HELLOOOO 2015

OKAY.
So clearly I fell off the blogging bandwagon once again (it seems to be an annual event at this point) except this time, I don't feel so bad because this time it wasn't life that caught up to me and drove me up the wall (although that's still ongoing) but it was creative adventures. At last, the year started on a creative note.
The many adventures I've been involved in include the world of Documented Life Project, Amigurumi, scrap bookbinding and return to coloring; soon, I am going to explore the world of need felting. Everything I have been interested in but "never had time for" - This year is the year I will try them out ! So far, the journey has been more than fulfilling and supremely addictive.  Here is a "brief" summary of how I got to this beautiful mess.

ONCE, when I was 8 my mama (also a DIY fanatic) introduced me to the calm world of knitting. I made a scarf and that was the end of that. I make scarves annually because I just can't find scarf I like enough to buy (super picky) and knitting truly is a slow and calming activity. Unfortunately, knitting wasn't my calling. I enjoyed things that are...less functional, cute and pretty things really... which made me feel bad...then I saw this meme which made it alll better; happiness and sense of accomplishment provides priceless intrinsic rewards!

ANYWAY.
I went to my first "Stitch & Bitch" session with a friend who LOVED knitting, hoping that it would kindle a spark. I was looking for a pattern to knit until I came across this cat cave crochet pattern which looked simple enough and I randomly had a crochet hook lying around.  Unfortunately at this time neither of my cats understood the concept of cat cave ,so it ended up being a cushion after days of trying to coaxed them to love the cave. They love the cushions though!

 This sent me whirling into the world of crochet, in particular, amigurumi (which means small handmade toy in Japanese, I think). There are tons of generous and talented souls out there that share the pattern they made. One of my favourites Stephanie of Amigurumei , who makes the easiest patterns for the cutest things! This thoughtful woman has even made a Patterns page on her blog for easy access.  This new hobby turned into an obsession really, and I was a serial hooker for a while there - eat, work, crochet was a daily thing until recently - now I sleep sometimes XD
You can see all the stuff I have made so far on my Amigurumi album on my FB page, if you're curious.

The bookbinding thing isn't new. I always enjoyed upcycling scrap paper. My entire art journal last year was made from upcycled Copic Market catalogs. I work at a place where printing is mandatory and scrap pages are available by the mountains. Being a hoard, I kept a lot of scraps but I simply couldn't use them up quick enough and my little apt was getting crammed up with all sorts of junk I had saved (Youtube is REALLY a great place if you want reasons to start hoarding).  After much hmming and haaaing, I bought myself a Cinch bookbinding tool - which turned out the be an excellent investment.  Instead of spending hours hand-stitching and gluing , which left little energy and motivation to actually do the fun bits like decorating, I spent minutes binding the book and hours playing and altering cardboard covers. So far I have made and given away 4 books which are all being used on daily basis. Having less in my hoarder box is good; knowing that the books are appreciated, loved and used daily is awesome; feeling that art/crafting didn't create more garbage is AMAZING. I don't get to make them often (because they're super fat books and takes a while to use them) but I certainly have a whole pile of 'em made for the next person who wants one. You can see what it looks like here.

The Documented Life Project is something I discovered last year. I fell in love with the idea of Documented Life Project 2015 page.

having a sketbook/planner/journal all in one place (deep inside, I am a minimalist. or multifunctionalist- I like things that can serve more than one purpose). In fact, my planner was already a mix of 3 but this gave it structure that it needed. I was bent on taking part this year and although the idea has migrated to more of Art Journaling, I am having a great time playing along. It really forces you to be creative and to play, at least once a week. This project has put my art journalling to a pause but I feel like it will only enhance my love for art journals.  So far, with the exception of ONE challenge (which I will fulfill soon when I have some under paper made) I have been following along. What is most exciting is that I can already SEE myself breaking out in baby steps from the way I have been journaling and actually having FUN.  In a strange way, the weekly challenges really aligned to the experiences I was going through during the week , which makes this even more remarkable journey to embark on! To see the pages of the week you can check out my

At around the same time, I had  become super interested in Wreck This Journal project - which from day 1 proved that I was not as "free flowing" as I was hoping I was. Unfortunate this project will have to hold for a bit as I've piled a ton on my plate already. LOL

Lastly, I have returned to coloring.

I can draw - and I enjoy being able to draw; but, I have always loved coloring and if I could, I would sweet piece of work for Valentines day. I printed it, stuck it on my planner and colored it using my trusty Crayola markers. TOO FUN.   Of COURSE I had to go and buy one of those books I've been pondering on. I debated but in the end the Secret Garden is what I chose - mostly because there are pages filled with doodly flowers I just can't do without. So far, I'm working on a nice little fishy page - I'm getting lost in the details but I LOVE IT.
make a living from it. Its another meditative therapy (apparently I need a lot of therapy these days) that I couldn't get a start on for whatever reason (mostly because I was busy crocheting).  Then, the amazing Johanna Basford who inked "Secret Garden" and "Enchanted Forest" for the kid in us, released this
I forgot how awesome it was to  PAINT SOMETHING.
This book is going to last me YEARS at the rate I'm coloring them which makes it SO WORTH IT! It also put all other coloring projects on hold but OOOH well, it's not going anywhere anyways. lol

Last one I promise; The Fallen.

more of her awesome stuff here

 I am going through some of my work last year trying to tie-up lose ends (by which I mean finally finish whatever it is I started so I can move along) I am finding things I am particularly fond of that I CAN'T BELIEVE wasn't shared here -one of which are these drawings from that book I keep mentioning, "How to draw fantasy characters."

