What Christmas means to me...

It's Christmas eve, and I'm now feeling nostalgic and extremely Christmassy. This year is the first time I have not been at home for the Christmas period. I am still going to spend the actual day with my family, but the lead up has been really odd. I have found it quite difficult to really get into the Xmas spirit without the usual family traditions that I am used to every year. I think that when you do get older, and move away from home, then it is absolutely crucial to uphold any traditions you had when you were younger. Obviously you need to come up with a few new ones, but you have to keep a few oldies in there too otherwise it just isn't the same. It really is an occasion to make special for children, but I think the reason grown-ups can enjoy it so much is because it's a chance to remember the Christmases when you were young. I do believe that the main reason Christmas is so special, is that it brings the family together (I used to think it was because of presents). It's very difficult with our busy lives to get everyone in the family together in one room for an hour, let alone a whole day for us. 

There are lots of different things that make me feel Christmassy, and a few different traditions my family has. They are probably different to your own families, but that's what makes it so special!

I think that for a lot of people, the Christmas Coca Cola ad really marks the beginning of the festive season. Once you have seen it, you officially have permission to start talking about Xmas, to start buying presents and to start getting excited! 

One of my favourite things to do near to Christmas is to spot amazing light displays. I don't care how tacky they are, the more garish the better if you ask me. I'm not saying that I ever personally would do it to my own house... just imagine the electricity bill! But I can definitely appreciate it as I drive past. I did make my own attempt at lights this year in my flat, by hanging them round the windows in the living room. However, I shortly received a letter from the local council saying that they are a fire risk and must be taken down immediately. Can't say i didn't try!

Another great tradition is mince pies! I noticed this year that they started selling them at the supermarkets in about September, which did get me a little over excited. They are a quintessentially British tradition, and Christmas just wouldn't be the same without them. There is nothing better than when you've spent the day outside in the freezing cold, than coming home and defrosting your toes in front of a roaring fire with a cup of tea and a warm mince pie. Every year my Dad makes from scratch, his own mince pies, and I have to say that even though they may not all be symmetrical and perfectly beautiful, but they are so much more special. I will try get some photos when I go home for Xmas this weekend.

One of my favourite Christmas memories, was when I went on a school trip to the German city of Cologne in year nine.  Along with having some crazy laughs, and becoming friends with a girl who is still my best friend to this day, we got to experience the amazingly beautiful German Christmas markets. There is an overwhelming smell of toasted almonds, bratwurst and mulled wine that wafts through the air. They have the most wonderful hand crafted toys, books and ornaments for sale. It really is the ultimate Christmassy experience there is. Imitations are now becoming more and more popular in the UK. Birmingham now hold a 'German' Christmas market every year, which I have visited. It does give you a good idea of what they look like, but it really just doesn't have the same atmosphere at all. I would recommend a visit to a true German market to everyone that ever has the opportunity to do so!

If you have ever been, then you will know what an amazing show this is. If you haven't been, then you may of seen it on TV, and you will now how exciting it can be. The Olympia horse show is an event that takes place the weekend before Christmas, and involves a whole host of different horsey events. Anyone that knows me, will know that my family are into horses and that I am a rider myself. So we enjoy this event a huge amount, however I know plenty none horsey people who have been and think it is amazing as well! You always have a main event, in which the best riders in the world compete, which is always extremely riveting. But then you have a good dose of novelty events like the Shetland grand national, the mounted Police jumping through rings of fire, the dog agility and of course the Christmas Finale which ends with everyone standing to sing a Christmas carol. It is extremely special, and I really know Christmas is near when we go.

Tonight I am going to my village Christingle, which is held at the local church every Christmas eve. I am not in any way religious, but this is such a fun night. Everyone from the village attends, with all their little children who are very excited for Christmas the next day. We sing lots of carols and hymns, and the little ones each get an orange impaled with sweeties and a candle. They all line up down the church next to each other to sing, candle in hand, wobbling precariously. It has to be the biggest fire risk I've ever seen, but is so cute to watch. After the ceremony we all go for a drink, which is quite an amusing sight, as about 200 people descend on the tiniest little village pub you've ever seen. We have a good laugh, a giggle, a drink and a gossip before we all return home to get tucked in to bed for Xmas the next day!

I will attempt to get some pictures of my Christmas experience to post on here, as I have requested for a new camera as my main present... So if you don't see any pictures, you will know that I haven't been very good this year. 

Merry Christmas everyone, and enjoy it however you plan on spending your day!

Moleskine

Andres Guzman

Gabi Campanario

James Jean

This is just a quick one today. But recently whilst perusing the web, I have started to notice that a lot of great work is done in Moleskine note books. I have one myself, but have only ever used it for writing notes in etc. However, from now on I will use it as my portable sketch book so that whenever I have a spare moment, or see something I like, I can have a doodle or a sketch. Much like James Jean's work, what it looks like is that whenever he's sat anywhere for a long time, (e.g on a plane), he draws stuff/people around him, and it looks amazing! I have started a few pages already, so will post them when they are finished.

Friday

It's Friday morning, and it's my day off. So here I am with my cornflakes attempting to be productive. I have been looking at a few advertising blogs & websites this week, as it is a subject that really interests me, I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the mixture of creativity and it's ability to make me ponder; but either way I get a lot of inspiration and ideas from them. Advertising is moving in so many different directions and is a business tool that is developing as our different channels of communication change. I think that the majority of people can say they have some sort of social media page, be it Twitter, Facebook or a blog (unless they are like my mum, in which case texting is still new and confusing experience). Twitter alone has over 300 million users, therefore if an ad agency can find a way of tapping this source, the rewards would be huge. On these webpages we publish our likes, interests and personal information; so an ad agency could tailor make adverts that they knew you would be instantly attracted to, scary. Just some food for thought...

