Sketch A Day 2016 - From Then To Now

This time last year I was thinking a lot about New Year's Resolutions. I've never been one to make them and if I did it would always be silly small ones like drink more water or vague goals like get out of your comfort zone more often. And every year I would never follow through with them. And to be honest the idea that resolutions are saved for once a year is ridiculous. Changes can and should be made at anytime but I do understand that the clean slate feeling that comes with the New Year helps push people to try and better themselves in whatever big or small way.

So I was looking back at 2015 and thinking how little art I had been doing. And it suddenly occured to me how little I had done since 2010. Every now and again I would start something but it would usually sit on my easel unfinished taunting and shaming me. I would get sudden bursts of creativity out of nowhere but I wouldn't harness it in the moment and so when I got round to drawing the desire to do it would fade fast. I wanted to change this. I didn't want to feel like I couldn't do it anymore.

So on the days leading up to New Year's I started to think about drawing and holding myself accountable to it in some way. I wanted to challenge myself to be better. In the years I hadn't been drawing as much I could have been improving and developing my style. To think of where I could have been by now annoyed me so much but instead of wallowing in what I hadn't done I decided to make a start on improving. The only way to do that was to start drawing again and Sketch A Day 2016 was born. There was no hesitation, just the decision on New Year's eve that it was going to be my resolution. I hadn't thought about the logistics of how I was going to do it but instead jumped right in. And I'm so glad I did!

I considered January a warm up period where I would start to get to grips of how I would start to make it part of my routine. At first I thought of it as a wind down activity at night where I would spend 30 minutes to an hour sketching before bed and sometimes as a waking up activity. But eventually I began to move it around the day just so it didn't start to feel like work. The time I would spend on each piece would get longer because I began to enjoying it more but also because I started to grow self concious of uploading half finished pieces.

Even though I knew it didn't matter what I drew and what the finished piece looked like, just as long as I did it, I still couldn't shake the feeling that I had lost some skill over the last couple of years. Most of my sketches where small to begin with and I spent a lot of time trying to think how I could make the sketches like a diary of my life and also like a time capsule of 2016. I also wanted to try and draw with different mediums every couple of days to mix things up for both me and whoever was following along.

Thinking soon turned into over thinking and by the end of February/beginning of March I started to grow impatient with myself. I saw no improvement. My sketches didn't impress me for the most part. It was exhausting having to shush my self conscious mind just to make another small sketch. But in a way this type of thinking is what helped push me to make better things and it was a sign I was getting into the swing of drawing again. I knew I could do better and so I did.

The make a splash watercolour challenge came at just the right time. I craved colour but didn't have the time for my acrylics. Watercolours where the perfect gateway. At first, as always, I was rusty but despite that I still liked the colours which meant I always appreciated the final piece. My watercolour period ran into my marker period which then led to me trying out different papers and soon people started to express interest and so I began to take commissions. Now there haven't been that many but the fact that have been paid to draw is a pretty big deal to me. And since I haven't been overwhelmed with them I still have to time to do what I want and I haven't grown to dislike them so I've got an okay balance going on.

Let's not lie to ourselves here. I haven't held up my side of the bargain completely. There have been many missed days and dark periods of nothing. I even spread many sketches out over a period of a couple of days which cheated me out of a couple of sketches. So I don't have a total of 365 sketches to show you. But what I have done is kept my creative juices flowing everyday of the year whether that was drawing, painting, writing, making, reading and even singing if that counts. I'm living a far more creative life than before. I have dabbled with acrylics, watercolour, charcoal, graphite, oil pastels, soft pastels, all sorts of pens, markers and ink. I have used different types of brushes, canvases, paper, mdf and even done a little sewing with felt. I'm sure there is plenty I haven't done. Oil and gouache have still to be touched on but I can save that for next year. All in all despite not sketching every day I have done a lot! More than I have done in the last 5 years combined!

Little did I know on January 1st 2016 that this #sketchaday2016 was about much more than simply drawing everyday. At risk of sounding cheesy it was about putting creativity at the heart of my life. I'm not saying I'm magically living my ideal life at this moment in time. There is still a ways to go but I've taken steps to change my life for the better. I feel like I'm working towards something and I wasn't before. Now I don't have a clear and succinct answer of what it is precisely. I just know that I need art in my life in some capacity. Without it I feel like I'm lying or being someone else.

