BACK WITH SOME FAVORITES

I've missed doing this! This drawing is gathering the months of October and November together.
Also, since I got myself some fineliners not long ago, I wanted to test them and this was the perfect time to do it!

So here are all the things I enjoyed the past two months :

1/ The Handmaiden movie by Park Chan Wook is probably the best movie I've watched in a while. Every single shot looks like a painting, and the story is so catching! Until the end of the movie, one is not sure what's going to happen and what will be the conclusion...

2/ Inktober. I'm not going to write too much, because I've been talking so much about this event already, I think everybody understood how much I enjoyed doing this challenge! My only regret is that I didn't have enough time to complete it. Oh well...next year!

3/ Chanel N°5 perfume. I wanted to get it for so long, and finally got it! Its scent is so warming and perfect for the winter time.

4/ My one-way plane ticket to Norway. Two months left, and I'm there! So many exciting things coming up!

5/ Verbena jelly. My guilty pleasure of the moment. I just eat it from the jar...!

6/ I'm so glad I can start again to wear my comfy sweaters and pullovers. Cosy feelings...

MY INKTOBER JOURNEY - DAY 17 TO 19

Hello there! These are the last three drawings I made for the Inktober challenge.

It's a bit too late now to continue this challenge, so I decided I was done with it for this year. October and November have been very busy for me and I am still very happy with what I managed to produce for a first participation to this amazing challenge.

18 drawings in total, and I like them all. There are things that I would do differently if I were to restart it, but it taught me a lot about ink technique, and I really enjoyed doing this.
There is no doubt that I will participate again next year!

WINTER IS COMING!

Yes guys, this is the Norwegian flag!

The past few months have been very busy for me. I haven't been able to post articles as often as I would have liked. The reason is, I am preparing to move from France to Norway, to join my boyfriend!

I've been preparing my move for more than 3 years, and it's finally becoming a reality in January!

A lot of things are going to change for me.

It will be my first time living in a different country. I will probably need some time to adapt, but I know it's going to be great.

Also, until now, I have been working in an advertising agency. Once I have moved to Norway, I want to work as a freelancer and dedicate my career to my passion for illustration. So I will have much more time to develop my artwork, post more regularly on this blog, and I hope you guys will enjoy it! I have so many ideas in my mind and can't wait to begin this new life!

I think it could be fun to share my move and my experience of Norway here, so I'll probably take you with me on this great journey! :)

MY INKTOBER JOURNEY - DAY 7 TO 16

Some more drawings I did for 2016's Inktober.

MY INKTOBER JOURNEY - DAY 1 TO 6

I finally scanned some of my Inktober drawings!

As some of you guys know, I was very excited to start this challenge, because it was the first time I participated to it! 

For those of you who may not know what the Inktober Challenge is, let me explain quickly what it is all about.

Inktober was created by an illustrator named Jake Parker. He decided in october 2009 to challenge himself and draw one piece a day, only using ink in order to improve his inking skills and drawing habits. His challenge got so much success, that people started to do it too. Then it became a yearly event on Instagram, that everyone can attend to, professional or not.

I highly recommend visiting his Inktober official page to have a look at the archives of all his drawings, since the creation of this challenge. His artwork is very inspiring!

Jake Parker posted on Instagram the prompt list for 2016, that I decided to follow.

As I expected, it wasn't so easy to keep the rythm. 

One drawing per day is not something I am used to. Especially since I am working in an agency during the day, and only have the evenings to figure out what I am going to draw, and then, actually draw it !

We are now in November, and I am only half way. But it's so much fun to do it, that I won't stop, and complete this challenge, even though it's supposed to be over now. Next year, I'll manage better for sure !

Here are Day 1 to 6 (Day 5 is missing, I unfortunately couldn't find the time to do this one...) 

The rest will be following in the next article.

SUMMER'S FAVORITES!

The holidays are now over and it's time to go back to work... Still, I managed to find some time to draw a bit today !

I decided to gather everything I enjoyed during July and August into my "Summer Favorites".

What I liked the most this summer :

1/ Norway is a place I often travel to, because my boyfriend lives there. But it was one year since last time I went there. So I was super excited to spend my three weeks of holidays there. Norway has amazing landscapes, with fjords, and very green nature. It's a great place for inspiration and to relax.

