My Secret Tips & Tricks for Drawing and Painting.

Ever since I could remember, I would draw and paint. I was that little child kept alone at home, distracted with colour pencils and paints. It was all I needed, from childhood scribbles, to my work today. It all has been a gradual process of building technique with practice.

Here are few things I've learned over the years that might be of some help to you. Or not.

Say NO to boring white backgrounds

Bring out a new canvas, and all you see is white. A smart trick would be to use white gesso primer mixed with a hint of ocher or yellow to give the canvas a tint, or a light colour as a background. This gives a lovely tint to your canvas, and you might not even have to paint a background. Lazy artist, high five!

Sandpaper and its mighty effects

• When you use pencils, pastels or crayons to draw, constantly sharpening will lead to a lot of wastage! We all have that set of pencils that are too precious and expensive to just waste. Use sandpaper to sharpen the tips of the pencils and make most use of it.
•  Sandpaper can also be used as textured paper for pastel work.
• Have you tried pressing sandpaper on a wet waterolour background? It gives wonderful texture and a some detail to your work

 Grid it out!

For beginners or people who are having difficulty with drawing or replicating images, fret not! Just draw grids all over, and focus on sketching each square at a time. That way you won't find yourself with a wonky, or unbalanced image. Awesome stuff, right? Just try it out!

Pencil-tastic work!

Use an HB pencil to do your outlines. It is light, easily erasable and doesn't smudge very easily. Be smart and avoid harder pencils like 2H and 4H because that's going to leave an indentation on your paper, Yes I've learned this from experience, it's not pretty when you have dented lines on great art work. (All that ruined work)

Sketch it Black

Often when you're sketching and observing tones, you tend to go more grey than you do black even when it is black that you need. The dark portions of the art work are more shades of grey instead of black, it reduces the vibrance and intensity of your work. Imagine all your favourite clothes, fading from a jet black to a dull grey. Boring right? Simple solution: cut a piece of black paper from a scrapbook or a magazine, and use it to compare the areas that have to be black with it. Use an 8B pencil to achieve a similar shade.

Handy tip: Sometimes, I tend to use a thin brush and go over with light strokes of black paint.

 Black & White

Instead of using a coloured reference photo, print it in black and white. Colours tend to distract you from tonality, lighting etc. that way you can observe the shades correctly

Sketch Journal

The best advice anyone ever gave me was to keep a sketch journal next to me at all times. Now, keeping the sketch journal isn't enough, you need to use it as well. Yes, if you're lazy like me, at first you're hardly going to use it, but TRUST ME, once you get started you won't stop. It doesn't have to be perfect and some of my work has been utter crap, but use it to draw. Draw what you see, draw what you feel, keep it near your bed and even draw what you remember from your dreams. We have heard the saying "practise makes perfect" a little too much, I know but trust me, it's true.

 Patience is not always a virtue.

When it comes down to art, I have heard a lot of people say to me "I don't have that much patience" well, neither do I. If you're drawing, and don't have patience, spend on 15 minutes on it. Leave, start again another day. I like my work to take 30 minutes at most, which is why you'll notice a lot of it is incomplete. But it doesn't matter! Art is art, no matter how much time you take.

Brush Talk

Short, simple advice? Never, ever, EVER leave you brushes in the stand after you're done painting. The bristles will spread out and ruin them. (RIP brushes)

Hairy Tales

Hair is the most complicated thing ever, and over the years I have faced a lot of difficulty in perfecting hair. Bad hair can ruin a drawing, but great hair can save it! The most important thing to remember is direction. Make sure your strokes are not all one length, or one long bold stroke, but small lighter strokes in the direction the hair falls. FOCUS ON DIRECTION. Use a sharp tip of the eraser, and erase lightly in the direction the light falls to give highlights. Remember, if there is light on the subject, there will be areas of light on the hair as well. Once again, you just need to focus on the highlights and direction

Starting at the top...

I like to start my drawings/ paintings at the top, to avoid smudging it with my hand. I've learned the hard way, and trust me, it's happened way too
many times, the ill effects of my hand smudging my drawings and messing things up. If you want to start with the ears, or eyes or maybe even lowers on figure study (hint hint), then place a paper or clear sheet underneath where you hand touches the paper. You'll regret not doing this when you see grey smudges all over your paper.

