Day #42 - Redraw of day #5.

Hey all, I am so very very very very very sorry about the lack of new posts this week (and last!). This week hasn't been the best and I've been trying to figure out a better time to upload my artworks since doing it late at nights isn't really working. For the majority of the drawings, I was able to draw them for the day but because I am an distraught mess, the tasks to upload them kept piling up. I can't say it'll happen cause you know me. But I will try to be more organized with this. As I stated in the last post, this week (or rather last week) was redraw week to see how my art skills have developed. Today was a redraw of day #5. It's safe to say I've improved a bit when it comes to using blue fineliner I think, but more patience is needed for sure. Hope everyone is good, happy and healthy. Sorry again for the long wait but at least you have loads to see!

Miriam xxx

Day #41 - Redraw of day #2.

Real eyes realize real lies. My mine just realise that the Internet in my halls is terribly terrible hence why I couldn't upload yesterday.  Originally, I was meant to do a redraw of day #8 but I couldn't find a photo to work from so I chose day #2 and I'm glad I did. I used tonal pencils this time and there certainly is a difference showing in my work. I'm getting to understand now, how professional artists make their drawings so realistic and it's slowly beginning to show in mine. The only problem that I had whilst doing this drawing was the sketchbook paper.  I found the surface to be a bit rough when I did previous pencil studies before, but it was making the pencils look shiny on the surface instead of that usual gritty feeling you get when using pencils. The good thing is that I found a sketchbook from Paperchase that has loads of papers and it's all so smooth.  I recommend you go there for buying sketchbooks, they are brilliant quality.  Til next time! :)

Miriam xxx

Day #40 - Redraw of day #10

Redrawing this felt A LOT more better the second.  I felt like I was being patient enough the first time. I was quite relived too with what I had done;  sometimes artworks looks better unfinished.  Finally on track (again) I shall be posting as normal tomorrow.  Til next time! ^_^

Miriam xxx

Day #39 - Redraw of day #28.

You know when you say one thing and then you do the other? Yeah, that was me yesterday with this challenge -_- Sorry folks!  Throughout this week, will be redraws and to see how my skills have progrssed thus far. Today was a redraw if day #28. Y'know, seeing I was lazy and whatnot. Quick and easy and I went for different image cause I initially was gonna draw Jack but I was lazy on day 28. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #38 - Pout

The last of the lip poses for this week (well rather last week). Quite proud of how I've improved in using pencil. I hope it continues. I've realised as well that I've been spending more time on this project than I have for my uni projects and the deadline is less than a month away. Hahahahahahahahahaha oh crap. This week, I'll be focusing on redraws of previous drawings to see if a month has changed anything in my drawing skills. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #37 - Sucker face

Today has been a weird day, I guess? A close friend of mine lost someone close to her and it just made me question life and contemplate it. It's just weird how you have that person all your life and then... they're gone. It's surreal. But there is hope and strength, despite death.  Today's drawing is none other than the infamous sucker face or fish lips as other people have put it. I admit this one was alright, but like I said before I'm happy with where my progress is going. Let's hope I see through it! (And I promise, this is the last time I'll play catch up.)

Miriam xxx

Day #36 - Lip bite

Yasssss, so happy with the result of this. (And please excuse the rather lustful pose of the lips) Patient is key when it comes to improvement and I'm happy with how my art skills are at moment. Rather than just use 6B pencils I used Offline Line 12 graded pencils ( 6B, 5B... bssically all the B's and a H pencil) which is probably why there's a huge difference in my drawings and it's something for me to bear in mind for the future. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #35 - Neutral

I was actually so close to finishing this study, but sleep happened. I was just having a look through my pencil studies and I'm beginning to see the improvement.  Reminds me of the quote "If you want to call yourself an expert, you need to amass 10,000 hours of experience to call yourself an expert." I wonder how my skills will be like by the 100th day? Only time will tell. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #34 - Angry

Originally,  I was going to caption this 'Don't mess with' cause that's the whole vibe I was getting from the photo I was drawing from. I'm not sure if anyone else does this, but  I have a bad habit of biting my lip whenever I'm angry or just not in the mood. 1 more drawing to go! 