So where to go from here? As I've said before I will not be making #sketchaday2017 a thing. This time the challenge is to make but without the accountability of every day posting. I want to be able to draw without having to share it. And with that I want to start making more personal and original works. That being said I won't disappear off the face of the Internet. I will upload... just not as much. At the moment I don't know when my next blog post will be. We will all just need to wait and see. For now I just want to thank anyone who has liked, commented and followed me through this year. I really appreciate everyone who has taken the time to show support in any way, shape or form. And if you've made it to the end of this particular blog gold star for you!  It's been a journey.

All that's left to say is I hope you have a wonderful New Year and hopefully 2017 will finally be the year of drinking more water. See you in 2017!!!

Hazel, xoxo

Sketch A Day 2016 Favourites

I knew about half way through 2016 that eventually I was going to put together a favourites of the whole year.  I could see my drawings start to bundle up in scraps of paper and sketch pads. And I can't believe it's already 2017 and it's time to pick out my favourites. So I sat looking over all the drawings and paintings which got me reminiscing of where I was and how I felt when I did them. I have finally managed to narrow it down to the 16 pieces that are within this blog post. 

Funnily enough these pieces where all done from May onwards. Not that I don't like the drawings I did from January to April - in fact there are a few pencil drawings I did of my family from old photographs that I really love for sentimental reasons but they didn't quite make the cut. With the ones I have chosen I feel like I stepped out of my comfort zone and showed improvement in technical skill as well as just loving how they turned out. And most of all I remember drawing and painting them and what I was feeling and thinking.

These are my #sketchaday2016 favourites!

As you can see a large bulk of these are portraiture which is to be expected since I always gravitate towards portraiture. But I've also grown to love landscapes, scenery and animal portraits this year too. I'm glad I managed to step away from portraiture enough to try some different subject matter to help improve my skills all round. 

I was also interested to see what other people's favourites where this year. According to Instagram these are my best nine posts from 2016. There's definite colour scheme going on here.

Here are the best nine from Facebook. Slightly different but also a few in common.

And finally the Tumblr favourites which has been heavily affected by fandoms. The Always doe piece got 149 notes thanks to all those Harry Potter fans out there.  

Across all the social medias it's been a good year! Since I'm not continuing with the sketch a day this year there won't be a favourites like this anytime soon. But I will definitely keep posting when inspiration hits! My next post will be recapping on the year! 

Hazel, xoxo

November Sketch A Day Faves

December is here! I was going to to say I can't believe at first but to be honest I can. This year has felt like the fastest year yet even though some months felt like they where going in slow motion at times. November was a pretty good month for me. I haven't drawn this much since probably earlier in the year. I don't what came over me. Suddenly I just had a burst of energy and it became really easy. All things good things come to end though as Nelly Furtado would say and I have slowed down a bit. But enough about now and here are my favourites from November and it is the first time in a while where I had to narrow it down! 

First up my squirrel pencil sketch! I originally intended for this drawing to be a quick, small sketch and even though it was small it definitely wasn't quick. Turns out drawing tree bark doesn't come as easily to me as facial features but I really like how it turned out. No better feeling than challenging yourself in whatever small way and it paying off. Plus it helps me work on my patience.

My favourite thing about using varying tones of paper is the challenge of figuring out how shade and light works. Even though I haven't mastered coloured pencil on black paper yet (still can't manage to get those colours to pop!), I love the colour palette of my sparkler drawing against the black background. Also I really love my grey paper too especially when I get to use my white charcoal and I got to use plenty of it for this Marlon Brandom portrait. Everything just comes to life when you add a highlight!

This month I also played with my soft and oil pastels some more. I have fullt come to terms that precision is not something I am going to achieve with the soft pastels but as I have mentioned before I really enjoy the difference in style and I'm beginning to appreciate the texture of the paper I get with soft pastels like in my Matilda drawing. Plus the green colours are just really pleasing to me. In regards to my oil pastel piece of Antelope Canyon I love the strong colours and the blend of oranges against the blues and purples. I'm still getting the hang of layering and how far I can layer but I've managed to incorporate quite a bit of colour in this one without creating too many layers. 

I decided I wanted to do more portraits but almost didn't do these because I had already drawn the Olsen twins earlier in the year. In the back of my mind I had pressured myself to not repeat ideas too much or at least too close together. But when I found these photographs in a style similar to the ones I had done before I couldn't say no. For some reason Ashley was harder to do than Mary-Kate. It took my three attempts of the outline to get it right. But thankfully I stuck with it. 

