Thursday 30 May 2013

Tension (Illustration Friday)





This weeks topic for Illustration Friday is 'Tension' so the first thing that came in my head was the intensity in our eyes and how we scrunch our eyebrows and lines can appear on our forehead if we were to feel tense!

Friday 24 May 2013

Illustration Friday!!

I need to keep my blog updated regularly, I have got the painting/drawing once a month theme, but that's only once a month blogpost (obviously), so I have decided to join the Illustration Friday challenge which is a weekly drawing challenge and participatory art exhibit. Every Friday a new topic is posted (based on topics you suggest!) and you have one week to come up with your own, unique interpretation. Anyone who likes to draw, paint, sculpt, doodle or colour can participate in Illustration Friday. You don’t need to be a pro! It’s fun to see everyone’s art – novices and pros alike. You post your illustration on your blog and then submit your illustration every Friday onto the Illustration Friday website.

This weeks theme is liquid and what better way to illustrate liquid then swimming as I have recently started learning how to swim, yes I know you must be thinking' whaaaat she can't swim', I know I find it shocking too, I used to learn how to swim when I was in primary school but then didn't learn out of school hours or after the primary school years, I blame my parents for that :) 

I have illustrated myself, yes that's meant to be me, trying to swim using a float, I look petrified there and I was at first but now I feel less fearful of the water and I've only had three lessons so far, so that's a good improvement. I just need to practice more on other days too. There's my swimming instructor, Khaled, at the back shouting 'Come on Mandeep, keep your head down, keep your legs straight, kick faster' Yes I am trying Khaled! I will get it one day lol 

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Bank Holiday spent in London!

Last Monday on the 6th, which was a Bank Holiday (and also my friend's birthday), me and my friends spent a day in London! I love spending time in this vibrant city and I always get excited when going there. Luckily the weather was lovely, sun shining bright!


We first visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, my friend, Nas (the birthday girl) wanted to visit the Modern Art section as she wanted to do some research about it for her coursework in PGCE. But we visited other areas, we saw big sculptures, statues, ceramics, fashion, contemporary glass, paintings and photography!


We had a picnic at Hyde Park and bought yummy cakes from Patisserie Valerie, I had the Black Forest Gateau..NOM NOM
Cake-cake-cake!
                       
It was lovely eating under the sun and people watching, 
I could have stayed there all afternoon!
A bit of shopping on Oxford Street, well window shopping for me as I didn't buy anything :s

South Bank is an eclectic area that is the cultural heart of the city and home to London's most iconic attractions, theatres, arts and design-led venues. The area is buzzing with things to see and do all year round; free events, music, film, exhibitions, dance, theatre, debates, festivals and all sorts of family fun.




There was a food festival at South Bank; market stalls selling burgers, oysters, wine etc, the smell of food in the air was mouthwatering but we had only just ate so there was 
no room for this!

Wednesday 8 May 2013

My City!

New Walk and De Montfort Hall

In Leicester born and raised, on the playground was where I spent most of my days, chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool and all shootin some b-ball outside of the school...erm no I didn't shoot any b-ball outside of the school, used to play cricket with a tennis racket though!

I had the opportunity to take photos around Leicester (for my sister company's magazine, Aspire), mostly in the city centre of the landmarks, luckily the sun was shining bright! I didn't realise how lovely Leicester can be, with the architecture, statues and parks, sometimes you're too busy in life to notice or appreciate it, but I did on that day!


A bit about Leicester:

Leicester is a city in the East Midlands of England, U.K.

It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a population of 330,000 and second largest in the Midlands behind its much larger neighbour Birmingham.

Leicestershire is a major commercial and manufacturing centre. Its economy is the largest in the East Midlands, accounting for almost a quarter of the region's GDP (£11billion) and providing jobs for 437,000 people.

Unlike almost every other city in the UK, Leicester has retained a remarkable record of its past in buildings that still stand today.

The city has the highest ethnic minority population in the United Kingdom in terms of its size, particularly of South Asian origin, a product of immigration to the United Kingdom since the Second World War.


Leicester Cathedral, The Lanes, Town Hall, Leicester Market and Victoria Park
The Clock Tower in the city centre


Tuesday 7 May 2013

May's charcoal drawings

As I didn't paint or draw in April due to the A to Z challenge, not that should be an excuse not to do it, but I'll blame that anyway, my illustration for May is related to that challenge. I created characters out of each letter and each letter has its own expression!

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Time to reflect!

I can't believe how quick this A to Z challenge has gone! I was very much prepared and ready for this challenge compared to last years doodle a day challenge, where I doodled on the day and did find challenging! Having posts ready beforehand made it easier for me so on the day all I had to do was click 'publish'! The only thing I found challenging was finding subjects to take photos of relating to the awkward letters 'q,x and z'! but I got there in the end.

I can't really find anything that I disliked or that didn't work, but I didn't visit many blogs, to be honest I stuck to the ones I really liked and visited a few in between, there were some blogs that had too much writing, I prefer short and precise posts, maybe because I'm a picture-person? Not that writing long posts is a bad thing, just not my cup of tea. The blogs I did enjoy regularly visiting were Designs By Row, (Loved the illustrations) A Daft Scots Lass,( funny lass, will miss the Scottish words!)  No Longer A Photo, ( My dude Laura with her wicked photos and posts)  Just Another Blog ( loved the story telling idea, felt like I was reading a  book that was already published). I will be keeping my blog updated by sticking to my painting/drawing once a month theme ( even though I didn't upload a April painting, I blame this challenge...oopsiee!) and some other random posts, so keep an eye out. Lastly I would like to thank everyone who visited my blog and took time out to comment, I have met some pretty cool people along the way...Happy blogging! :)