27 September 2016

What's in my Sketchbook 2

Hello everyone! Today I'll be sharing with you the contents of  my sketchbook (or to more accurate, my sketchbooks)! I previously wrote part one of this 'What's in my Sketchbook' as a guest post with 5starartists.blogspot.co.uk. See my first skecthbook post here. I think that my art has improved a lot since then so I thought I would share a part two this week! Enjoy!



My first drawing in this post is of a leaf. I drew this one a long time ago (last year) but I wanted to share it with you because I quite like it. I drew it in my old sketchbook so the quality is not the best. I used to use a watercolour sketchbook for drawing in which is not the right sort of paper. You can see that it smudged a lot and the lines aren't of the best quality, this is because of the paper type I used. However, I enjoyed drawing this seasonal art because it made me excited for Autumn. Now that it's Autumn again I am starting to draw seasonal artwork again, such as the Halloween lineart at the end of this post! Autumn and Winter are probably my favourite seasons because of all of the fun celebrations that take place in this half of the year. I love celebrating with my family and friends because of all the wonderful traditions and decorations that fill the house. Halloween is coming up next month and I'll be writing several spooky posts soon! 




This next piece of art is of a dancer. I was experimenting with drawing things in motion so I found a reference of a dancer on pinterest and started drawing! I don't, like how I've drawn the dancer's head and neck since it looks realistic but I quite like the rest of  the drawing! My favourite part of this is the fabric that is flowing behind her. It looked strange as I was drawing it but when I added tone, it started to look really interesting. I am interested in fashion design so I enjoyed practising drawing the folds in fabric. In the future, I would probably like to re-draw this art because it has an interesting subject but there are a few features that I think I could improve now with more experience. During drawing this, I learned how to draw legs. Although they're not perfect, I now know how to sort of make the curves look right. 
The third drawing I want to show you is this banana leaf. I drew this only a few weeks ago in my new sketchbook. I don't always use colour (which is strange since I love colouring books) so for this drawing I wanted to incorporate colour into it. I started by sketching out an outline in pencil which I later went over with black fineliner. I then added texture with a dark green watercolour paint. Once it dried, I went over with lighter shades of green and yellow to finish it off. I regretted adding the texture first, but now I think that actually it looks quite nice with a subtle texture. Believe it or not, I actually have a banana plant growing in my bathroom! xD That's what I used to draw this from after taking a quick photo on my phone. It's been growing for several years since I received some banana tree seeds in my stocking one Christmas! I never thought it would grow as huge as it has! Obviously it doesn't grow bananas on it since it is not warm enough in England to grow them but there are lots of vibrant, massive leaves on it!
The next drawing was a challenge that I completed. One of my penpals and I like to challenge each other to do something creative each time we write to each other. It's very fun and helps me to be creative! This particular challenge was to draw one thing in a medium that I'm not confident with and one drawing in a medium I am confident with. This one is drawn in biro which I'm not confident with and is a made-up flower drawing...



and here's the other drawing! this one is the challenge art that was drawn in a medium I am confident with! I chose to use my Prismacolour colouring pencils for this artwork. This is my favourite drawing in this post and one of my best drawings in quite a while. I absolutely loved drawing this and it was very calming to just blend away at this drawing!  This took me a long time to draw but it was worth it!
The last drawing in this post is a line drawing of a Halloween witch. Like I said earlier, I love celebrations such as Halloween, they just feel very magical and fun! That's why I decided to draw a witch recently. I enjoyed collecting lots of references of interesting witches on pinterest to inspire me. I was very engaged whilst coming up with an interesting witch outfit, so I had the idea that perhaps I could draw several witches all with different outfits, is that something you would like to see? This is an unfinished drawing because I want to draw a few more details and add colour. I think I might write a separate post about the finished drawing when it's done (it will probably be quite similar to this post I wrote last year). I'm looking forward to uploading Halloween themed posts this year; I've got several ideas and there will be more than last year, since I am now trying to write posts weekly! If you've got any Halloween post ideas please share them in the comments because I might write them! 




I hope that you all enjoyed seeing the contents of my sketchbook! I will be drawing more often in the upcoming months because I want to improve my skills and start experimenting to find my style so you might be seeing more art posts soon! I'm also working on a drawing collab with 5StarArtists, we're drawing disney princess fanart (anyone who wants to join in click on this link). We're both looking forward to sharing the finished art with you, so you'll see that art too! 

Over to you...
What Halloween post would you like me to write? Give your suggestions in the comments. Also, feel free to give me your feedback on my art! I'd love to hear your opinions!

13 comments:

  1. I loved this post - you're so good at art!!! My favourites were the dancer, and the witch is really cute. I can't wait to see the Disney princesses art!
    Kisses, Rose
    xxx

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    1. Thank you very much Rose! It might be a while until the disney fanart post is released (since there are a lot of princesses to draw) but I'm excited to see everyone's art all in one place!

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  2. Your drawings are amazing & so creative. Especially love the dancer & butterfly. You're very talented. X
    bethmay75.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Thank you so much Beth! I'm so pleased you liked them, I wasn't sure about the dancer (because the head's not quite right) but the butterfly was really fun to draw. Thanks again! :) <3
      PS: Has your letter arrived yet?

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    2. Yes! It came a couple of days ago, thank you so much! I'll get a reply back to you soon. & no, the dancer drawing is gorgeous! xxx

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    3. You're so welcome! I'll look forward to it, don't worry if you can't get it done straight away! :D Thanks again. <3

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  3. Loved this post! I'm really into witchcraft and think that your drawings are beautiful xx

    pinksmartiesblog.blogspot.co.uk

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    1. Thanks Marti! Do you have special witchcraft items or just admire witchcraft? Either way, that sounds pretty cool! I loved drawing this little witch, I'll probably draw another soon! :D

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  4. Omigosh I was super excited opening this post since I know what an amazing artist you are! And goodness your artwork is simply fascinating Megan!! 8D Where do I even start? These pieces all show so much talent and beautifulness!