Miriam xxx

Day #33 - Sadface

You know when you have those days and you just wanna pull this face? Slipping behind uhgain, sorry folks!  This is the result I find I get when I don't really think or try to make the drawing good, if that makes sense. I was expecting it to be horrible but I was very happy by the end. I used progresso tonal pencils for this drawing like I have for the previous two. I really recommend you get them. They're such good quality. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #32 - Smile

Cue Shanice - I love your smile. I think it would be more effective if I included the skin when it comes to drawing the mouth? I feel like it's too weird if I draw just the mouth. If anybody reading this could give me a critque or a comment of what I could do to improve I'd be so grateful! I'll be honest, I didn't like or hate this drawing. I feel like I did good but not great.  Critque is what comes with being an artist I guess. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #31 - The one sided pout

So this week, I am focusing on lip poses and I'm glad I chose to do so because my drawing on lips needs a bit of work as you can see. I think the trouble I'm having at the moment is drawing the lips at different angles and shapes. I'll definitely do a redraw of this again in two different media. The more practice, the better! Btw, to the people (or person) that keeps giving my blog posts +1's thanks so much. It means a lot. And thanks to everyone to takes their time out to read as well. It's roughly been a month a of drawing and I'm happy what I've done so far. Let's see where it takes me. Til next time! 

Miriam xxx

Day #30 - Lipstick

I know that there's a song about lipstick, I just can't seem to remember which artist sang it... Anyhow, lipstick. It sounds seductive when you read it in italics. Lipstick. Red lipstick. Oooo.  *Ahem* Getting carried away... I used uni pin fine-liners for this drawing, I don't know why it just seemed appropriate and it turned out great! Not sure what else to say apart from I hope you all are having  a good week ^_^ Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #29 - Moisturize those lips!

What's up, guys and gals. I am really sorry for not uploading every day, I'm kinda of getting sidetracked and distracted at the moment with too many things, so your patience is much appreciated. Following on from drawing no. 27, it inspired me a lot to do this drawing. I'm really loving the combination of using tonal pencil and oil paints and I feel like I've discovered my visual style (is it too soon to say that?) but I definitely wanna experiment more to refine the drawings I'm doing. The media used for this drawing was Progresso tonal pencils and Daler rowney graduate oil paints. I'll post the rest of my drawings asap and don't forget moisturize them lips! Winter is coming! Til next time ^_^ 

Miriam xxx 

Day #28 - Samurai Jack

If you don't recognise the eyes above, then your childhood must've been deprived. I was sad when I found out they cancelled Samurai Jack, it didn't get a proper ending explaining what happened to Jack and Aku. So, the above is what happens when you play catch up with challenge and  you get a little lazy towards the end. I promise that I'll do a redraw of this (so many to do!) Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #27 - Say how you feel

The drawing above is something that I just had to get out of my system and is something that happened to me this Tuesday just gone. I won't delve much further into it, but I will say this: If there is someone that you like or love - tell them. (Maybe not right this second if you've only realised your feelings for them or if you're just getting to know them properly) I know that's the most clichéd piece of advice ever but it is what it is. One of the most riskiest and beautiful things in life is love and to everyone who reads this: you deserve to find love and to be loved in return. You may never know what might happen. Don't just think of what might not go right. I have a habit of doing that too which has stopped as of Tuesday. Take that risk. 

Go for it. 

As for the drawing, this is definitely one of my favourites so far and I'll be using tonal pencil and oil paints a lot more. This felt so good to draw because of how I was feeling at that current point in time and I just couldn't ignore, I had to draw out my feelings in some way. I know that sounds very mushy, my bad. Good luck to all who are deciding to take the plunge. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #26 - Angel Ramirez - Jordan

Angel Ramirez - Jordan. Oh Lord have mercy... *ahem*. Sorry about that. If you are staring at the gorgeous beauty that is on the left, you're forgiven ;) Basically, the guy on the left is very wise and has such a beautiful soul, here's his facebook. He gives such insightful advice and is very funny too, listen to a couple of his videos and you'll see. I'm kinda hoping he'll see this at somepoint: he seems like such a gentleman and a beautiful one at that. 

