Hana

As promised, here is Hana.
I was getting bored with regular, plain people, and she's such a crazy character, I figured her painting should reflect that. Note yellow half-jumper (I don't know its technical term...) Blue spotted shirt, and coloured under layers to her hair...

Hana is a descendant of Merlin, and skilled with magic, along with her cousin, Ian. They are the two in charge of the group, as second in command(s). She is argumentative and serious, but also kind and bubbly. She's weird, basically...

Painting her was fun, because she is different from the rest. all of the others have just been wearing plain clothes, but Hana's add to her personality. It made  me feel very free, painting the small dots onto her shirt sleeves and collar, something childish. Perhaps we all need that hint of childishness every once in a while...

Her under layers of her hair caused me some strife. Following with the childish theme, I was too impatient to wait for them to dry, so all of the colours began to bleed into each other... It was good when I was able to paint the black of her hair on, as it covers the worst of it... In that way, black is very forgiving, but in another circumstance, that would've been  seen as a bad thing....

Hana was fun. I think she's one of my favourite characters, overall.

"Kate gazed at the older girl. Her essence oozed control but her demeanour was calm.  Kate noted how some of the under layers of her hair were tinged pink, blue and green, hinting to a more daring nature."

Lonnie

Woohoo for Exam reprieve!!!!!

This one is Lonnie. He's one of the fighters, and really just one of 'the guys'. He gets on with everybody, pretty much, and is mainly impartial to small tiffs. But, when he can see that something is wrong, he'll stand by his friends over the troublemakers.

He's also a very deep sleeper.

Random.

I'm finding with these paintings that I'm gaining more control over my watercolours. That's a nice feeling. I'm beginning to understand them more through my experimentation. I used to be too impatient to let them dry, and all of the would colours bleed.... Here, I'm learning the effect of letting them dry to create layers and colour density..... I'm also getting more used to working in pen, which I actually used to hate...

I drew Lonnie perhaps a bit too small compared to the others, But I suppose that's all part of the learning curve. Proportions and sizing's.

I love doing art. It's just a shame the exams have to take up so much time, work and effort...

" “How the hell did I sleep through all of that? More to the point, how could you let me sleep through it?” He glanced up, eyes daring.

“Simple. You’re scary when woken at ungodly hours, and your body has adjusted so as not to ever let anyone involuntarily witness it” I grinned at him, laughing slightly. He glared and punched me hard on the arm. "

(Matthew in first person, Lonnie referred to in third)



Kate

Kate is the first character to have her chapter... She's the new girl, but her talent is recognised near instantly; it's the reason she was recruited. She is highly gifted in art, and the story will follow the sub-plot of her learning and growing into the role that entails. 



I based Skye on my Art teacher, who is very nice and kind, and very supportive. I wanted a way to remember all of the nice teachers when I left my current school, and this is how. The other two who I based on my other favourite characters are Smith and Shelley - my Biology teacher, and my Form Tutor/English teacher.

Kate is one of my favourite characters, possibly for the previously mentioned reasons.



"Slowly, she picked up the pen, and began to draw a butterfly, first the outlines, then filling in the details with quick, sharp pen strokes. She had seen one in the summer, and its beauty had engrained itself in her brain."





Craft Review: Week 16: Sunday 8th April - Saturday 14th April

I had a bad day yesterday.

Yeah.

That's my only excuse for not posting this yesterday.

Well.

Not entirely.

But I will speak of that later.

I did far too much art this week - I was meant to be off school, yet I still have this inexplicable urge to work my nose to the grindstone. It may have something to do with the fact that my exam is ONE WEEK AWAY and I am FREAKING OUT. If I have not mentioned it, I assure you. I did something every.single.day.

Sunday

I made some cards for the honesty box I have at my mum's work... I can't remember whether I actually took a photo of them... I don't think I did. They had pretty silver buttons on them, and the colours were white and pale blue.

Monday

I finished crochet-ing that bracelet! It looks quite nice, but I'm going to save it until someones birthday is sprung on me from out of the blue. I'm sure there are some of them coming up soon....

Tuesday

I went into school today and did some printing, some clay and some painting. All for my exam.

I hate clay.

Wednesday

I did not knot my two other house-scarf squares, but I did knit two thirds of a sorting hat square, which I will show you once finished.

Thursday

I made this pink.... thing..... for my sister. Far too much pink for my liking. Far too much.

Friday

Pencils, Pastels, Split pins.... you name it, I had it. In a bumper art session that left me exhausted.

Saturday

I painted Skye!

I do think she's my favourite.

Now.

My other reason for not posting yesterday was this.

and this.

