Illustration Friday - Beginning

This was the first thing that popped into my head. 

Maybe I just really wanted to draw a baby dinosaur. 

Neighbors #2

So continuing my sketch series on our interesting neighbors, I thought I'd tell you about one of our current neighbors. 

**N.B. I'm trying to keep this series a lot more messy and quick, so hopefully as the series goes on these drawings will get better - in the meantime it's great sketching practice just trying to get across some emotion etc so here's hoping the practice pays off.**

Picture, if you will, a tranquil domestic scene...

Here I am just knitting peacefully away.

When suddenly out of nowhere...

Our next door neighbor lets rip a string of profanities. 

We live in an apartment complex where we are surrounded by neighbors on three sides. The guy who lives on the other side of our lounge wall will often get mad at something and start screaming. All I can say is I'm glad we don't have kids. :P 

As far as I can tell he lives alone (although often when he arrives home he starts talking to himself/someone once he is through the door) - and I don't know what exactly is making him so mad that justifies that kind of language. It's especially nasty because he says it as if he is swearing at someone, and it's hard not to take it personally.

But maybe I'm being too hard on him. Perhaps he has really good reason for his potty-mouth, such as...

Maybe his floral art is just not falling into place.

Or maybe he just can't work out that 1000 piece puzzle. 

I'd be mad wouldn't you?

Or perhaps he just CAN'T get those creases out of his shirts!!!

I feel his pain.

Or his scones came out of the oven burnt and resembling rocks. 

This one I really empathize with. Been there for sure. 

(Mine ended up on the floor)

So I guess in the meantime this is just what we have to deal with while living in an apartment. Looking forward to having a house to live in in the future. 

Movie of the Week...

So one billion points to the person who knows what the movie of the week is based on this picture. :D

(Anyone who knows me at all will probably get this one more quickly)

All I can say is: 

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Fail. 

Well it was fun to give it a go drawing something other than a 'pretty girl' and practice caricature which has never been a strength of mine. 

Onwards!

Things I wore...

I have been trying to come up with ideas of themes that I can use to help me practice drawing more. Especially things incorporating the complete figure. The other day I was musing on the clothes that I used to wear as a kid, and just how much fashions have changed since then. Growing up in the 80's and 90's meant that there were things that we thought were so cool - but if we pulled them out and wore them now people would think we were nuts. It was a fun time.

So anyway, I had some pretty rockin clothes that I used to wear and I thought that I would try and remember some of them and draw them out for practice. All of these outfits are completely genuine - I actually went out in public wearing them (if you can believe it)(those born pre-1990 will understand).

Why anyone else would be interested remains to be seen - however it's amusing for me in the meantime. :)

So here we have 'Things I used to wear: #1'

~  The oh so stylish overall kinda things - made from fluorescent colored fabrics  ~ 

(the more fluorescent and the more colors the better). 

~  The slouchie socks  ~

(making something of a comeback I might add)

~  The kung-fu shoes  ~

(hands up who had kung-fu shoes and who thought they were awesome)

~  The hair scrunchie  ~

(also in fluorescent color scheme)

~  The hair tied up in a pony and then braided  ~ 

(the height of fashion)

I can tell this is going to be fun. 

Neighbors....

...everybody needs good neighbors. 

(Kudos to you if you know what that's from)

I was thinking about it the other day, and we have moved a lot over the past 9 years. And as a result we have had quite a few different neighbors. It seems that often we end up living next to some, well, interesting people. 

One good example is when we first moved to London, and were living up in the attic of this amazing old terraced house in Notting Hill. 

The view from out of our attic window.

Because we were living in the attic we had to walk through our landlord's house to get out the front door. If you have ever been in one of these houses, basically there is a staircase running right up through the middle of the house - this one went up 3 flights plus our attic on top that we reached via a little spiral staircase. 

Our spiral staircase

All the rooms of the house just came right off the staircase. Right at the foot of our little spiral staircase was our landlord's bathroom. 

And they often would have baths with the door wide open. 

And we had to walk right past the door if we wanted to leave to go anywhere. 

It was interesting. 

Hey it makes for a funny story anyway. And there are more stories where that came from. 

And yes I was that white after spending a year in the UK. 

Sketchy times

I still enjoy drawing birds. :D

If you killed his father, then prepare to die.

And so keeping with the theme of 'The Princess Bride' here is my scruffy version of Inigo Montoya. Studly in his own very special way. Haha. 

Still just trying to keep things super sketchy and quick. 