Stand up, Sit Down, Walk Around. Work it out!

While painting, you tend to lose perspective if you stare at your work too long. Get up, walk around, take a break and return back to it for a fresher look. Also, try looking at your painting in the mirror to find things you may have missed out on in normal view. You could even check yourself out while doing so! Trust me it works!

Eyes!

They say it's all in the eyes, and I am restless until I have perfected the eyes on my portraits. After finishing painting or drawing the eyes, I love to add some white paint on to it, to make it pop a little bit more. Find the areas that are meant to be highlighted and dab some white paint onto there.

Texture Me UP!

 

• After a water wash on your water color paper, throw some watercolor pencil shavings on it for vibrant, stunning texture
• For wood textures, use a fan brush and lightly scrape across the paper
• Salt: Once you've applied a wash of colour on your paper, add some salt to it and let it dry. Scrape the salt off and check out that super cool texture!
• Get wrapped- After a wet wash, use wrapping paper or plastic wrap to                                             lift paint of your canvas or paper and observe the effect!

Scribbling is fun

 


Finally, your art doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be great. Scribble your way to great artwork with simple strokes!

Enjoy and feel free to share some of your awesome work with me!


xoxo

Katie Holmes Painting

Lady Gaga Pencil

Figure Study- Renaissance Style

Annoying People We Meet At The Movies (Cinema).

I love watching movies, hell, don't we all? But of recently, I've begun to hate visiting cinema's. Yes, I do enjoy the caramel popcorn, Maltesers and large coke but the entire experience of a movie can sometimes be destroyed by an annoying bunch of people.
A few years back, the final Harry Potter movie released and as anyone who knows me is aware, it was a big deal . I was looking forward to it, yet dreading that it was going to be the last movie, so when I booked my tickets to go watch it, I did not expect the tears of frustration to be from the experience, rather than the fact that it was the last Potter movie ever.  There were loud girls giggling in front of me, there was an old man munching popcorn loudly right next to me and there was a girl talking on her phone. I could hardly watch the movie and all the major scenes were thrown off by the loud noises of super annoying people around me.
Over the years this has gotten worse, so here is a list of the most annoying people I have met at movie cinemas

Lets start with the Loud Mouth. Loud Mouth is the guy who eats popcorn or nachos really loudly during really quiet scenes. The sound of munching really doesn't compliment movies and it can get very annoying. Confession? I sometimes pray they choke on it. Yes, I do.

Next, is the cellphone addict, the one person who you want to throw your own phone at. This is the guy/girl who either texts or talks on the phone during the movie. Recently, I decided to go watch Thor 2  and there was this one very high pitched girl who kept talking on her phone, and when we asked her to shut the hell up, she looked at us angrily for interrupting HER. Don't you wish there was a special place in hell for such people? Also annoying is the person who doesn't put his or her phone on silent during the movie and you can hear it ring through out.

Baby Obsessed. Parents who bring their loud, crying, whining children or babies EVERYWHERE inappropriate should be sent to prison. I don't think a baby knows what movies are or what's happening in them, so either keep them with a sitter or stay at home and let us watch the movie we have paid to watch. I did not come to hear the constant crying of a scared or hungry child.

PDA- The Love Bugs. There are top row, and corner seats for those so in love, they can't contain themselves. If you're going to sit infront of me, please, please don't swap saliva and make loud noises while making out. If I wanted to watch porn, i'd stay at home and make use of the unlimited internet access I have.

The Seat Stealers- Now here's a crime that deserves jail time.I don't get people who can't sit in their own seats. Are you blind, or do you think you could get away with taking someone else's seat in a nearly full cinema? What gets even more annoying is after politely asking them to piss off, they argue with you or get mad at YOU.

The Cool Cats- Recently I went for The Conjuring, which was a pretty cool movie, ruined by assholes who thought they were the coolest things ever, because they laughed, clapped or acted witty during scary or silent scenes. I want to get scared when I go for scary movies, because that's the whole fun of it. Please don't let your insecurity and need to cover up your fears, ruin it for me. We know in all honesty you'll are just preventing yourself from getting scared and jumping outta your seats. You're nothing but wusses on the inside. I hope you get haunted by the devil for the rest of your lives.