This one, I am PARTICULARLY  fond of because it HAD no instructions. and while mine doesn't measure up quite up to her amazing works (like - I love everything  about this piece - the pose, the colours, the expression and obviously, the background).

Of course, because I love it so much, it came with NO instructions and I cannot tell you how many photocopies were made trying to apply what I had learned in the previous pages (I think I drew every single character in this book) and really DIGEST what I had learned. I used up an entire Steadler eraser before I was finally able to produce something half way decent.

This is a 4" x 6" no named cardstock I got at the dollarstore a loooooong time ago when I was obsessively making albums with( I still have them, I have no idea what to do with them but eventually I am sure I will use them).

 It was the first thing I grabbed when the light bulb went off in my head and it is certainly the only one that turned out much better than I expected.

I used a "skin tone" Copic Marker set for the skin and the the rest is in crayola markers. Completely amazed at my own work and that this was doable with good ol' crayola markers. The only bummer is that with each layer of Crayola, the paper became visibly furry and damaged due to the water-soluable nature of Crayola markers.

Mine has no wings. WHY? because I just could NOT get them in perspective. To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with the way the back look but I dared not touch it, it is as good as it is every going to get. I wish mine had wings, although I have NO IDEA how I would have coloured them with markers and I think that may have been a twinkle of a thought in my mind, which made the 'no wing' idea easier to accept.

As the fairy had no wings though, I felt like mine lost a bit of magic - like she did wrong and was banned from the fairy world - the "fallen" fairy - so I called this piece, "FALLEN" (dramatic, no?).


Quite some time after, I found an old version of Grimms' tales I never knew I owned and I tried to redo this piece again, this time with a bit more context. Some of the lyrics from the song "Happy ending" by Mika and a quote from the movie, "EVER AFTER."

Clearly, I lost some technique or at very least, sense of proportion...super long arms, super short legs....it looks to me, and part of one leg disappears into the void.

I can't even explain what happened to her face.

I love the gradiation of colours - Promarkers and Copic Markers are incredible and definitely worth the investment if this is something you enjoy- but are good at. Although I think the stem that she's sitting on is, Crayola markers. :D

Anyhoo.
I hope you liked :)

Love Always,
Shyni

Freebies - Dooberrie

This is another little piece I found that I had coloured when I was following along the book by J "Neondragon"Peffer called "How to draw fantasy charecters" . I love this little pixie - the way she stands and the drapery and the colour. I wasn't a big fan of the smile showing the teeth and the wings were a bit smaller than I 'd like so I made some alterations - which again, makes me feel that I can distribute these as I see fit - and is now available for you.

There is a little story behind this which you may find either offensive or funny - but I found it to be hilarious.
When I was practicing drawing this lil lady on a 5" x 7" card (I tell you there were many a cards wasted, she's a trixy lil' thing), I wanted her to have the beautiful, vibrant blues, pinks and greens...and just SCREAM vibrant in your face; I was having hard time finding a good reference photo until my friend showed me THIS photo of what I understand to be an incredibly desirable state of weed. With all reservations aside ,I have to agree that the  colour combination here is EXACTLY what I was looking for - I would love to live in a space with these colours!!!





  Armed with this....unexpected source of inspiration for colour, I banged out this final verion which you can download.

There are a couple of other line art available for download as well  - feel free to use them :)
http://shynimoonstar.deviantart.com/gallery/35023426

This is what I ended up with.
I was bend on creating beautiful works using inexpensive materials. While I was making this, a friend of mine suggested that this be a fairy for doobs - bare with me , I promise this is kinda funny - she would be like a toothfairy but for doobies (for those who aren't familar, because I wasn't when I first heard this term - this is a small spliff or a joint or a roll of weed). So, how she would work is whenever someone is getting low on their joint, they would butt it out and then put it under their pillow and BAM! a second later, a whole new joint would be there in place of the tiny one.

*shrug* I don't know I thought it was funny, thus named her "Dooberrie." I hope enjoy,  and let me know how your fairy turns out.

Freebies - mermaid

Okay.
I cannot beeeeeliiieve this isn't on here... I came about this mishap when I told a friend of mine to check out the blog for a line art I made a whilllle back following and incredibly well written and WONDERFUL BOOK by J "Neondragon"Peffer called "How to draw fantasy charecters" which I borrowed from the library;my  drawings are all a modified version of her pieces which makes me feel that I can distribute my version as I see fit. In general, I like to give my characters unrealistic amounts of hair because I like working on them and because I, personally, have unrealistic amount of hair according to my hairdresser.