If anyone has any suggestions about what movie I could work with next week feel free to let me know - otherwise I definitely have a bundle that I would be happy to work on. :D

Movie of the Week: The Princess Bride

So I need more digital painting/sketching practice and more practice drawing guys - so I thought I'd continue with the movie of the week theme and draw Westley. He is delightful to draw after all. ;)

So took about 45 mins on this one and had fun. Also been playing around with some new pencil brushes that I downloaded earlier in the week, so that is nice. 

If anyone has any suggestions for movies that I could practice characters from - I am always open to suggestions! :D 

Updates

Hi everyone,

As well as trying to get back into keeping this blog updated - I thought that I might as well spend some time updating other web-spaces where I keep my artwork too. So below are links to other places you can find my art - and if you have similar profiles (on DA or Instagram or Facebook) then let me know, I love to see other people's artwork. 

Deviant Art

Facebook 

Twitter

And you can find me on Instagram at HanFlinn!

(but only if you want to)

And carrying on our Grease theme - here is my version of Sandy. Perhaps sometime I'll give her a bit of colour too. 

It's the word...

Grease. 

Ah that classic tale of teenagerdom. All the innuendo that I didn't pick up as a kid. Yikes. 

Pretty cool characters though - and most excellent music. It's just fun. 

So I thought it was about time that I watched it again last night and did some sketches of some of the Grease peeps. I am in the need for practice so they didn't all come out the way that I would have liked, however it was a good start. 

Here's my version of Frenchie...

She was always one of my most favorite characters and I don't really think that I did her justice here, but it was fun to draw anyway. I've also done versions of Rizzo, Sandy and a not so great one of Kenickie - so will add them up over the next week or so. 

Another thing that I would like to work on this year is style. I got a couple of amazingly cool Christmas presents this year - 'Design' and 'Layout & Background' from the Walt Disney Animation Studios Archive series. They are pretty amazingly fantastic!

Great Expectations...

So whenever people start a new year they do actually seem to have 'great expectations' of what they are going to achieve for that year. Thus the whole New Year's Resolutions thing. I kind of gave up on that a few years ago after constantly getting frustrated at myself for not keeping those resolutions! So the trade off I have made is to stick to just one basic thing that I want to learn for that year. And usually something that applies to a lot of stuff. 

So last year I really wanted to learn more about humility. And boy did I learn about it. Stopping full time work, moving to a new country and having to rely on other people is a humbling business.

This year I have decided that I really need to focus on discipline. A scary kind of a word. Even scarier I think than humility. But I do need to become more disciplined. More disciplined in my work, exercise, faith, and life in general. So we'll see how that goes for 2014. 

Speaking of Great Expectations, and on a more art related note... I watched a version of that classic Dickens tale the other week and it was really good! It had Gillian Anderson in it as Miss Haversham and she was awesome. So if you are into classics, Dickens and BBC (or at least one of the above) then check it out. (Plus it inspired me to want to watch The X Files).

I decided to do some sketches while I was watching - so here's my version of Estella and Pip (based on Douglas Booth who played the part of Pip)(and who is a very appealing guy to draw).

That's all from me for now! Happy New Year everyone. 

Watercolor birdies...

Some watercolour birds that I painted for a friend's birthday card. 

I never get tired of drawing birds. 

:)

Drawing Rapunzel (coz she's so much fun to draw)

So somehow I have found myself volunteering as an art teacher for a couple of groups of children over here in the US. : ) The younger group of kids is especially interesting because I've never taught that age group before. However, hopefully they will get something out of it (here's hoping!).

One of the girls in the older group very sweetly came over to me after last weeks lesson and said 'Mrs. Flinn,' (funny huh, I'm still getting used to being called Mrs. Flinn), 'would you please be able to teach me how to draw Rapunzel?' How could I resist that!!!

So I told her that I would draw up a tip-sheet for her. I thought perhaps I would share it here, just in case someone else would like to check it out too. 

**Now time for a little disclaimer**

 You will notice that every pic of Rapunzel I have drawn on here looks kinda off (if you have an eye for it, this looks more like Rapunzel's younger and slightly out of proportioned sisters), and this is the first time I have done a tip sheet - so it's a bit all over the place. 

However all that aside, maybe - somewhere, somehow - someone will find it helpful. :D I am definitely not the authority on this kind of thing, and I know for a fact that there are a bazillion other 'how-to' sheets you can get online that are a bazillion times better than this one. So if you are really keen to learn to draw - go do a good old fashioned Google search and you'll probably find them. :) All the best! 

**End of Disclaimer**

Life in general...