The talker: 'Who is he", "What did he say", "What just happened?" "What happens next"-  Just shut the hell up and watch the movie, maybe then you wouldn't have to ask too many questions.

The walking spoiler: This is the person who has seen the movie, read the books or read about it online and spend the entire movie ruining it for the rest of us by telling us what happens next. Thanks a lot, now how about you tell us everything that happens and we just go home?

Lets end with The Late Comer : Sometimes you do tend to get late, stuck in traffic and what not... but it is annoying when a group of people enter 20 minutes late and hunt for their seats, cause a commotion and disrupt the movie. If you're walking in late, do it silently or try to avoid creating chaos. Maybe this way you could avoid being killed, and live a little longer.


Have you faced such issues at movies and how many times have you wanted to murder someone?

xoxo

Mischief Managed: Why did you get a Harry Potter tattoo?

This one is for all of you questioning my tattoo. Why, in the world would I get a Harry Potter tattoo? A tattoo after a book/movie of a 'magical' world. Something fantasy, something that doesn't exist.
Any Potterhead would tell you 'Its Real For Us' but let me explain it to you. Firstly, I will never, as long as I live, regret this tattoo. If at 24, I'm still in love, I will be hooked forever.

Imagine a 5 year old, with nothing to do except watch television, staying alone in an apartment when her parents were at work all day, someone creative but with no idea how to use that creativity. Imagine her growing up, hanging out with friends, going for movies, still no ambition. Imagine her in college, trying to figure out if her major is really what she wants to do. Imagine her searching for a job, still no idea where she's going, with so much creativity she doesn't know how to use it.  That girl could have been me... but it wasn't. At 9, I was given a book I hardly knew would change my life. That book didn't look too appealing, and it was quite big compared to my usual reads, but once I got started I couldn't stop. I was drawn into a magical world, sucked in, and I began to forget that it was just a book. As I moved on to reading the next few books, I was completely lost in this world. I fell in love.
Then followed the waiting game, waiting for the 4th,5th and following books to be out, but I couldn't get over this addiction I had, so I began to read the books again. And again, and again. Each time, I began to notice new facts, observe new plays on words, understand more about the writer. Once again, I was in love, but this time not just with the Wizarding World, but with the writer, J. K. Rowling.
Now, lets pause for a moment and let me tell you about life going on around me at that point. I was NOT a happy child. There were ups and downs, family fights and the separations, a lot of drama that would cause the happiest of children depression, but those tears? They didn't come, because my life was not the trauma that went on around me, but the world of Harry Potter. It could possibly be the only thing that has ever kept me sane.
Now, as the next few books of the series released, I began to notice the writing, the English, the way this amazing author built an entire world with nothing but her words. Remember, when I said I was a child with too much creativity but no idea how to use it? Well, I began to use it to write. J.K Rowling taught me how to create beautiful stories... but that isn't where it ends. With the movies not being out yet, I began to imagine characters, like my favourites, Fred and George, but imagining wasn't enough, so I bought out the pencils and began to draw, character after character. As I grew older, that creativity increased to more serious writing and serious works of art.

Today, I am who I am because of these books, I'm a writer, am I'm artist and most of all I'm sane. I don't believe in getting random butterflies, random dolphins or cupid either, but this means a lot to me, it's close to my heart, which is why I got it tattooed so close to my heart as well ;)
So next time before you judge me, maybe try to get to know me a little more. And to all those Harry Potter obsessed who've had to deal with similar issues, 'Don't let the Muggles get you down'.

Books are proof that humans can create magic.



xoxo

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Annoying People We Meet At The Gym

It's no secret that I love the gym. It's my favourite place to go to, and the outcome makes it worth it. I love the burn, I love to sweat and most of all, I love getting stronger.
Lets face it though, the gym is also a fun place to watch people. Subtly, of course. Today, lets introduce you to all the lovely characters I have met at the gym over the last couple of years. Trust me, I'm sure you'll have met them too!

