Sneak peek on what I have been working on

Here is the first of my sketches and drawings for a personal project that I have wanted to work on for sometime. Its a story that I am writing which originally came to me in a series of dreams, little aspects of which have been inspired by the many places I have travelled to. This one is inspired by Egypt/Syria and all the beautiful, cluttered lantern shops where heaps and heaps of lamps hung from the ceiling. Thats why this page has been a bit quiet for a while because I had nothing to show as I have been creative writing not drawing. I started to get fidgety not illustrating so decided to drawing this one up.

As you can see above that I have been making an effort to keep my visual diary full of ideas and challenging myself to drawing rough sketches to go with it. This drawing is done entirely with my Prisma coloured pencils, my fingers have the beginning of callouses from where the pencils have been rubbing. This took quite a few hours but I'm really happy where it ended up. I decided to do the series with pencils as after my jungle repeat pattern drawing, I've discovered a new love for them. Hopefully I can share more soon. I have just been trying to figure out the story arch because as most know dreams are usually a string of incoherent scenes that make sense at the time but don't really have a complete story. Its been many years since I have been doing creative writting so it will take some time to get my head around it.

Secret garden illustration

I've been working on a series of patterns inspired by my favourite childhood movie the secret garden. The pattern I showed last time with the palms was also part of these drawings, I'm not sure what the next drawing will be. But check out what's left of my pencils - the little one I can't even sharpen any more, its probably time to get some more. You can see in the bottom picture my little colour scribbles, I would like to say that I spend time drafting and planning out my drawings but in all honesty I don't these little colour swatches are me seeing what colours will work.

I'm a terrible sketchbook person too, I always look at my sister, Siena and my mum's beautiful sketchbooks but every time I try they never last long. I spend a lot of time planning and working out what I want to do in my head - until I'm clear about the design and then I just make it. This makes is hard when there are multiple projects I want to start. That is my trouble sometimes, with such limited time its hard to prioritise what I want to get done. I'd love to know how you plan your creative ventures - do you create sketchbooks? What have you found helps you create? I'm really going to try and push myself to be more organised, and to try and plan more, so hopefully you can help inspire. I have a week of leave next week, and because we bought a new car we have pushed back our Tassie holiday plans to later in the year so I will have some spare time. I'm going to try and use it productively and not watch Netflix non stop, we shall see how I go.

Girl looking through the tiled doorway

I realised after my post the other day that I haven't actually shown this illustration on my blog. I have been a bit more active on my Instagram as it is easy to update so sometimes I forget that I haven't put it on this space. Its been inspired by all the beautiful tiled rooms when we were in the middle east. I've been working late for quite a few weeks so its hard to photograph my work in nice light. Otherwise I have been enjoying driving my new car to work and the work I have been doing.

morning window blues

Here is a little something I have been working on whilst watching a whole tv series on Netflix. With the days feeling shorter and the sun leaving earlier each day it has been nice to spend evenings under a blankie on the couch. I also realised I have got a bit of a collection of pensive window portraits, I think this is something I do a lot and therefore why I draw them - I'm not usually starring at anything in particular but its a moment of calm for me, where I don't have to focus and can enjoy a beverage. Its weird I know but sometimes that little bit of calm is what I need, especially as I tend to pack my days with things to do and try and make every moment count. It also means that my Netflix obsession always leaves me feeling like I have wasted my time, but then we all need to give ourselves time to relax.

More fun things have been happening, if you have been following my instagram - We bought a new car!! Its very fancy, practically drives itself (technology these days).

Finally moved

Hello lovely followers, I'm back finally after the big move - its taken a while to get my computer and internet running! Here are some photos of probably the most unpacked section of the house. And some pictures of a piece of work I started on in the old house and decided today was the day I was going to finish it! Its a little series of work I'm doing for myself in pencil (my favourite prisma colours) and will be a repeat pattern when I get it into the computer. Enjoy

Market day scores

Finally got around to photographing this little watercolour - if you follow me on instagram you have probably already see some of the work in progress shots. Inspired by the lovely bunch of sunflowers that ynez and mum bought me from the market before mum headed off overseas. Enjoy the weekend!

My safe little shore

Hello All - we have been busy little bees the last couple of weeks as we have been wanting to move house, we have been finding it a little cramped as of late and thought it was time for a change. We are off to sign the lease tomorrow so I have been busy trying to pack things up slowly as we won't be taking time off work to move.

Apart from this I have found out some pretty important news, something of which I had given up hope that I would ever know. Though I don't really want to release the specifics of what it is just yet I thought I would explain a little of my thoughts. With all that's happened I have been thinking a lot about who I look like from the outside, what sort of person do I appear to be and what does it mean for me at the moment. How will things change, will they change and most of all how do I feel about it? I'm usually the one who help others when they have issues, but as Fraser tells me time and time again when it comes to my feelings I'm usually not very open about them until I know what they mean and how to deal with them. I saw this quote the other day, and though I am someone who usually hates inspirational quotes, it struck a cord with my life currently.

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." - Andre Gide

It not only struck me in this situation, but that I need to push myself to explore more of what my role as an experience designer means, can I still pursuit my goals as an illustrator whilst working in a full time role, can I really achieve both? It has also made me think about goals I have always wanted to do, but never taken the time to break down - like living overseas for a year. I wish I had all the answers right now, but I feel I have to lose sight of my safe little shore to be able to achieve them. All I know is that 2016 might be the most exciting, hardest year yet - but I feel I am ready to face it :)