Cracking on with the Shaw Academy course

I haven't done any work on my Game of Thrones characters this week, as the only day I could go to buy paper was yesterday... and I spent it at the seaside with my boyfriend! We had a lovely meal (he had jumbo cod and chips, of course. I had a crab salad, which I think is one of the best salads I have ever eaten). If you go to Whitby it's worth going for a meal at The Fisherman's Wife. It's not the cheapest place for food, but it's really good. I've only ever been to Whitby twice, and both times I've eaten here. They have unrivalled views of the sea from their restaurant, which was the reason I was drawn to this restaurant.

Anyway, I've been working on the Shaw Academy Graphic Design course still, and was tasked the challenge to produce a logo for an animal shelter, this is what I came up with:

They also showcased my photo merge from last week, which I was pretty stoked about! I've not totally forgotten about doing some art though; I quite fancied painting a watercolour painting today, so I painted my back yard, although this is the first time I've done a proper watercolour painting, it's not great:

I could've picked a nicer landscape...

I also had my first proper yoga class last week, still loving it. I found it harder work than what I was expecting though! I think I'll keep it up for now, also term finishes in a few weeks for the summer holidays, ready to pick up again in September.

Anyway, I have a pretty action-packed week ahead of me: Monday & Tuesday I'm out with work visiting a supplier, I have the last week of my Shaw Academy course to finish, yoga (if there's room for me to book into class), Thursday weather permitting is a team build after work playing rounders and BBQ, and then i's Friday and the weekend all over again! Saturday I'm out in Derby visiting family, so not much time for art, though I'll try to fit some in somewhere.

So, I'll leave you with my Pinterest of the Week, I love the elegance of this illustration, and wiht the bird cage featuring both as an actual cage and in the clothing it makes me wonder if the girl feels like a trapped bird too? https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/314548355206991875/

April can't come quick enough!

Well, I started 2 ideas this week (I'm great at starting ideas, finishing them seems like a marathon though!), I've started a quick concept for a tigershark:

Sorry for the dark image

And I've started on the Game of Thrones characters I mentioned last week:

Daenerys WIP

Once I sat down and worked out who I wanted to draw it was actually quite difficult which families I wanted to represent, and at what stage each house is at too. I've decided to go for series one, and just the main characters. The characters I want to draw are:
Baratheon: Robert, Cersei, Joffrey, Tommen, Myrcella, Renly, Stannis.
Lannister: Tywin, Jaime, Tyrion
Stark: Eddard, Catelyn, Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon, John
Targaryen: Daenerys, Viserys

Think I have bitten off more than I can chew?

I've done it this way so even people married into other houses are represented (hence why Cersei is in the Baratheon house, not the Lannister house), and I also didn't want to draw things that have happened in the series in case I reveal spoilers for people who haven't seen/read it yet. Game of Thrones is one of my favourite all-time shows (I've seen all of the TV shows, but only read book 1), and I can't wait for it to return in April/ I'm hoping to have this finished by the time it returns.
The plan is to do character outlines on my computer, then transfer that to paper and finish it off with my new colouring pencils I've yet to try out. That way, if the colouring pencils don't work I can still do something with it digitally. Also, the added bonus is working digitally I have an Undo button, and I can skew things how I want. The final idea is to have all houses together on one long canvas.

I'm also slowing realising that I seem to draw people/animals/still lifes better than what I want to do, which is draw from the imagination and draw concept art, specifically landscapes for computer games.

Anyway, I think that's enough for this week, I think I'm just gonna keep hammering the line drawings of the GoT characters for now, and see how it goes. My Pinterest for the week is actually another blog! I've not read much on here yet but I've bookmarked it for a later date, hope you get something out of it: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/314548355204806209/