Lets start with Grunts-A-Lot. We all know this man, who tends to make very loud and sometimes very sexual noises at the gym while lifting sometimes heavy, sometimes mild weights. Yes, I have one of them at my gym. He'll roll up his sleeve, pick up his dumbbells and grunt as if he is being raped. Loudly, while looking around to see if anyone is checking him out while he lifts what he considers to be "heavy" weights. This guy is no Dwayne Johnson or Kris Gethin in size. This man is shapeless, round and looks pretty odd overall. If you met him outside the gym, you wouldn't believe he worked out.

Next, Sir-Stares-A-Lot. Now, gym exercises can put you in very compromising positions as a girl. Hamstring curls, squats and splits leave you in positions that can often catch the most decent mans eye, but this one type of gym goers will spend his entire time at the gym staring inappropriately at girls working out, even if they're just running on a treadmill. Sometimes it can get pretty uncomfortable, sometimes they don't even hide it. One man stood above me watching for 15 minutes while I did my weekly ab exercises, not looking away for a second. Fun? Not at all. Don't even getting me started on the men that stare at a girl doing hamstring curls.

The hog. This person is very common, I know them and I'm sure you do too, they will find one equipment and hog it for a long, long time, refusing to share. At my gym, the elliptical machine is the victim of the hogs. They work out on the slowest speed, and lowest level for 35-40 minutes, often stopping to take breaks or answer their phone, while others have to wait their turn or move on to something else. They spend more time watching the television or talking than actually working out. You're not sweating, you're not really doing much, you're obviously obese, maybe put in a little more effort than pick the easiest machine with the easiest settings? This person also takes 3-4 minute long rests between reps and make you wait for the machines for a long, long time.

The interrupter. Now this happened to me today. You know when you're working out and you're totally into it and somebody comes up to you, just 5 minutes into your work out and asks if you're done with the machine? No, I am not, please don't rush me and please just go away. It happens more often when you're a girl in the weight section.  You scrawny little brat, I could probably lift double what you do, so maybe leave me alone till I'm done.

The fitness model. Here is someone who comes decked out in complete gym gear, branded clothes and expensive shoes, but does absolutely nothing. This is also the girl who walks in, in her tiniest shorts and sport bra, talks on the phone, runs for a bit, takes a selfie and leaves. Thank you for gracing us with your presence, we all love to see photos of your Nike shoes, Nike shorts, and Nike wristband.  Not.

The sweat sharer. THIS is my biggest peeve at the gym. These are people who sweat like pigs and leave drops of sweat all over the gym without wiping the equipment. That, is disgusting. You are almost as annoying as the lazy group of people who NEVER replace the dumbbells back to where they belong and leave equipment lying around everywhere. I hope you rot in hell.

The gossips - A social group of ladies to come to chat, gossip and check other girls around. Yes, I know what my diet should be, no I'm not married, and no I don't want to hear about your cousin whose wedding recently ended.

Wow, that was quite a list and I might not even be done.  So here's to all of you who just want to punch these annoying people in the face, I know I do! And if you fall under the categories of one of these people then please, please just, stop.

xoxo

Once upon a time...

Who knew where it would lead. It was just a first date. I wasn't thinking, he didn't care, in the moment it didn't matter.
The past was irrelevant, the future, was too unpredictable. All that it came down to, was that first moment. He was there, I was with him. Hours passed like minutes, minutes like seconds. We couldn't hear the clock ticking, or see the sun setting. Sometimes, I can't remember it, like a beautiful dream, fuzzy around the edges. Sometimes I remember everything, down to the last detail. I can hear the wind, feel the nerves, see those brown eyes...It was, magical.
But in this story, this "fairytale" has no ending and that's what makes it work. There is no riding off, happily ever after... there is no heartbreak. There is just the two of us. Rekindling that first moment, everyday. Each time, better. Each time, stronger with each new thing we learn about each other.
Perfect? It may not exist, the firsts may have come at us, first fight, first tears, first insults. Yes, perfect does not exist... what exists is the nagging thought at the back of your mind- It's worth it.
It's when two opposites in temperament, meet two similar personalities. He's angry, you're calm. You're  sad, he's funny and vice versa. When one falls down, the other picks them up. Opposite temperaments.
But together you enjoy laughter, sports, and silly dog videos. You found a guy who cuddles kittens, he found a girl who watches Rambo. You found a guy who writes you songs, he found a girl who knows her football.
Perfect, it doesn't exist. In a perfect world, a girl wouldn't beat you devastatingly at FIFA, in a perfect world a boy wouldn't look at you like you were a walking circus and find it cute. In a perfect world, dates wouldn't be at the gym and "Shut up, asshole" wouldn't be said lovingly.
Perfect? Who needs perfect.
I've met my match, and so has he.