    The details on the leaf are SO realistic. I adore the shading and it clearly shows the amount of effort you put into it! I wish I was that good at realism! It also fits in so nicely with the autumn season. Autumn is so inspiring right? xD I find that the texture of the paper I draw on affects the way I draw it too! I think I understand the kind of paper texture you're talking about - isn't the paper slightly more on the greyish side rather than bright white and more thin? (I have two art books like that. xD) The result still looks so beautiful though!

    And oh my goodness my jaw dropped when I saw the dancer. Your improvement really shines through SO much! The anatomy is drawn so accurately and the flow of it is super gorgeous!! I especially love the flow from the leotard down to the legs... it's so realistic! I envy your skills at drawing fabric folds too... gosh folds are extremely hard. xD On the contrary, I think the head is drawn beautifully! Ahh you draw legs so much better than I can! I should practise this kind of thing more often. xD (Pinterest is such a good source for art inspiration isn't it!)

    Oh my, I love the way you drew the banana leaf! I love how it goes from lighter on one end to darker on the other, so realistic!! And the yellow highlights add a fantastic touch! I've notied how watercolours add such a beautiful punch of colour to drawings! :D (Since you mentioned fineliners, I bought a pack in The Works over the weekend and they're so good. ^^) You have a banana plant too? So lucky! I'd love to have an exotic plant like that. xD

    I love the challenge idea! It's a great idea to use materials we're not confident with to help improve the way we use them! :D And wow, the result looks so majestic! The details on the petals are phenomenal! How long did it take? C:

    Whoa, the butterfly is just- o.o I'm speechless!! Oh gosh I can't even! WOW. :o It's SO symmetrically perfect! The accuracy of the patterns and proportions are incredible! And the blending is too amazing for words! It really caught my eye! Prismacolours definitely blend really well. o.o And speaking of which, my pack of Prismacolours from Amazon arrived - I've been using them and I'm addicted to them now. ;D You've definitely really improved in colouring from colouring in colouring pages! :D

    Love the witch too! She does really fit in with the Halloween/October feeling! xD You're amazing at designing clothes and adding on the details/textures! It does feel like a magical season doesn't it? C: I'm usually very inspired at this time of year! xD I'm looking forward to seeing the separate post for it! I loved last year's one! <3 Maybe you could draw a step-by-step tutorial for drawing a witch inspired by the references you found on Pinterest? Just a suggestion though - you don't have to!

    This was definitely a really interesting new What's In My Sketchbook post! I love how you've made a new version after the one from the collab last year - they look so good together as a series! 8D Also can't wait to complete the Disney Princess Collab! (I think this comment is going to be a little bit too long - sorry for the ramble! xD) Love your posts as always! <3

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  5. (Almost forgot!) Will you be participating in Inktober this year too? :D

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  6. Thank you so much kenza! That means a lot to me, since you're so amazing at art yourself!

    Yes, Autumn is so inspiring for creating art! I love the colours and seasonal items! Do you like to celebrate Halloween? It's a big thing in my house, we decorate the house and invite everyone in my family round for a themed dinner with costumes and music! Yes, that's the paper I mean, it's designed for paint really so doesn't work well with my pencils.

    Wow! you're too kind Kenza! I'm like that when I see your art! I'm so glad you think the anatomy is accurate. At the time I drew it, I thought it was pretty good but after looking back I was unsure about the accuracy!I agree, fabric folds are hard to draw. Infact, I was surprised at how well these turned out! I think that I'll be practising fabric folds and fashion details in my new portfolio to improve my designs. I saw a little drawing diagram on buzzfeed on how to draw legs. It showed where the straight side and curved sides of the legs were (I was surprised at how simple it was to make them realistic, before the legs were either too straight or too curved).

    I didn't know they sold fineliners at The Works! Are they good ones? I could do with getting some new fineliners soon because several of the sizes are running out of ink. People always think it's strange that I have a banana plant but I think it looks cool! It's a great subject to draw from because the leaves are always changing colour and growing new ones!

    I think the biro drawing took under an hour since it was kind of a doodle/experiment thingy! xD If I took longer on a biro drawing it would probably look much better!

    Thank you so much Kenza! It took a long time to get the lineart right, I had to rub it out and redraw it so many times! But I'm very happy with this one, I'm glad you like it too! Ooh you've got prismacolours now! :D I'm pretty much addicted to using them too! They work so well don't they? Did you get the same pack as me?

    Yes Halloween and Autumn feels very magical! It's making me want to draw all sorts of monsters and spooky things! It's also great to draw now that we're inside for most of the time. :) A witch drawing tutorial is such a good idea! I'll have to remember to take photos at each stage though (I forget sometimes tee-hee)!

    Thanks so much kenza! I might make one each year (or more often) since it's fun to compile my best art! I can't wait either! <3

    You gave me such a good idea-I think I'll try to take part in Inktober this year! :D

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  7. I love your art!! It's brilliant and I love that butterfly ❤️ You should really go on to YouTube and start up a channel!

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    1. Thank you so much Freya! I actually have a YouTube channel but it only has 2 videos that I posted a long time ago. You can take a look here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiYCgnUUFL5DNiKM2mIEO_w ! I hope to become more active on it at some point but I was just experimenting with videos when I set this channel up. :D

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