Been watching some old movies lately which inspired this lady. 

Speaking of old movies - I watched 'How to Marry a Millionaire' the other day, with Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall - what a fab movie. Marilyn was so funny and sweet in it. 

We were also super amazingly blessed the other weekend to be able to go and visit California to spend some time with friends (who were the ones who very generously got our flights for us!!!). It was so nice to see the beach again, and just see a different part of the States. It was gorgeous. 

And I found these flying space cat leggings in Target the other day. Nuff said. 

**AMUUUURRRICAAAA**

The Great Gatsby

So what do you know I got some artwork up here. 

Some fan art of the character Daisy from The Great Gatsby. I haven't seen the new movie yet, but have read the book and would be keen to see it. It looks pretty epic. 

Carey Mulligan is so gorgeous - very fun to draw. 

A post with no pictures

Hello if there is anyone out there. Just thought that I would write and give you an update on where things are at for HanDrawn. 

Well, life has been a little topsy turvy of late - we have moved to the USA - and so have been trying to settle in over here, which, as I'm sure you can imagine, is a work in progress. 

I'm not sure whether it's just as a result of the move or a combination of things - but I have really been struggling creatively. So haven't been drawing really at all. I think I am questioning a little bit, what I am actually going to do with this creativity, and at the moment am coming up short a little. Plus I'm having some computer troubles (which is what happens when the bag your laptop is in breaks when you are in line for the plane and crunches heavily on the floor)(very loudly and embarrassingly I might add). :P

So that is where things are at. I'm not sure when I will next be able to put work up here. You never know, it might be sooner - it might be later.

We'll see. 

Snake & Flower

Because snakes have mastered the art of being creepy and beautiful all at the same time. 

5 weeks until we leave for the US! Eep - excited and nervous at the same time. 

I know that I will definitely miss home. 

But looking forward to hanging with some American peeps. :)

Yellow birdy

Been crazy busy again trying to create a bunch of artwork for this kind of market opportunity that is coming up tomorrow! I think that I am on track (hopefully). Getting prints made of my artwork for the first time which is quite exciting and finally getting on to setting up an Etsy store but it is quite a learning experience!

Here is a little fat yellow bird that I drew as one of the originals that will be for sale tomorrow night. :)

Chugging along...

Well things have been crazy busy to the point that I have neglected this poor wee blog. 

We are in the process of sorting out a move to the US, so all of the stress that comes with an overseas move as well as catching up with people before we go and trying to get artwork complete for events has me run off my feet! 

However it is all really enjoyable and fun stuff to do, so I just have to keep on reminding myself of that. :)

Lately I have been working on a whole pile of artwork that I will be selling at an event in Pukekohe (just south of Auckland) in a couple of weeks and have been enjoying having a lot of creative freedom with what I produce. Things just always take a lot longer than I ever anticipate. 

Here's a little WIP of one that I just finished this morning. 

So I started with my rough pencil sketch...

 Then using my rough draft, redrew onto a new piece of paper really lightly tracing the basic outline and proportions of the animals - then started colouring...

And after a bit of time (always more than I anticipate!) it's done! 

Hopefully will be selling this at the event in a couple of weeks, however whatever doesn't sell I will be popping onto my Etsy store, and will also be starting to create some more work for that too, so artwork will be available for everyone! Huzzah!

In the meantime, you can see more day-to-day updates on my Facebook page, but I will try and keep this more up-to-date I promise. :)

The Deep South

It has been a joy over the past 4 days to spend some time in Queenstown (in the South Island of New Zealand) at a really gorgeous primary school. My good friend works as a teacher at the school, so I came down to help out with teaching the kids some drawing skills and talk to them about illustrating books!

It's been a lot of fun. :) Below are some of the drawings by the Junior students (ages 5-6) who I worked with on the first day. They did such a great job! We have here a Princess and a giraffe.

Below are some pictures of character stories that the Seniors wrote based on my drawings! I didn't know that they had done this so it was a really cool surprise when I arrived, and the stories that they wrote were so cool!

Hopefully by the end of the day today I'll have some of their drawings that I can share with you. They are a really imaginative group of kids. The Seniors are aged from 10-11.

Queenstown is beautiful - it has been pretty cold, and for the first couple of days that I was here it was really cloudy and overcast, but yesterday afternoon the sun came out in all it's glory and I got to experience a more trademark Queenstown day - crisp but gorgeous and clear. Sooooo pretty, I can see why people would want to live here surrounded by the mountains. Hopefully I'll get a better photo of it today to share with you!