Pencil Sketch- From Reference

Adriana Lima painting.

Artwork series

Butterflies.

Lately I've been chasing butterflies

Because no matter how far they want to go

Life allows them only a limited time

But they flutter, happily

Not concerned about where the journey ends.

Art Work 2013

Another sketch- from reference.

Colour Pencil Portrait of a friend!

Ripped Out, Ripped Apart.

Ponder. What life seamlessly has become, from what it was to what it is.

A beautiful flower, blooming, pull it out because it's a joyful sight. Rip it from its roots, look what I found ma, a rose. Come on, ma, lets put it in a vase.
Put the rose in a vase, where it will look wonderful, show the world.
But wait, whats happening? The ends are wilting, ma. Look Pa, the petals are falling off. The water is clean, the vase is beautiful, but the rose no longer holds its head up high.
The twisted truth, the irony of life. That rose is slowly wilting.
The petals are falling off.
Stop.


Breath faster.
Speak louder.
You're alive.
You are alive.
Convince yourself that are alive.
While your pulse slows down,
and your body grows colder.


You're alive.
Look Pa, the petals are falling off.
Look at me now.

Iron Man sketch doodle

The Magical World OF Harry Potter

I grew up lost, a lost child in a large world. How to make a name or myself, how to create an identity, was not on my mind and might not have been until it was too late.

When I found Harry Potter I was transferred to a mystical, magical world. Everything was better than real life, it paved way for my dreams. I began looking at small things differently, from a 'muggle' point of view.
I learned to anticipate, I learned to read between the lines and I learned the meaning of foreshadowing.
'What If' became part of my daily thoughts. I began envisioning different scenario's, different situations and coming up with my own stories.
As the books continued to be a major part of my life, my focus shifted to the details. Grammar, vocabulary and the play on words used by J.K Rowling started to fascinate me. I tried to write like her and learning her style and language. I wanted to use bigger words, in more clever ways.  I wanted to broaden my imagination and find myself in a world that was a far throw away from reality.

I grew older, and the books grew with me. I was barely 10 when I was drawn into the magical world, and then within no time I was 16, on the brink of growing up and making my decisions. I was the girl being thrown into adulthood. Choices, decisions, directions, all began to torment me. Responsibility became my burden.

So far the only valuable things I had learned in life came from a series of 7 books and I wasn't leaving that behind.

At 16, I had written my own novel of about 900 pages, had my own blog and wrote articles for many websites. Writing became a major part of my life. What I didn't realize till years later, was that I was actually good. With each Harry Potter book, I got better till my writing became something worth reading.

Incorporated in everything and every part of my life was the magical world of Harry Potter. There was always something mysterious, something unknown to reveal. I learned that even life had parts where you had to read between lines, where foreshadowing was prevalent, and most of all, I learned that you can't always get an answer to every question.

Over the years I met many people, I lost many friends,  left a lot behind, but these books thought me that it was okay to miss someone, and that everyone deals with loss in life.


At the end of it all, it may have just been a book to some, but it's real for me.
It's real because it is me, it is my identity, it has made me what I am today...

My Top 10 Cartoons List

Childhood memories are defined by simple things like the smell of wet grass or a simple soundtrack. What usually reminds me of those older days are cartoons. Do you remember waking up early morning on a weekend, turning on the television and watching completely meaningless cartoons?
 Back then cartoons were very different from today, they were much simpler and involved much less gadgets,monsters or any of that, so here's a list of my favourite Cartoons from back in the day.



10) Two Stupid Dogs



I never really understood why I loved this show so much, Little Dog and Big Dog would do the most meaningless things, like chase ice cream around in outer space and trying to fool a cat using a hand puppet! It's where I learned the phrase "Tastes Like Caca!" And yes I used it quite a lot :( Needless to say, my parents didn't find this show very educational! But who cares?