2/ As you could see in my previous article, this summer, I participated for the first time to a drawing challenge! The Potterweekprompt. I had so much fun doing this, and I received so many nice comments on Instagram about my artwork. Thank you again guys! :)

3/ My new sandals. I love them! I wanted flat shoes with long laces for a long time. When I wear them I feel like an antique greek lady...

4/ The best brush pen I ever owned. It's the Kuretake Sable brush pen N° 40. Boyfriend gifted me for my birthday. I love the effects you can get depending on which paper you draw. I am still training how to use it, because the brush is so soft and sensitive. It's not that easy to use. I want to participate to the Inktober challenge with it !

5/ Like a lot of people, I looooved the series Stranger Things! So I had to draw Eleven in my favorites. It's just a shame that it was only 8 episodes! Now, I can't wait for the second season!

POTTER WEEK PROMPT ILLUSTRATIONS

Back from the holidays with a new article! I've been pretty busy during the summer with an event that occurred on Instagram, and I wanted to share this here!

During July, the talented illustrator Taryn Knight decided to post an illustration every day on the Harry Potter theme, during one week. As a challenge, she set a list of 8 things from the Potter world and posted it on Instagram, offering to other people to join it.

Of course, I was in! So here is the list and my illustrations for the challenge.

1. No Post on Sunday  /  2. Expecto Patronum  /  3. Ickle Firsties  /  4. Animagus  /  5. House Pride  /             6. Perfect Pair  /  7. Favorite Character  /  8. Happee Birthdae.

























I really enjoyed taking part in this, and it was fun to see what everyone else drew for each day.
I will definitely participate to more drawing events!

The Inktober challenge is coming soon, and I'm thinking about doing this too... :)

If you are interested in seeing what all the other participants did, you can search on Instagram with #potterweekprompts. So many nice stuff there!

THE SOLUTION FOR DRAWING RANDOM THINGS

If you like to spend time reading blogs like I do, you can't have missed this little trend that has been running for a few years now. It consists of picking all the things you enjoyed during the month, and gather them on a board to talk about them.  It can be about anything. It could be makeup or clothes, but also the books you enjoyed or a restaurant you discovered...

I really like what Frannerd did with this trend, and she inspired me to do my own favorites of the month too. As someone who usually prefers to draw characters rather than objects, I find this exercise to be a great practice for me!


So, here are the things I liked in June:

1/ My purple collection of polychromos from Faber Castell. I'm literally in love with them. It's the ones I used for my desert illustration and the colors are so vibrant. It's so nice to work with them. I will definitely continue to expand my polychromos collection!

2/ Last month, I went to the cinema to watch The Neon Demon. I heard a lot of different opinions about this movie. A lot of people said they were disappointed because the movie had no story, and that it looked like a never-ending music clip. But I have to disagree with this. I think this movie has to be seen as a metaphor. Once you accept this, you can appreciate the aesthetic of the movie, which is really amazing and inspiring!

3/ My friend Swann made me discover a nice jewelry brand that I loved instantly! It's called Lina Poum, and it's a french brand. They have a little shop located in Paris in the 12th arrondissement.
Swann took me to the shop and I bought this nice cloud necklace that I wear almost everyday.

4/ If you don't know yet what bubble tea is, you must try as soon as possible! Bubble tea is a taiwanese drink, made of tea with tapioca pearls in the bottom. The pearls are about the size of a chick pea and you swallow them at the same time you drink the tea, through a straw that is larger than the average. The pearls are pretty chewy and it's fun but also delicious. In Paris there are a few places where you can enjoy a bubble tea, but my favorite place is Zen Zoo, in the japanese district, near the Opera Garnier. Lately I'm addicted to their chamomile oolong tea. Make sure you try that one!

5/ Summer is finally here and one of the things I like the most about this season is the berries.
I went to a farm outside Paris with a friend and my boyfriend, and we spent the whole morning plucking strawberries. There's something so satisfying about searching and selecting your fruits yourself, in the nature.

A TASTE FOR PURPLE

I'm back with a new drawing from my moleskine sketchbook! It seems like I am still in the mood for drawing kids in magical worlds! I used pretty much all the colors I had with me in my little polychromos box for the previous drawings, and I wanted something new for this "genie" lady.