Two AMAZNG Books - Not what I would usually read, but they kept me hanging on so badly. They were brilliant. I will say absolutely nothing about the covers.... I fume over ones with photos and these are no exception. I just blatently ignored it and made my own concoction of character.

READ THEM.

They're good.

Skye

Next Character up, Skye, and a particular favourite of mine... I have plans for her..... Evil plans....

She seemingly has no talent, she is good at nothing combative and she skims the basics of academia. Her chapter is either the penultimate, or the last.

She is often depressive, but finds comfort in Ian, who worries for her constantly ( I will post him later). She is good at playing the piano, and that is the only thing that seems to truly make her smile.

She's Italian, but one of her defining features is her big blue eyes.... This is the first time I've actually felt sorry that I don't paint their faces. In my mind, her eyes stand out above everything else. I have tried to reflect them, in her necklace, and the jumper, but it's not the same.

"In the corner, the source of the music was found, a grand piano stood majestically. A girl turned from it, surprised to have been interrupted from her playing. She had viciously curly, dark brown hair, and olive skin, but her eyes were a startling, deep blue."

Craft Review: Week 15: Sunday 1st April - Saturday 7th April

As  it is half term, I have had plenty of time to do art and craft. Admittedly, an awful lot of that was taken up by my Art Exam prep, which I have been annotating faithfully, as well as adding the experiments for at least another 6 pages in my book (A3). I haven't done much of my other work though yet, so I'm going to have to try and get that done this week....

Sunday

I made two more hearts. These are not designed to specifically given, but I am beginning to build up my stocks as my Mum says she might let me have a stall at her school's summer fair, to sell my crafts. I'm awfully excited, as it would mean I would have something to prepare for after my exams, and an easy way for me to earn a little bit more money. It's a win-win situation!

If anyone has any tips or tricks they'd like to share, or even any ideas for what I should sell, please comment and tell me!

These hearts are very simple to make, and I've re-adjusted the pattern from the book 'Kirstie Allsopp Craft'. These ones skip out beads and nonsense, and look far more rustic with shorter tails and a knot. Once I've assembled all of the equipment, it takes me only about 5-10 minutes to assemble them, and they really are gorgeous. Perhaps I shall share a pattern later...

Monday

On Monday, I painted little Ida... I love that shade of blue...

Tuesday

I finished the last few rows of My second Fluffy Buckbeak Scarf, and I then spent the entire day doing my Art Exam Prep. I even got my acrylic paints out to do a fair few studies. I love this project so much, but  the exam is looming and I'm beginning to panic...

Wednesday

I knitted another square for My (long-neglected) Harry Potter Blanket! This is a Gryffindor House Scarf Square, and it's a really simple pattern, which I will share when I have finished all 4 of them.

Thursday

I spent the morning knitting, and the afternoon painting. I knitted a fair few more rows of my Ravenclaw scarf, my faithful WIP, and then I painted Erick. Not bad for a day's work in my opinion. 

Friday

Today, twas another art day. But I forced myself (it's such a strain... *sarcasm*) to knit another Hogwarts Scarf Square for my Harry Potter blanket. I hope to do Slytherin and Ravenclaw next week, and perhaps even a couple more, of various descriptions.

Saturday

I had my first experiment with crochet today! And I have to say, it's looking rather successful. It took me a while to to figure out how it works, I'm completely self-taught here, except for the tutorial I was basing it on, and I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it. I chose to experiment here, because I have lots of friends who like bracelets, and I don't, and this seemed a nice way to get rid of the bracelets without making it look too obvious.

Step-by-Step: How I paint

Our Glamorous assistant being, Erick.

(Yes, I do know it's Edmund from Narnia....)

But, he does provide the base for my Erick.

First, I sketch out all of the basic pencil outlines.

Then I watercolour in the base colours for each section.

Wait for that to dry...

Paint in the shadows....

And finally, ink in all of the outlines.

These have to be quick and sketchy, accuracy is not the aim of the game here. I find it gives them more character this way, more undefined details.

Very simple, yet quite effective.

And very good for characters. As I've said before, I dislike knowing precisely what a character is supposed to look like. I use a reference image, yes, but more often than not it is a mash up of two or three different images... or even people! It is within avoiding facial features which allows the imagination to truly run riot.

If there are any questions, referring to my story, or the art, I will be glad to answer them. If anyone would like to read it, I will take suggestions on how to go about it in the comments.

Erick

Character 5, Erick (and he gets annoyed when people misspell his name, just like Allan). His chapter is most definitely one of the last ones... He is an archer, like Ida, and he is in charge of that branch, descended from Sir Tristan.

