DRAWING DRAWING DRAWING

"Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it... Luck to me is something else: Hard Work - and realising what is opportunity and what isn't."
Lucille Ball.

So here I sit and type this on a typical Melbourne day. It's sunny. And cold. And rainy. And windy. And still. And hot. 

In fact, it's all of the above. Which can make it difficult to decide when to go out for my daily bike ride!

The last few months have been a little like the weather in Melbourne. There's been a bit of everything everyday. But not much time to do my blog. So here I sit smack bang in the middle of my few weeks holiday finally getting back up on the saddle.

It has been a huge learning curve studying graphic design this year and the last three months have been exhilarating, challenging, stressful, inspiring, exhausting yet rejuvenating. I passed all my subjects and got some wonderful compliments from my illustration teacher (yay!) I have been drawing almost everyday and have been happy to see that my hand and eye are moving more in tandem with each other.

Here is just a sample of some of the work I have done over the last few months. A couple of the illustrations were for assignments but a lot of these were done just because I wanted to keep drawing...

I recently joined up to Instagram to share some of my work. This has been a wonderful opportunity to connect with other illustrators and admire and be inspired on a global level with what artists are up to. I have put a lot of pencil sketches onto Instagram in their raw form just to keep my pencil and imagination active. My instagram page

And of course I keep updating my Facebook page with my sketches too....Facebook Page

With just a week left of holidays at my disposal I am doing research to start selling prints of my work. I have had a lot of encouragement and support from family and friends with this idea. So fingers crossed, by the end of next week I will be launching an online store through Etsy.

The end of my course is now not so far away. I am about to embark on my third and final term of my course. Next year I will be launched out into the world looking for work. This is a very exciting (yet terrifying!) thought! I am hoping to find a way to make a living doing what I love to do. My greatest ambition is to be a full time freelance illustrator in the next few years. But in the interim I hope to gain work with a design studio to learn the ropes and be in a supportive and creative team. I feel that I am on the right path - however scary it all may seem going off into the unknown. But any time I get the nervous I just remember this:

I have to keep going forward and trust that the feeling deep in my core to be an illustrator and a designer and have a creative career that I am proud of - and ENJOY - is one that can't be ignored.

I hope that whatever you dream of, whatever your core calls out for you to do... I hope that you walk bravely down your dream path with courage in your heart to give it your best.

LOu

PASSAGE OF TIME

A WEEK OF DRAWING - in reflection

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” 
― Mother Teresa

This has been a jam packed week of study for this little graphic design student. I have been in the thick of learning about the design industry, publishing, tech specs for finished art, advertising and of course my favourite subject of all, illustration. I also was on TV for a little feature part (and I mean LITTLE!) for the Australian TV show Offspring.

And I have been fortunate enough to spend time with old friends that mean the world to me.

In betwixt all of these classes, assignment work, study groups, readings and catch ups with beautiful people, I have managed to find time to let my imagination out through dedicated doodles. I admit, some of them were created initially during class! In fact, I find that I concentrate better in class when I have my lecture pad in front of me to take notes and a blank page of a journal next to it to let the subconscious go into flow mode whenever it needs to reset and focus. It's almost like my ears prick up and I take in more of what is being said when my hands are occupied and the "stuff" in my mind has an outlet. Perhaps this allows more info to come in? Info goes in. Imagination flows out..? A theory worth exploring anyway!

My imagination keeps surprising me with the imagery and ideas that are being brought out. As I am given regular practice to this creative flow I am feeling that the blocks I once felt are smaller.  My first post on this blog stated that I was setting out to find creative flow. And finding it I am! 

I have seen a theme emerge this week as the passage and the passing of time. The over riding feeling that is coming through me is to seize the moment. On a train, in a cafe, before bed...  whenever I can. Draw, draw, draw. Practice, practice, practice. And to notice everything around me. Be awake and aware. And alert. The world needs more lerts...

I am feeling more and more that my future dream is to be an illustrator. Drawing fills me with purpose and light and gives me hope that my future on the other side of this student journey will be one filled with pens and pencils - and hopefully work!! Being a student this year is a challenge financially. I am embracing living only on the basics and seeing my sketch book as my palace of promise. But it is a nice thought to imagine not worrying about how to pay rent or feed myself! Ha!

Here are some of my drawings from the week. First up: Little Red Riding hood as a child.

And here she is as a teenager (on her phone of course)

And again here she is as a mother:

The next doodle is an image that popped onto the page before I knew what was what. 

As a side note to this next picture: One of my favourite artists of all time is Brian Froud. Brian worked extensively with Jim Henson creating the creatures from the film The Dark Crystal (among other things). 

He writes in his book Good Faeries.... Bad Faeries that "My paintings are not illustrations drawn from specific stories or folklore texts; rather, they are images painted intuitively, springing directly from visions guided by faery muses, a paradoxical mix of chance and intent".  What a great teacher Mr Froud is to artists like me, finding their feet and their flow.

Here is what appeared:

I am starting to see a style for my figures emerge. I almost am at the point where I would like to name them. They are humanlike - but not quite humans. My proportions and scale are purposely different to real life. They are innocents. Trusting and open. Of this earth, but perhaps not of this world. Not sure what it is about naming things. But I guess it's giving a life and a license to creations. This next doodle I call "One woman's journey".

And here is "One man's journey":

And my last doodle to share with you this week was inspired by my daily commute on the train.
The caption for this one is "Sometimes I want to dance on the train like a pixie and shake up those asleep".

Happy weekend to you readers. May you find your flow, your people, your creativity and dance your own unique dance. x