I thought purple would be great for it, but I only had a magenta pencil... kind of frustrating.
So I got myself a bunch of purple shades at the art supply shop, and here is the result!





Here are all the newcomers to my polychromos collection:

THE SNAIL PRINCESS

It's been raining for days here in Paris. And it doesn't seem to stop...
Seeing all this rain made me think it must be a great time for snails, and also the perfect time to draw them!

ABOUT A FOREST AND A CAVE

Some other drawings I made this week, scanned from my sketchbook.

I am very happy with these two. I wanted to use my sketchbook to train a bit, and draw kids characters.

I tried to imagine the worlds kids create in their mind when they play, and the imaginary characters they like to embody.

I really want to draw more of these little sceneries. I also found myself a passion for the Polychromos colour pencils. I must use them more often...!

BACK TO MY SKETCHBOOK

I never managed to fill out an entire sketchbook. I always start one, draw on a few pages, then start another one etc...

Whenever I feel like I failed a drawing in my sketchbook, I  rip out the page, because it feels like the whole sketchbook is ruined. But, I realized with time that this is not productive at all and that I never get to finish a sketchbook because of it.

So, I got myself a Moleskine some time ago, and decided to not think too much, and use it whenever I feel like doodling.

JON SNOW WITH HIS WOLF

I am so glad that the new season of Game of Thrones has finally started!
For this occasion, here is a little doodle of Jon Snow with his wolf. It was an opportunity to use my Copic markers again. I am still experimenting, but I really like them for that kind of quick drawings.

GET TO KNOW YOUR WATERCOLORS

During my time in art school, I used very often gouache and acrylic paint for my works.
Paint was a medium that I liked a lot, but kind of stopped using when I was graduated, because I wanted to perfect myself on drawing in Photoshop.

Lately, I feel like experimenting different techniques, and I really want to reintroduce traditional techniques in some of my artworks. I always was attracted by watercolor, but didn't have the chance to try it until recently.

I have a Winsor & Newton watercolor set of 12 pans, but replaced the white with a cerulean blue, because I thought this set was missing a softer blue.





Before starting an illustration with watercolor, I wanted to get familiar with this set, and see all the potential these 12 colors could give. So, I started experimenting with color charts!

Making color charts is really relaxing and also very instructive.
While making this gradient chart, I discovered that some colors were more difficult to work with than others. The ultramarine was more grainy, and the blue colors generally were the ones I struggled with the most to build nice gradients.





While searching tips on how to make the best color charts, I found a very interesting video showing how to get all the possible color combinations out of a watercolor set. I loved doing this chart. It was a bit time consuming, but it was great to see all the colors you could create with just 12 pans.

A PERFUME COLLECTION (PART 3)

This is the last piece of my perfume collection. Finally achieved it!

This time, it's the perfume Dior "J'adore". I was inspired by the art of Gustav Klimt when I drew this piece.

SWANN

I wanted to post this portrait sooner, but didn't find the time until this weekend!

So, meet Swann, my friend. 

She asked me one day if I could make her portrait, so I came up with this illustration of her. 

Swann has a blog where she expresses her passion for clothes and photography. Her style is really original and colorful, and she's always doing amazing hairstyles. Therefore, it was really fun and inspiring to make her portrait.

She uses it for her blog, which can be seen here: http://swannandtheberries.blogspot.fr/

A PERFUME COLLECTION (PART 2)

I finished the second piece of my perfume collection series! Once again, it's a very iconic perfume I chose to illustrate. Chanel N°5 is a classic. I really like the elegance of this simple squared paper label on the glass. The perfume was created in the 1920's, but its design and fragrance are still very modern.

Coco Chanel was mastering the art of elegance, so I tried to express that in this illustration.

A PERFUME COLLECTION

I always liked to study perfume bottle designs. And I think it is interesting to imagine the whole world of fantasy told in a perfume. I started to draw a personal series of iconic perfumes and the first perfume I wanted to illustrate was Shalimar by Guerlain.

Shalimar is inspired by the Indian gardens and was created in tribute to a young Indian princess, so I imagined her resting among her garden's flowers...

    

COTTON CANDY PIXIE

A little fluffy pixie I drew the other day.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

This is the first post!

I thought about having a blog for a very long time. Something like a journal that I could update with my drawings and art experiments. So I took the plunge.

Welcome to my blog!