9) Captain Planet and the Planeteers



Definitely one of the most environmental friendly cartoons created! This show was my first lesson in Saving The Earth! It all started when Gaia the spirit of the Earth called upon five teens (yeah TEENS) to protect the planet! Each teen with one element based power and when their powers combined it summoned the Earths Champion, Captain Planet! I'd sing along with the song and pretend I was one of the Planeteers running around and saving insects and trying to grow seeds! Plus, I always had a tiny crush on the youngest South American kid.


8) The Addams Family



This show, in my opinion, had one of the best theme songs ever and I just LOVED Lurch. They were the oddest family ever, but then again almost everyone has issues with their family and the Addams Family in some way were so normal yet so weird. They lived peculiar lifestyles , yet the husband and wife loved each other, the kids fought like siblings and they were protective of their family members ! Things were unexpected, funny and unique... the Addams Family used to be on telly in the evenings when I was younger. It certainly kept me entertained and got me into a lot of trouble for forgetting to do my homework!


7) The Jetsons




A glimpse into the future! I loved it, and everything about it, like the quirky not-yet-invented gadgets and innovative ideas. I'll bet the creators of Flat Screen Tv's were inspired by the Jetsons! The family was considerably normal but the world they were living in was not. It was what everyone expected of the future. A over developed world, flying cars and robot servants! Thanks to the show I'd grumble about my bicycle not having wings and my food not being served by a super cool Robot named Rosy!



6) Tom & Jerry



If theres one pair of cartoon characters that is almost impossible to outgrow, its this cat and mouse duo. The concept is simple; Cat see's mouse, cat chases mouse, mouse tries to outwit cat!
What truly makes this show priceless is the expressions on each characters face at random moments! Spike, Tom and Jerry were always entertaining and never got old! I can see kids in the next 50 years still turning on the television to watch the cat and mouse that I grew to love so much!



5) Dexter's Laboratory




Definitely the more nerdier of cartoon's, Dexter the child genius was one of the best shows on tv. In between hiding his "secret lab", his interfering sister Deedee and school troubles was a lot of laughs, great writing and fun moments! Dexter has had a lot of positive and negative influence on me since childhood. It got me interested in "Science", taught me how to annoy people (Thanks Deedee!) and how to do the mad scientist laugh (Yes I loved Mandark!)




4) Top Cat



Recently, while revisiting all my old favourite cartoons on YouTube, I came across Top Cat and ended up watching all the episodes again. When I was younger this show used to be on late at night, way after 12 and I used to be up just so that I wouldn't miss it! Top Cat and the Gang were a bunch of cats living in an alley getting into all sorts of trouble trying to make some cash! Choo-choo, one of Top Cat's gang members still leaves me in doubt. A male with a feminine voice and pink colour fur would make you wonder... wouldn't it?



3) The Flintstones





Flintstones is similar to the Jetsons yet exactly the opposite. It teaches you a lesson in history. Each character from Fred Flintstone to Pebbles and Bam-bam was unique and special. As a child, the Flintstones always seemed intended for slightly older audiences and watching it made me feel very grown up! I can still watch Flintstones for hours without getting bored and that is the beauty of it!


2) Wacky Races



I was 6 and I was in love. Wacky Races was my life! I'd wake up everyday at 6:00 am , turn on the tv and wait for Wacky Races to begin. No matter how sleepy I was, I'd fight the demon of sleep, struggle to open my eyes only for this show. Now, I still couldn't point out exactly what was so great about it . As the name tells you its about a race to win the title of the Worlds Wackiest Racer! My favourite characters were Muttley and Dick Dastardly from "Catch That Pigeon". Till date this show still gets me as excited as it did when I was a kid



& Finally my FAVOURITE cartoon ever!


1) Scooby Doo!



Any doubts? Scooby doo was definitely the best show on television during my younger days! It had everything, a funny dog, a nerdy girl, a spoilt brat and a handsome man! Then of course there was Shaggy, the shows funny bone! It had its creepy moments and times where you couldn't stop laughing, it taught you that everything looks scary until you face your fears and realise you were scared of nothing. Most of all it kept you entertained and hooked for hours!
Scooby Doo was what made my childhood days even more special and I can still watch the show and feel like an 8 year old all over again!



Rawr