Absence of Craft Review: Weeks 20, 21 and 22.... Resulting in a Wednesday Recap of life.

I'm horrified to say that My New Year's Resolution has finally failed. I have proved to myself that I cannot do a craft related activity every single day, at least not in the lifestyle I currently lead.

This is down to Exams.

I despise them.

So, over the last three weeks, ever since all of my Art has been handed in, and the Exam season fully kicked off, this is the sum total of my Art and Craft:

This is Lonnie. He has been met before.

This is Hana and she's completely awesome, and I NEED to get around to giving her her own post...



This was actually an experiment done on the back of an envelope.... subconsciously inspired by this video

I also Painted the words 'Don't Panic' onto my toes, but I'm not going to show that because I hate my feet.

So yeah. Distinct lack of Craftiness.

So here is a quick review of what I did today:

I revised The Manchurian Crisis and The Italian invasion of Abyssinia.

We Learnt Circle Theorems.

I completed a survey about my school in the most negative way possible.

Me and a Friend went and had Hot chocolate after school.

I had a nap.

I finished The Philosopher's stone on Pottermore (further blog post should/WILL follow).

I will be watching both the New series of Lewis, and the very old series (i.e., the first one, aired 1972) of  M*A*S*H.

And I started insanely tidying my room for no apparent reason.

So I will return to that.

And I will leave you with this short clip of hilarity from said old series of M*A*S*H.

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)



Revision

The foreword to this post is this : I haven't written anything for nearly three weeks due to my Various Forms of Revision-al Obligations. In other words, I'm freaking out over my exams.

So as not to feel like a complete blogosphere reject (which I already do anyway, best not to encourage it), I decided to share what I have been working on over the past few weeks, no matter how boring and irrelevant it may be to most people's lives.

Just to prove that I'm not neglecting this blog, I really am just busy with revision, I decided to show you 2 of my walls. Science and Geography.

The above two are Science. I focused the revision around my periodic table; writing out notes,  making bullet points and quick, snap, post-it notes, and positioning them around it. An example of the latter is the second photo, showing allotropes of carbon.

Geography has an all number of Case Studies, all of which I've written out onto A3 pieces of paper. These now occupy an entire corner of my room....

They work around my world map, which I have stuck colour-coded drawing pins (to represent each different topic) into, showing the locations of all of my various different case studies.

This post has no true purpose, but I thought I'd like to share some of my hard work with the Internet.

Craft Review: Weeks 18 and 19: Sunday 22nd April - Saturday 5th May

I first of all apologise for not doing this last week as I was ill and spent the whole day sleeping in front of the television, watching films. Not that I'm complaining. I became addicted to Marvel films, but mum won't let me go and see The Avengers because my exams are soon. As in, I have 8 days.

That's scary.

This has occurred before, so I will accumulate a list of what I've done mostly in the past two weeks.

1. Art Exam. Completely and utterly. That sufficed me up until the Thursday of the first week. Mind you, I then switched back to obsessing over my coursework.... Which is due in this Friday. Panic.
2. I made my best friend a birthday card (rushed) and I didn't get round to taking a photo of it.... It involved a Ravenclaw scarf, painting, Elf Ears, R2D2 and Firnen the dragon from the Inheritance Series. And that was one of the more normal ones I've made for her.
3. I made one of my owls, for another person's birthday.... There are a lot of birthdays in May

4.   I painted Kate! I probably should get round to writing some more of that story, or I'll end up losing it...





5.   I knitted a few rows of my Ravenclaw Scarf, but not enough to make a substantial impact....


6.   I made fudge with a suspicious recipe that included melting marshmallows at a sleepover... Update may follow!!!


I do apologise, but that time of year has arrived. Exams.

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."





How to survive a GCSE Art Exam.

Yes.

I have finally finished my exam.

All of those loving hours laboured since January on my Sketchbook and plans have been taken and locked away following 2 days (10 hours) in my Art exam.

Sniff.

From this though, I have gained wisdom, and I offer them to you now, as plainly simple or stupid they may seem, so those who read it can prosper within an Art Exam where one must be silent for ten hours with no music or anything else as a distraction.

They work. Trust me.

And, appropriately, as the exam took 10 hours, I offer you 10 tips.

~Take up as much space as you want/need~

It is not fun working in a small, cramped space. If you need an easel, make sure you get one. If you need TWO easels, you should be allowed to have both. I took up two entire tables with all of my vague wandering pieces of artwork, and nobody minded at all. Obviously, there are limits: you can't have an entire classroom to yourself. That would be weird.

~If you have long hair, tie it back, out of the way~

There is nothing worse than having to pick pieces of clay, or streaks of paint, out of your hair.

~Bring enough food to sustain you~

When you are faced with ten hours without any interaction from anyone other than the teacher, food will always be your comfort. Just make sure not to bring anything that will become sticky over your hands, or involve wrappers.

I brought sweets, muffins, brownies and cheese straws...

~Make sure you have enough equipment~

Sounds stupid, I know, but by the end of the year, the schools seem to run out of art supplies. Like Paint. And brushes. Bring your own if you can. They'll be more familiar, and you won't have to worry about not having enough.

Another thing, don't leave buying a canvas until the last minute: chances are, everyone else from your school and the surrounding area will be having the same problems and buying the same things.

~Tidy up as you go along~

It is not fun having to clean brushes that have been dried with paint on them. Or palettes.

~Set your own, realistic targets~

Some people work quicker than others, so set your targets for your pace. Ignore the fact that someone may be doing something huge, or something small. Estimate your pace, and ignore everybody else. You want to be able to at least finish it.

~Make sure you have stuff to do when your finished~

I can tell you this from experience. I finished early, and having annotated and stuck in everything for my book, on all of my mounted sheets, I was kind of stuck. I ended up plaguing my teacher for things to do.... extra studies to fit in here there and everywhere. Have a plan for afterwards, something that wouldn't entirely matter if you didn't reach it though, mind you.

~Don't talk, it's not worth it~

One girl in another class nearly got disqualified. That means your entire exam, your entire Art GCSE gone by a few words slipping out. Not a good idea.

~Wear an apron~

Paint, unless watercolours, does not come out of trousers, or jumpers, or shirts. I know you may hate your school uniform (I do) but that is no excuse.

~Make sure you know you can handle the deadline~

Another class thought they had an extra two weeks to finish their sketchbooks. You don't. As soon as that exam finishes, they want those books. Make sure you remember that. Don't get sucked in and still having loads to do, when you just don't have the time. This is when people end up staying up until midnight trying to finish it.

Because it HAS to be finished.

Craft Review: Week 17: Sunday 15th April- Saturday 21st April

I.e. Practically non existent.

I did art.

All week.

My exam is on Wednesday.

I'm freaking out.

I still have annotation to do.

Oh God.

I do apologise. I hate to be boring, but I'm afraid this is necessary. Come this time next week, I won't be able to touch it, or see it again, until the exhibition, or even, until I take it home.

However, I do offer you some music.

I find this very comforting, strangely.

Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars - Safe and Sound

I hope you all had a better week than I did.