And my final favourites are my christmas decorations.  What I like about painting them is that I get to use my acrylics and since the mdf shapes are smaller than you average canvas, the paintings come together way faster, meaning I can do a lot more. 

So December is here. Currently I am working on a commission that cannot be shown in it's entirety until the very end of the year but when that's all finished up and I can start making more ornaments! Hopefully it will get me back in the Christmas sprirt. My problem is I get excited way too early and then run out by December. My aim for this month is to do at least the same amount or more drawings and paintings than November! The next time we will speak will probably be the last #sketchaday 2016 blog unless I do a December Faves and a full year Faves. Haven't decided yet. I guess you will have to wait and see. 

To the final stretch!

Hazel, xoxo

September and October Sketch a Day Faves

It's time to get all caught up with my sketch a day so I've decided to make a favourites post combining the last two months. Just didn't feel right to completely ignore those months and plus there are some pieces that I like from the small selection I did. If you would like to know why I haven't been drawing you can check out my last blog post. With that being said let's waste no more time and jump right in.

I probably don't need to explain why this is in my favourites. But what I will say is that I'm finally at the place where I don't just feel sadness looking at it. I think it could be one of my favourites of the year.

I conciously chose to draw this photograph because it felt like it was in line with the previous Aly and AJ portraits. Because of there composition and style they feel like a series to me. The reason I love drawing portraits is because as you are drawing them you get to see life come into them and even with the simplest expressions you can create underlying emotion. I wouldn't be as bold to say that I achieve this everytime but that's always the goal. Even though my style is in the realm of realistic I don't always see it as important to make the drawing identical to the reference but as long as I feel like I get the expression right I feel pleased with the work. And with this one I think I did.

For some reason everytime I get my hands on pastels I draw scenery with a hint of creepiness to it. I don't mean to. It just happens. I like how loose they feel and most of all I like the colours. I've got much improvement to do with pastels but I like how I've begun. When drawing with pastels I get the same sort of feeling I got when painting as a child in playgroup. Instead of being focus on the finished piece, I'm more invested in the experience of using them.

This canvas commission came at an ideal time. I was getting lazy and since this idea was presented to me all I needed to do was paint it on the canvas. No challenges, just a pleasure to paint! If you're interested in a commission, information is up on both the pricing list and the terms and conditions.  

If you haven't listened to the Hamilton soundtrack, I advise you do!! A rap/rnb musical about the rise and fall of American president Alexander Hamilton doesn't exactly make much sense on paper but to listen to it is a different story. I had to draw the amazing Lin-Manuel Miranda behind the show. He such a talented and admirable person. I was inspired to draw him after of course listening to the musical but also watching BethBeRad's Rad Portraits youtube series where she draws people she admires in different mediums. I used dipping pens and ink for this one. I like the cross hatching effect with the ink since it reminds me of the kind of portraits you find on the dollar bill.

These last two pieces where done with ink and waterbrush pens. Even though I used the wrong paper for both, the deer piece was a pleasant surprise since I had zero clues if it would turn into anything presentable but I really like the effect the brush strokes make. And the daschund piece just makes me smile. Such a happy looking dog it's hard not to. For about 20mins Steph and Dom from Googlebox followed me because of it. Such fleeting success. 

So the aim for the end of this month is to have a full selection of pieces to choose favourites from for the next favourites post. And as I said in my last post I'm going to get cracking on painting some Christmas decorations the minute bonfire night is out of the way! 

The penultimate month has begun!

Hazel, xoxo

Let's Get Honest - Sketch A Day....yeah right?

It's been a while. I haven't posted a blog since the end of August and if you follow my #sketchaday2016 through any of my social media you will know that I have been slacking! I should probably change the hashtag to #sketchwhenibloodywellfeellikeit2016 because basically that's what it has become.

I've been in a rubbish mood/head space in regards to my drawing. By the end of September I went to put together a favourites and I felt like I had close to nothing. The feeling hasn't come from nowhere though. I made the conscious decision to take a break for a while at the beginning of September after a loss but when I started up again I struggled to draw anything and when I did most of the time I hated it and unfortunately that feeling of inadequacy hasn't shaken completely. 

Before September I drew things I wasn't 100% happy with but I managed to bounce back. But now even if I draw things I like I can't seem to carry to confidence through to the next piece and end up staring at a blank piece of paper. One of the main purposes of sketch a day was to raise my confidence with art and I felt like I was succeeding until September and now I'm starting to feel like I'm back at square one.

