♥ I don't do Housework...

so i know i promised to do a blog post yesterday all about my new painting and all... but i spent yesterday afternoon in town doing a bit of xmas shopping in the freezing conditions and then i went to the cinema, with my friend Charlotte and her husband Rob, to see the new Harry Potter film.

i have one word to say about that movie... AWESOME!!!

anyway, since i failed on the posting times yesterday, i thought i'd tell you all about the little painting today instead!

so...

you may recall, quite a while ago while i was researching old 40's, 50's and 60's American Advertisements at college, i spotted a cute little lady and decided to have a go at drawing her

you can read the original post right here - Acrylics and Apples ♥

but the point is, a few days ago i decided to have a go at using the lovely set of gouache paints my older sister Simone gave me during my trip to Coventry last week

so using the original drawing i did, i worked on a digital version, playing around with colours trying to find a nice mix to paint on the canvas. this is the digital version of what i wanted the painting to look like...

so using the page scan that sort of looks like this (see the above post link for the proper one) 

i drew out a simple fine lined version of it, i enlarged a copy of it up to A3 size and got to work on my little canvas...

here you can see the copy i was working from and yes... my desk does have 3 Daleks on it + a stack of Torchwood and Doctor Who books!

don't act all surprised i DID tell you that i just so happen to be a massive Sci-fi nerd!

you can't really see it in this shot but i'd already sketched out the outline on the canvas so all i had to do was fill it in with my trusty sharpie pen

after that was all finished i started the fun part... blocking in the colours!

the gouache was wonderful to work with, i'm so impatient when it comes to painting so oils drive me mad and most of the time the acrylics i use aren't pigmented enough. i love watercolours but i'm a bit rubbish at using them unfortunately! these worked out great though

i started out with quite a pale blue for the dress, but colour is so much fun so i got a bit carried away with the layers

the sharpie outline was handy as well since i normally ruin most of my attempts at painting by painting over my pencil lines so much i can't tell what's supposed to go where!

next i had to work out some way of painting in the mouth. i didn't want to leave it black since my digital version of this had bright red lips and nails.

i tried painting over the sharpie with red gouache and acrylic but the paints weren't having any of it! 

so i blocked the mouth out entirely in white and grabbed something a little stronger...

believe it or not but that's actually a nail art pen full of bright red nail varnish!

i bought a massive set of those pens at the 'Clothes Show Live' in Birmingham a few years ago and they've never really come in handy until now! her nails and her earring were all coloured using the nail art pens as well. i'm glad i finally found something to use them on!

so that's that! the painting is done now, i added a little message on the piece of paper in her hand as well...

i'm not sure if you can read it or not but it says 'i don't do Housework...'

i know the original version said 'Merry Christmas' but i didn't want my painting to be seasonal

so that's it, painting times... DONE!

NOTE: i am aware that my version of this housewife does look slightly demented... but i think that just ads to her crazily messed up charm! ♥

* * *

in other news, it's still freeeeezing here! snow and ice everywhere!

i took this snap on the day i started the painting, i was sitting at my desk minding my own business when it started snowing and snowing and snowing...

ah that photo kind of sucks i guess, and apologies for all the clutter! 

i had another go, this was the view outside the window

the lovely Winter Wonderland outside my bedroom! love it...

it is sooooo cold though! 

* * *

back to college tomorrow (weather permitting) i'm supposed to have my assessment this week so i am panicking just a little bit (aka A LOT!!!!!) so we'll see how that goes!

i had to go to the airport this morning to have my photo taken with the Little Lego Christmas Tree again so i managed to grab a copy of the paper as well, i'll scan it in tomorrow though since i can't find the scanner cable...

FAIL on my part!

sorry!

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ★ xX

Terima kasih dan sampai jumpa lagi

(that's thank you and goodbye in Indonesian, i haven't been to Indonesia since i was a little girl but big thanks to you all anyway for visiting my blog, lama tidak berjumpa x) 

Adoration of Animation ♥

so... apologies for the lack of posts over the past few days, i guess i've been enjoying my time off College a little too much!


i've basically spent the past 2 days just watching movies (with the odd bit of house cleaning thrown in) and pretty much chilling on the sofa. i'm not going to lie... 


it's been blissful but now the real world beckons again and i have commission work to get done and lots of chores to do!


but before i morph back into an artistic and domestic goddess i thought i'd do a little post about one of my fave things in life...

