It's Christmas time, mistletoe and wine...

Well, no wine for me after my horrendous hangover after the Christmas party! This week has been a blur - work, Christmas, Boxing Day and having a cold. I've gone back to the 1000 things to draw, and only managed one thing so far in a week:

32. Redesign a book cover (The Wolf Hound and the Raven), using my Graphiter app on my tablet

I should probably still finish my dragon piece, however my family got me a new sketching set for Christmas, and I've treated myself to some half decent coloured pencils today, so I think today will be spent playing with those. I bought my friend one of those adult colouring books for Christmas, and I've had an idea to make my own colouring sheet, so I'll probably be doing lots of doodling tonight.

At the start of the month I bought a Groupon offer to do 10 sessions of yoga for £10 at my local leisure centre. I've been doing the 30 days of yoga by doyouyoga.com, and in true spirit I've done them haphazardly. I've just done day 3 today, and it's probably taken me about a week to get this far! I wanted to get a feel for yoga though before going to a proper class. If anyone has tips or hints for me post a comment below.

I came across this link during the week and thought you might like to see it:
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/13091885/list/11-tips-to-get-the-creative-space-you-crave

And here is my Pinterest of the week, I literally don't even have a corner to set up an art space, so I'm settling for checking out other people's spaces for the moment: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/330592428875273399/

Also, as of the 23rd of December my blog was a year old! I can't believe I've stuck at this for more than a year. While I haven't done as much art as I would've liked it's certainly kept me more accountable than if I hadn't kept a blog.

Anyway, the plan for the week ahead is to do some more of the 1000 things to draw, and I really need to finish the dragon piece. I have a terrible habit of leaving things half done. I've been having a think how to make it really work with colour, as I didn't get on with Bobby Chiu's method, so I'll have an experiment during the week. I'm at work between Christmas and New Year though (boo), so my time is as limited as normal. Hope Santa brought you everything you wished for, and have a happy new year!

Back from Amsterdam

Hey, so I'm back from Amsterdam, and I had a brilliant time while over there. We did everything we had planned, and more! This is what we got up to:

Friday: We spent the day exploring, and went to the Rome exhibition at De Nieuwe Kerk. We didn't get up to much in the evening.
Saturday: Spent most of the day at the Rijksmuseum. It's number 1 on Trip Advisor, and for good reason! Went to Boom Chicago in the evening for some laughs.
Sunday: Went to the Van Gogh museum, and was a bit disappointed with it. Spent most of Sunday evening bar-hopping.

Our room, had a cage for a wardrobe, and a mini-jail on top of the bathroom!

Our hotel, Mauro Mansion

Centraal Station 

Night Watch, Rembrandt, Rijksmuseum

Portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum

Library in the Rijksmuseum, it's like something from Beauty and the Beast!

Model of an oriental vessel, Rijksmuseum

Quick 5 minute sketch

Tried to do the same on my tablet, didn't work out quite so well

My first day back at work was 2 days out of the office doing team building. The morning's activity was outdoor-based, and was OK, nothing special. However the afternoon's activity was a take on the Great British Bake Off - I was in my element! Our team didn't win but I still had fun. There was a party in the evening, and I behaved myself and drank diet coke for half of the night. I was very smug the next morning when a lot of people had hangovers!

I haven't drawn much while being in Amsterdam, or since I returned, I'm not sure what to do next. I'm sure I'll figure something out. I should probably finish my dragon piece.

I found something on the internet before I went on holiday, designers might find amusing, it certainly made me smile: http://www.creativebloq.com/design/creative-process-timeline-nails-it-111518018

For my Pinterest of the week I must admit I've not read this yet, but I've pinned it for future reading: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/240238961349923858/

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous new year. Dream big, don't give up, and don't take yourself too seriously :)

Schoolism complete

So I finished Schoolism last Monday, and listened to the book excerpt from Bobby Chiu. It was quite insightful. I feel from doing the Painting Creatures course I've learned a lot, and also learned how to figure out quick and easier ways of doing things. I've also learned that using reference is not cheating if applied correctly, although I've learned this several times in the past few years it still comes back to give me a kick up the arse.

As such, since finishing the Schoolism course I've done no art at all. Nothing. Nada. Zip. So I did a few figure drawings this evening:

On Friday I attended my first Christmas party for my new job, and I was absolutely annihilated. I've never had a hangover so bad - I was still being sick at 8pm on Saturday! Needless to say this has inspired me to come out with quotes I'll never stick to, like 'I'm never drinking again'. I probably won't drink too much over Christmas now as I've had my blow-out for the Christmas period.

I'm off to Amsterdam on Thursday as part of my birthday celebrations (the big 3-0, eek!). Don't think I'll be drinking much while there, but I have some expeditions planned - the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, and we have a couple of shows at the Boom Chicago comedy club booked too. I can't wait! I went to Amsterdam a few years ago, and loved it so much that I've always wanted to go back. It's such a vibrant city, and we didn't do half of what we wanted to do the last time we were there. That, and the fact we were knackered from walking around on the first day didn't leave us with much energy to enjoy the city for the remainder of our time there.

Well, I hope you're all getting ready for Christmas - I managed to put my boyfriend off from putting up the Christmas tree until 3rd December, and now it looks like a festive elf has sneezed all over our living room; there's tinsel everywhere!

Well, right now I'm going to finish watching my recording of The Hunt, narrated by David Attenborough. I love everything he narrates, and the camera skills of the crew for this series are just astonishing.

I won't be posting a blog post next week due to said holiday above :)

And last but not least, my Pinterest of the Week: http://batkamal.tumblr.com/post/70928746752