I think what annoyed me the most was when my nephew was born at the end of September I had planned to do sketch of him to mark the day. Sounds easy, right? What could possibly stand in my way. The ideas simple and formed and I've got the materials ready. Surprise, surprise... it didn't happen and so the alarm bells starring ringing. Not even inktober has got me out this over spilling September Slump like I hoped it would.

I'm not stopping completely though. I'm determined to see this through. In the next two months I hope to get things started back up again. I'm ready to get my Christmas ON!  I have a loose plan. This month I will be breaking out the pastels again and eventually will put together a blog post about my experience with them. I will also start painting my mdf christmas ornament shapes. Last year I did an Elf the movie one that I love so heres to many more. Maybe home alone... maybe miracle on 34th street, Jack Frost. I'm open to ideas. Knowing me though I will want to use the ink despite being resistant to it last month! And you know what I'm gonna let myself. I also have some square canvas and boards so if I can fit it in I'm gonna paint on one of them.

I will go on the record and say there will be no #sketchaday2017. I will continue drawing and painting but I don't feel the need for the hashtag next year. Also I feel like I need the freedom to draw things and not always upload it. Plus everyday posts can get very annoying for everyone.

With all that being said you will be hearing from me very soon. Definitely won't be leaving it this long next time!

Hazel, xoxo

August Sketch A Day Faves

Off the bat I will say this month has dragged a little. Every other month this year I blinked and it was done whereas I've been convincing myself for half this month it was already September. It's not that I've been bored, I've spent most of month working and watching the Olympics (I've said it before and I'll say it again, Rhythmic gymnastics....WOW!), so it makes little sense as to why August has seemed to last so long. 

I've continued to pace out my work and have been enjoying it even though I have significantly less work to show for the month. And with that being said let's show and tell my collection of favourites.

At the start of the month I finished my AJ Michalka portrait. It seemed only right to draw the AJ to my Aly from July. I used the promarker and pencil technique from before and really enjoy how it looks in the end, especially with a bold solid colour in the background. The challenge with this one was definitely the hands which when I look back are quite similar to the hands from the Emily Blunt Huntsman portrait I did a couple months ago. I must be drawn to that particular pose. AJ was kind enough to repost the piece to her Instagram page which is always a thrill.

I finally got some black Pitt pens to try and this was my first go using them. I think they have a lovely finish and I intend to continue using them possibly for illustration work. With the dancer piece I tried to create some movement and hopefully in time I'll get the hang of that. My style is quite tight but to create movement it needs to be more loose. Not my strong point but it's a goal. And I really love my owls little face!

This acrylic painting was done specially for my Mum. She has been asking for a painting of mine and my siblings childhood teddy bears for quite a while and this was the month I finally granted her requested. Since my room is quite small it is hard to do acrylic pieces just because I don't have the best set up. Thanks to my brother I have a portable tabletop box easel which I can set up on the bed but if I'm painting for too long my back tends to hurt since I have no back support. Luckily this one didn't take up too much time and the teddies seemed to flow out of me (apart from that creepy teddy on the right). Painting this piece reminds me of just how much I love acrylics. Definitely need to think up more ideas for other canvases.

I've been seeing a lot of awesome work done with pastels online recently so thought it was time to give them a go again. As I have probably said before I find pastels a little too messy for my liking so to try and combat that I bought both pastel sticks and pencils for more precise detail. The colours are so pretty and they blend lovely. Once I have used them more I hope to do a blog post about them and how I have gotten to grips with them - if I ever do. 

This is the month of Britney Spears' Glory. If you haven't listened to the album and you enjoy pop music I highly recommend you give it a whirl. It's basically a mix of elements from In the zone, Britney and a hint of Blackout. The day I listened to the album was the day I drew this. I just got my grey Strathmore sketch pad which is such a great size. I didn't expect it to be as big as it was. Plus I was finding it hard to find a pad of just grey paper here in the UK. This pad was an import from the US on Amazon. I can't wait to see how colour pencils will work on it. So many possibilities! 

I have finally started using PayPal and taking commissions. It has been a some time coming. I had been thinking about it for a while but didn't quite know if there was a demand for it but when I did my Aly drawing last month and people seemed to be interested I thought it was time to get things rolling. This piece is for a former work colleague of mine and she has been great through the whole process. She has been like a cheerleader for me and I can't thank her enough! The next step will be to set up some sort of store, whether it be through Etsy or elsewhere, and sell prints and so on. But for now I'm just focused on the commissions and putting together a solid price list. This is another topic I wish to do a blog post on so stay tuned next month.

