. 

Also my goal for next month is for quality not quantity so that means I will be spreading workload out over days instead of small finished pieces each day. My black panther painting was done over two days and I was really pleased with how it turned out so I only hope that by lengthening the process I can I achieve better results. 

May has been a colourful one and may it continue! ;)

Hazel, xoxo

Watercolour Tips and Tricks - Video Playlist

Since starting the #makeasplash watercolour challenge last month I have slowly been getting used to watercolour paints and learning how to get the best out of them. Early on I realised how different they were to the acrylics I tend to use and so I had to adapt the way I painted.

Now I could tell you that I learned all of the tips and tricks all by myself but that wouldn't be entirely true. Of course I have picked up a few things on the way through trial and error but I also helped the process along by watching some tutorial videos. I thought instead of me waffling on about what I've learned in the past couple of weeks I would put together a playlist of some of the videos I found helpful. Visually seeing how watercolour paints apply, layer and dry has been very helpful for me. Plus sometimes you need to see it rather than read it.

These first two videos have some simple beginners tricks in the form of what not to do. Some may seem obvious but sometimes you've got to hear them in order to avoid simple mistakes.

 

The next video contains the basic painting techniques you can use and experiment with in watercolour.

This video talks about your painting set up and tips to make painting easier specifically in regards to water.

And finally a video from one of my fave art channels on youtube, MaryDoodles.  In this video she goes over watercolour supplies and what you might need. However she does miss out watercolour pencils but apart from that she's pretty on point.

Hopefully this playlist is helpful to those starting out with watercolours. I found these videos to be be quite useful in getting me started. Remember cass art's #makeasplash challenge is running until the end of May so I hope to see more watercolour on my Instagram feed. If you want to see my progress just follow me on any of my social media links (links in the sidebar).

Hazel, xoxo

My Nephew's Winnie the Pooh Wall Mural





I can't believe it has almost 3 years since I painted my nephew's Winnie the Pooh wall mural. When my brother and his soon to be fiancé asked if I would do it I jumped at the chance. I always wanted to do one but I thought it would be in my own room when I eventually did do it. This way I could try it out before I committed to my own room.

I started out with a rough sketch with Calum and Kerrie giving some ideas of what they wanted and went from there. Once the paints where bought the best thing to do was to start no matter how daunting it may have seemed at the time. I started in June of 2013 doing about two full days of painting a week and finished in August, about a month shy of the baby's due date.

By the end of it all I was really proud of what I had accomplished and considering it was my first project of that scale I thought I had done pretty well! I remember thinking "how on earth am I going to go back to A4 after this!"

When backing up photos I came across a bunch of progress photos from when I was painting the wall and thought it was about time I spliced them into video slideshow.

My nephew still loves his wall. He loves the little ladybird right next to his crib and makes buzzy sounds when he sees the bees a.k.a. the three amigos. I have even been told he likes to say goodnight to all of the little creatures, such as the butterfly, before he goes to bed sometimes. So I don't think the wall will need painted for a while yet!

xoxo