This book was such an inspiration for me to start drawing again, that I would highly recommend it to anyone who  is pondering about picking up that old art kit your parents got you for art class way back when.  Just look at it - it's so pretty I love the colours, the background and the composition.

Although I made a few of the linearts I only ever got enough gull to try to color the mermaid - I coloured it in markers (crayola mostly - the one to the right), water colors and pencil crayons(one to the left). You are welcome to use the line art and have a ball with it as you see fit , like Lynda did here .

Just click on the picture for the lineart:)

3D hands...

LOL yes I know our hands are 3 dimensional...but now you can draw them:)

I watched a little tut on Youtube - and this was super simple, cool and fun to do! Particularly good when you're trying to get the creative juice flowing first thing in the morning before coffee/tea/latte/expresso?
Excellent way to get started:)

Here is my little hand...


try it out!


XO

All alone

2013 is the year where I start completing some of my projects....

Here is one I started a while back - in water colours. I really liked the way it came out and I wanted to try it out in various medium like acrylic, markers and pencil crayons to see how each differ.
However I wasn't able to re-create it in paint which was discouraging and the project sat on the back shelf of my mind.
I mean this piece...depicts for me the moment where you're so into what it is that you are doing that everything else just fades away into the void and it's just you, your idea and the paper, floating in space with light which is just bright enough to help you with your cause but nothing else. It's the moment when you realize a good chunk of time has passed since you started working on your piece, even though it feels like only minutes has passed......

Time Flies when you're having fun....you know?


Anyway I finally got around to redoing this piece in markers....
which turned out to be rather nice :)
I MAY attempt to do it in paint again but my ego has taken a beating from the last time I tried (particularly because in high school I considered myself a painter than anything else...)

This is done on some random marker pad  I had lying around that I bought eons ago- it's not quite student grade, I think it's more like kids' grade marker paper(it was $3) and Crayola markers...

Not a fan of the planet being so DARK but oooh well.

Hope you enjoy!

Are you willing to become talented?

Most of us grow up being told that we can be anything we want - until you tell'em you want to be an artist. When that happens, one of two things seems to happen: your family and friends provide unwavering support and celebrate your big day with you when you finally make it, giving you larges pats on the back saying they've always known you could do it.

Or you're discouraged to pursue it because there is no money or you don't have enough talent and they certainly want you to just have a easy, happy life. Upon hearing this, some will still pursue the dream but most will turn away; a good chunk of those who turn their backs however, seem to come back to pursuing the dream after a long detour, all burnt out and jaded by life, but finally with a spine to say I want to at least try.

I am part of the latter group that decided finally to pursue what I enjoyed  - and there is more fear and doubt then there is excitement. I mean, if I didn't have "enough talent" when I was drawing frantically, will I have more now that I haven't created a single piece of art for over a decade? How will I compete with all those whose dreams were nurtured, fresh out of school with all they need to jump in and start working?  Should I even bother to pursue this as a career or just put it aside as a hobby?Do I even have any talent left?

What is this talent ANYWAY?
How does everyone else know whether I have it or not? Is it really an elusive, special quality or trait that allows me to achieve exceptionally with little effort? Why don't I have it?
My mind was filled with so much doubt - and as always I turned to the internet for some answers.

What I found was a plethora of advice, tutorials and articles about how to become an artist without going to school - and being successful at it. They all seem to say the same thing and one  article seem to summarize it beautifully - it was written by a successful illustrator named Brenda Hoddinott, about what talent really is. The many voices of internet confirmed what a very small voice in my head was always saying to me, but I diligently ignored. It is this:


"Talent is the acknowledgement that you possess the interest and the motivation to become exceptional in a specific area."

It is not something that some of us are lucky enough to have been born with that allows achievement of exceptional things - it's the commitment and dedication that you make to yourself, to put in the time and effort required to become amazing in something through practice.

Granted, there are some people who are born with uncanny brain power or some extraordinary ability - but often, child prodigies and people with "gifts" experience fame and/or success all too soon and forget that work is required to maintain that, inevitably letting their gifts go to waste. Talent, like anything with life - needs to be nurtured and nourished, in order to bloom in its full glory.


Of course, my problem is that I want to get to step 255 without going through 1- 254. The workload up ahead seems so daunting and huge and feels like I'll never get through it. It's frustrating to look at while moving a tiny pebble at a time out of the way and feels like I will never make it. I can't seem to remember anything I learned or there is not enough time, or..or...there are just so many excuses.


However, success stories come from those without any formal training, but were driven by passion for something and self-taught all they knew. From those who had the patience and perseverance to put in the effort and time to become exceptional in their craft. There is no other way - you must get through the mountain of work first, to get yourself some talent and be exceptional.

So I have now acknowledged, finally, that I have the interest and some motivation to follow my heart and become a creative being; I hope this post serves as a reminder to this commitment I made, especially during hard times when all seem futile.Wish me luck.