I will share with you some of my favourites I found this week.

Firstly, some beautiful adverts:

Brand Republic

Saatchi & Saatchi London

I think in advertising, one of the best things you can do is make people laugh. I personally find that the ones that have me giggling are the ones I end up remembering. The Nandos ad below is great, and that's because it pokes fun at a current topic that is in the news today. It's a shame we don't have them on TV in the UK yet!

Nandos

Walls 

Mcdonalds

Hobby Cat 'For stronger cats'

I found some of these ads on a wonderful blog called ibelieveinadv. If you liked the above, then you'll find plenty more to look at on their page.

Bygones

I've always felt that I was born in the wrong time, as I aspire much more to these ladies above than the likes of Lady Gaga, or Cheryl Cole. I also believe there is something way more special about black and white photos taken with a film camera. Take a look at these links if you have the same appreciation as I do:

Vogue on Marilyn Monroe

Vogue's Iconic Hollywood Beauties

Some Old Work Continued....

These pieces are generally from sketchbook work for the two different A-level projects described below.

Water Project-

The classic romantic moment of a couple embracing in a kiss in the rain. A different take on a monochrome painting, I used brown and white instead. I think it gives the image more depth and subtlety, black would of been too harsh.

Chalk and charcoal, trying to create a wind and rain-swept effect.

Running to get out of the wet. This is one of my favourite paintings from this project. I think I managed to capture the 'wet' feel for this image (which was quite tricky), you can feel the energy as well. This is definitely a painting style I want to try again sometime!

Measurements Project-

I loved the expression in the picture of this man I found. I wanted to also explore looking at the male form, I think that muscles and contours make for some interesting painting. I really love the red edited version, I think it adds a hell of a lot more energy and would work well editorially. 

'Thin feels better than food tastes.' Famous quote from Kate Moss herself, I felt this was really relevant to cover in my project, she is at the centre of the controversial issues of the 'idealistic' shape for women today. 

I have added the originals and also edited versions that I think look good too!

Some Old Work of Mine...

The top painting is a copy of one of Jenny Saville's pieces I was inspired by for a project at A-level called 'measurements'. I was looking at people's perceptions of their own bodies and how the 'idealistic' shape has changed over the years. When I was painting it, I thought it was going to turn out really wrong. However, when I'd finished it I was surprised with myself and it's now one of my favourite paintings I've done so far. I remember my art teachers kept telling me to paint 'looser', and now I see why; I think this style of painting suits me best. 

The second painting is a Rembrandt copy, this was painted during a project looking at water and how it's effects can distort images. This was my little attempt at renaissance painting. After completing it, I gained so much more respect for the painters of that period. It is probably the longest I have ever spent on a painting, and I still wasn't happy (the proportions aren't quite right), and I know that they used to spend literally years on a single painting - god knows how they had the patience. However I was pretty pleased with the overall finish. I think I captured the colours well, and the folds in the fabric look fairly realistic, so I consider this as one of my successes!

I will be adding more to this post as I find more of my old paintings (and hopefully some paintings that aren't artist copies), so this is to be continued....

Indian Ink

Results of me purchasing some Indian ink and my friend Ella giving me 'Agent Provocateur: Soiree' pictures. Apologies for dodgy ink splashes but this is something that anyone who has used ink before knows can't be helped! Also concluded that I need a real camera, not just my rubbish phone camera (any donations would be gratefully accepeted). 

Dress Up

I absolutely love dressing up and on this occasion it was for Halloween (I don't just dress like this on a day to day....). Usually I have extremely long fair hair, so it was fun to experiment with a wig; I hardly recognised myself in the mirror.  I think this is definitely one of the ways I like to express my creativity. I know it's quite petty but it actually really irritates me when people don't make an effort for a fancy dress event, so I always make sure I go all out!

Anyway... On a more arty note, I have bought myself a new sketch book and some indian ink so hopefully I will have some more stuff to post soon!

Submarine.2

Trying a slightly different arrangement... and I prefer these colours! 

Submarine.

I was feeling creative whilst visiting my best friend at university in Manchester after watching the film 'Submarine'. This is a drawing of Lloyd Tate (the father of the main character Oliver Tate) in  grey magic marker which has then been edited on photoshop. I added the background and used the 'paint daubs' effect to give it sharpness due to the poor quality photo from my phone. The drawing isn't perfect, but this is something a bit different to what I've done before, thought I'd try out putting a hand drawn image onto photoshop, I think it gives it a more modern feel. I might try adding some more layers of drawings, so this is to be continued.....

Life Drawing

This was a piece I did during a life drawing class during my time at MK College studying foundation art.  The idea behind it was to mix different materials; ink, pencil and graphite, in order to create a picture with depth and a real feel for texture. Ink is a medium I really enjoy working in, even though it is quite harsh and unforgiving, it can be used to create quite a subtle effect when diluted and especially when it is mixed with other softer materials. I also really like the way it drips of the page naturally. I found that life drawing was a really valuable experience and I feel that my figure drawing really improved from it. It really helped to make me understand proportions, but also to obtain a looser style when working with pencil, and to not get too bogged down in unimportant details to capture the energy. 

My Very First Post

After being shown some amazing blogs by a friend a few days ago, I realised that this is something I want to get in on (although I'm not entirely sure how it all works yet). I am planning on collating lots of pieces that I have done at different stages up until now, so bare with me whilst I find all of my old work and take some pictures. I will also try and keep up to date with posting new drawings/ sketches/ paintings/ doodles/ photos on a regular basis. This will definitely be a good habit to get into, and a great way to vent any excess creative juices I have flying around.