 

My last two drawing of the month make my favourites purely because I think they show some improvement compared to some of my other work in pastels and charcoal. All I need now is a better fixative, other than hairspray, to hold them in place so I'm open to suggestions. Also I really like the expression on the portrait piece. I'm a sucker for emotive faces.

My goals for next month are to do smaller pieces just so I can work on my speed. I can be quite slow sometimes. And other than that I just want to continue using pastels and other mediums to improve my skills. Drawing aside next month I will become an aunt for the second time so I'm quite excited for that!

Roll on September!

Hazel, xoxo

July Sketch A Day Faves

This month I fully embraced spreading sketches out over a few days instead of pressuring myself to churn a new one out per day. In the months before I could feel stress building up over trying to produce a different sketch everyday and I think it was the main reason why I've increasingly been missing days.

With that in mind there are less favourites this month but only because more time was put into them. The main materials I used in July were promarkers and graphite pencil with coloured pencil thrown in ocassionally. Here are the best from July!

I had avoided doing eye drawings partly because if I let myself I would do them all the time but mainly because Instagram is full of them and they have begun to feel slightly cliché (if that's the right word). But with Lindsay Lohan's birthday passing (an old fave) I couldn't risk drawing her beautiful eyes. I think it's the eyelashes and grey combination that I love.

Done over the course of many days, this was the follow up piece to my diner marker drawing which I love mainly for the birdseye view. At the risk of sounding creepy I like the feeling of being a fly on the wall witnessing candid day to day moments and even though there are no faces you can get a feeling of mood from the setting and colours. The drawing feels comfortable and homey to me, probably because of the clutter and home baking.

Legally Blonde turned 15 and I wanted to commemorate it by drawing from my favourite scene in the movie. The original plan was to do five expressions but in the end I just stuck with these three and really love the finished sketches! With each one I managed to a get a little quicker so who knows how fast I could have been by the fifth face. Another time maybe. This drawing led onto my Princess Diaries drawing later in the month. I definitely want to continue doing facial expression work. 

I went on a spree of drawing colourful insects when I was stressed about producing larger scaled detailed work but these studies managed to calm me down with there simple shapes and fun use of colour. Plus I got to use my white gel pen for highlights which is one of favourite things to do. 

Fun fact - I've never seen the entirety of the Wizard of Oz, only clips here and there, so there is really no good reason why this drawing came to be but I love it all the same. I was thinking about all the old Hollywood actresses I loved and drew in June and after watching a documentary run down of the best hollywood musicals it got me thinking about Judy Garland and how I knew of her but yet hadn't seen any of her work. I so I found an image of these ruby slippers and decided to draw them. I really like how the reflection on the floor turned out along with the green background. 

I went full out on this one! I saw that you could do a layering technique of promarkers then coloured pencils and wanted to try it out and so chose Aly Michalka as my subject. Since I was able to put down base colours with promarkers, almost like an underpainting, it allowed me to be quicker with the coloured pencils which I can find annoying if I spend too much time with them, especially on hair. Pretty sure it's the first full portrait I have finished this year and I'd say it is one of my best ones technically all year. Helps that Aly is stunning as well. I've managed to incorporate markers, pencils and facial expression all in the one. Proud of this one. 

Finally got to see Finding Dory and I loved it some much. So glad Pixar are back on top form again! Baby Dory is the cutest thing ever so I had to draw her! A fun promarker drawing, especially with blending all the blues.

And my final favourite is a drawing of an old family photograph of me and my cousin that my dad had pestered me to do. I hadn't actually see the photograph before which is always nice. When I finally got round to drawing it I remembered how much I love drawing familiar faces. I might actually try and dig up more photographs and draw them. I'm bias but I think my childhood photos are the best. But doesn't everyone think that of there own.  

My goals for next month are to possibly start a series of illustrations for my nephew and his new brother that will be arriving in September, pretty close to his own birthday. But we shall see. On top of that I have been inching to decorate my room with a wall mural so I want to design something pretty, possibly floral. I also maybe wanted to try and get to grips with charcoal or pastel. That's a big maybe though. Not sure if a messy person and a messy medium should work together. I also keep forgetting that I have canvas boards to use so I need to start coming up with ideas. Notice how these posts are mostly reminders for myself. Anyway...

August... here we go!

Hazel, xoxo