Animation

it's no secret that i'm a big kid (it's true... i know it and you know it) and i have a particular penchant for animated films of all kinds from flawlessly perfect CGI creations such as Finding Nemo, Shrek, UP (and the up and coming Disney film... Tangled)

right back to super duper painstakingly genius stop motion flicks like the Corpse Bride, Wallace and Gromit, Fantastic Mr Fox etc...

heck... i even love foreign animation like Belleville Rendezvous (Les Triplettes de Belleville),  Persepolis or of course... just about anything that comes out of Studio Ghibli! (Howl's Moving Castle, Nausicaa - Valley of the Winds, Laputa - Castle in the sky, Ponyo etc etc etc)

i'm going to be honest though... i am a massive Disney fan, 

true i don't always love what they do but when it comes to animation... they get it spot on almost every single time! 


although to be honest, it's also a long time since i've seen a film as charming as Studio Ghibli's Ponyo (yes... i know Disney helped produce it to the Western World but it is still a Ghibli creation)

but seriously now... words cannot describe how excited i was to see the Princess and the Frog when it first came out (and yes... i did see if 4 times SO WHAT) and i have watched it over and over again since...

you may be thinking 'grow up' but i literally do not want to such a thing! in fact... as long as there are animated films and cartoons on tv i shall continue to sit and watch them, enthralled as if i were still 5 years old!

i don't know what it is about animation that makes me so god-damn happy! i love everything about it, the colours (or lack thereof), the music, the songs, the story, the characters... it's all good

it's not just Disney though... it's that moment in an animated film when the music fits so perfectly with what's happening on the screen that it's like magic...

audios and visuals in perfect harmony, THAT is why i love animation so much! (the ocean scene in Belleville Rendezvous is a perfect example of this, boats and waves in perfect sync with Mozart's Mass in C Minor, K 427, "Great"- Kyrie. it is a truly epic scene and a wonderful feat of imagination and animation... genius

i also love the way that animation isn't just for children (contrary to popular belief) since half the time, the writers pop in more than a fair share of jokes that are clearly targeted at the grown ups in the cinema audience (Shrek... i'm looking in your direction here especially) but that just adds to their charm

you really grow up with these films and i find that every time i re-watch one of the old animated films i remember from my childhood, i spot something new or pick up on another joke i wouldn't have understood when i was little.

so going back to the music fitting with the animation...

 today i've self indulged a little by watching both of the genius creations that are Fantasia (the original) 1940 version and Fantasia 2000 (the December 1999 version... in case the title wasn't enough of a give away as to when it came out!) 

in case you've never seen either... basically they are some of the best examples of animation i've seen (considering the dates they were made). each film contains very little talking, a little bit of live action footage, dozens of original animated characters (+ a few friendly faces), lots of super abstract animated scenes and wonderful scores that interact with the animation seamlessly. 

the original 1940's version is wonderful but i kind of prefer the 2000 version.

so... favourite part of Fantasia 2000???

the Firebird scene without a doubt! 

there is something so ethereally magical and spectacular about watching Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite played out on a screen by a beautifully animated Spring Sprite, a kind Elk and the truly terrifying Firebird that she awakens by accident in the nearby volcano... it is just gorgeous! 

i know everyone always loves 'the Sorcerer's Apprentice' bit with Mickey but... the Firebird is my fave part! it just wins, hands down...


so what other animated films do i adooooore?!


well... there's 'My Neighbour Totoro' of course!!!!!

now i know i'm always going on about Studio Ghibli films but 'My Neighbour Totoro' really is one of my absolute favourite animated movies EVER 


(the top fave is probably a tie between another Studio Ghibli masterpiece, Spirited Away and my favourite Disney film Beauty and the Beast) 

so back to Totoro, if you've never seen this... go and watch it NOW!

that's an order...

it's a smashing film, cute characters and that's before you get to meet Totoro and the Cat Bus... trust me, it's amazing!

Ghibli at it's best... 

and do you know what... i think that's enough for today! i've rambled on about the magic and genius of animation for long enough, i'll no doubt post about it in the future but for tonight,

that's all folks...

◕‿◕ ♥ xX

ps - if you enjoyed the post and the prettyful plethora of movie posters it contained... why not leave me a comment telling me what YOUR favourite animated film is???