My initial thoughts before drawing him were that I was scared of my drawing not looking like him, cause as you've seen with days #11 and #12, they've turned out successful but I hadn't been able to make it look like the people in question. However, as I added in more detail I got more happier with the result. I experimented a little with adding a bit of colour, especially with how the light shines onto his hoodie. I liked how it looked, so I'll build more on doing more drawings like that. Somewhere down the line, I'd like to do maybe do a large scale drawing of Angel using only Faber colouring pencils.  Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #25 - Mary Katrantzou

There is no introduction when it comes to Mary Katrantzou. I first looked at her work during my foundation year when we were tasked with creating a collection for a designer, I loved her signature style of oversized jewellery on dresses and her A/W 14 and Resort 2015 collections are just incredible. If you have time, please do check out her works. http://www.marykatrantzou.com/. As for the drawing, I was happy that I was able to draw her facials which was the most important factor for me, but everything else felt I was rushing to get it finished. I'll definitely be doing a redraw of this, now that my drawing proportions are now better and inproved. Also, I might include doing fashion designs and illustrations within this project too, that way I get the best of both. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #24 - Lips

LIPS! Lips, lips, lips, lips, lips, lips, lips, lips, lips, lips, lips. I dunno why I wrote all that. Must be going nuts.  Anyhow, Sunday I drew my own lips. Vain I know. But it felt so good, to be using oil paints again and getting high off of white spirit. Just kidding. Nonetheless, I was happy to use them again and with my outcome too. It gave me that vibe, that maybe I could do illustrations down the line someday. The oil paints that I used were Daler- Rownney Graduate Oil paints. I have enjoyed using them so far but I don't like how they dry out quickly, so I'll be going back to Winsor & Newton. But both of them are very good brands, so if you're looking for watercolours, acrylics etc. look no further than these two, you'll get your money's worth. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #23 - Crumpled up pieces of paper

For the 1st of November, I did an observational drawing on crumpled up pieces of paper. I thought it would be quite interesting to do: catching where all the shadows are on paper and plus I just love using tonal pencil. Whilst I was drawing the paper, I felt that the paper wasn't as smooth: I dunno if this was just me being paranoid but it got better towards the end. Due to my sleepy nature, I couldn't finish it but I do plan on redrawing this and maybe spending 3 hours doing tonal work. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #22 - Dan Phantom (Happy Halloween)

Sometimes things work out in the best time, if that makes sense. I found it difficult to pick something to draw for Halloween, but finally decided to draw this dastardly and dangerous man. Obviously you know, if you're in the Phandom who this tyrannical villain is and is probably one of my favourite cartoon villains of all time.

Dan Phantom ( high pitched screams somewhere in the distance).

For those who don't know who Dan is, he is the fusion of the superhero of the show, Danny Phantom and his arch nemesis, Vlad Plasmius. I won't delve much further than to say please please go and watch this right now. It is a chilling episode and a brilliant one at that. My proportions of drawing people still need a bit of work but I was really happy with how this came out. I was hesitant with the eyes, cause I really wanted to colour them red but I was unsure of what to use so I used Winsor and Newton's Cadium Red and I'm happy with how the eyes turned out too. Somewhere down the line of this project, I like to dedicate a month to just using watercolours. I have used them before and succeeded but being the perfectionist that I am, I avoid it to avoid making mistakes. But I shall try! Hope you all had a good Halloween. Til next time!

Miriam xxx

Day #21 - Grapes

Hi all, I am so so so sorry about not uploading drawings. I've been pretty disorientated and disconnected these past couple of weeks, I went home for the weekend which was good, but transport wise it was by far the worst. I missed my transports to and from Southampton, money was wasted which I was really peeved off about and I was really tired by the end of it all. Anyhow, you'll see all the drawings that I meant to upload from last week to today (>.<) Last Thursday's drawing was of a bunch of grapes. I admit, I started and was almost finished but I was too sleepy to finish it, so I didn't actually complete it until Friday evening (I think). I've learnt to be more patient, though,  with completing drawings and I think it's beginning to show now (slowly but surely). Hope everyone's good. :D

Miriam xxx