I haven't written much yet for Erick... But I do know he's very kind and empathetic. Painting him was fun too, and someone had asked for a step-by step of how I paint these, so I will do that in a separate post. It gave me something to do today, as I was rather bored... I think the green is a nice colour, and it suits him.

"There were scrapings of chairs, and muttered sympathetic apologies to Kate. Erick patted her shoulder, smiling encouragingly, and murmured into her ear."

Ida

Character 4, this is Ida. She'll be narrating one of the later chapters, depending on when I get round to deciding whether she'll be in first or third person... She's an archer, descendants of which I have attributed to Sir Tristan.

I have found that Watercolours are particularly difficult to keep light, without losing the colour. Ida is meant to be Scandinavian, and I wanted her to have really pale hair and skin. I have to say the photographs are better than the original for conveying that, but her hair is still a bit too dark. I tried repeatedly to make her hair lighter by adding several layers of white on top, but they don't seem to have worked.

I think the lesson learnt here is to not try and paint things that are too light....

"The rally continued for several more flying retorts before Ida got fed up and threw something at him. It must have been Ida, it was her aim and the speed that it flew at, and the sound of his pain caused by the direct impact; it could only have come from an archer."

Maya

Character number 3, Maya. I think she will end up narrating Chapter 8... but everything is set in custard at the moment....

(Yes. That is a technical term.)

Maya, like Allan, doesn't know her ancestor, at least not yet. I plan to reveal several of them throughout writing, and I think she might know hers by the end...

Maya is calm, determined and one of the oldest in the group, but not in charge. This riles her sometimes, but she's generally a nice person, but has that mischievous side to her.

She's an interesting character, I'll tell you that, and while painting her, I debated what colour she should wear... I think the pink works well, doesn't it?

If anyone has any questions, please just ask, and I'll be willing to help.

"Her name was Maya, and she had deathly pale skin, and shoulder length dark brown hair. Her eyes were colder, but there was a sparkle, a cunning glint, and her smile was mischievous."

Craft Review: Week 14: Sunday 25th March - Saturday 31st March

This week mainly comprised of Art...... Which I in no way mind, but please notify me if you find it boring/tedious. Likewise, if anybody has a request for a drawing or a painting, please let me know. I would be thrilled to oblige.

Sunday

I Painted my lovely Rugby Players today. I love them, they're gorgeous. In all sense and meanings of the word....

Tehe. I love them.

Monday

I did some knitting for my second Fluffy/Buckbeack Scarf....

Tuesday

I did after school art, but as it is exam work, I am not showing you because I like to keep things secret.

Wednesday

I painted Matthew on Wednesday.... I was just extraordinarily busy and couldn't get to the computer to take a photo of him until Thursday...

I love Matthew also... His references were made from a combination of my favourite Rugby Player (anyone willing to guess?!) and the gorgeous Luke Smith from The Sarah Jane Adventures...

Thursday

Four hours of Art Exam prep work.... Joy.... and I mean that without the slightest hint of sarcasm. I love art, and I don't see it as a strain

Friday

I painted Allan (very late at night) and I nearly fell asleep in the process. Explaining for his arrival on only Saturday.

Allan, I'm not quite as in love with, but it's a nice painting, and he is growing on me...

Saturday

Yesterday, I actually painted Maya, but I forgot to take a picture... But I have now.

Tada!

Allan

Character number 2, for Chapter 3. This is Allan (two L's, not 1, or he gets annoyed), but his ancestor is less clear as Matthew's, so he doesn't know yet. Several of them don't. Allan is tall, lanky, and quite handy with a sword, but extremely sensitive to any type of sound.

I'm really beginning to have fun painting these characters. It makes me feel closer to them, and to understand them better. I hope to do all 17, but the time it takes, I won't mind at all. I feel it a worthwhile activity; I've already started on my third character, Maya; and I suggest it to anyone who is trying to write anything. It's awfully helpful.

"I saw Allan incline his head when we heard the distinctive snap and rush of the bows at the other end of the hall; he was more sensitive to sound than the rest of us. Very hard to sneak up on."

Matthew

I am trying to write a book... I'm only on chapter two, but I'm really in love with it and all of the characters. This is one of them. This is Matthew, narrator of Chapter 2, descendant of Percival, and overall, just a big softie. 

I'm really beginning to like this style of painting. It leaves an anonyminity to the painting, and with characters, it means that the reader can still think for themselves and imagine their faces. There is no strict, set guidline to what their faces should look like (it also saves me the trouble of having to draw them), which is one of the reasons why I hate book covers with photos on them.

What about you? Do you have a favourite painting style? What do you think about photo front-covers? And does anyone actually want to read an extract of my story? I am searching for constructive criticism...