Friday, 30 December 2016

New Year's Eve 2016...


I started blogging just over nine months ago. I did a couple of blogposts in April quickly followed by a Blog-A-Day-In-May during which I covered visual art, comic art, fibre art, functional, decorative and bullet planning, rabbit and comic collections, writing, challenges, sticker makers, vloggers and a few other topics thrown in for good measure. It was a great celebratory way to begin blogging. And the daily blogging helped me get into a routine. Doing three blogs a week after that was easy-peasy. 

 

Over the next six months I averaged eleven blogs a months and covered a lot of step-by-step artwork, many of which was 'Re-dos' of doodles from the year before. I tried out different mediums, showed other artists' methods and shared resources I used. 




And recently I set myself a second blog each day 'A-Blog-A-Day-In-December' - ABADID. I didn't quite make the 31 days but kept it going to Christmas. Happy enough. 




In 2017 I hope to continue trying out new materials, developing my art and sharing what I like about other's work. Plus, some planning and collecting might creep in too. Hope you keep reading.




Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit


All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Sunday, 25 December 2016

ABADID 25...calligraphy, drawing & digital...


Spent part of Christmas Day watching YouTube videos of artists. The following is a small selection. Hoping you had a good Christmas. Enjoy!


Calligraphy:

video from Calligraphy Masters including stills and video shots - all with a Christmas theme...

CHRISTMAS CALLIGRAPHY ART COMPILATION  16.22




Drawing:

speeded up videos - 3 artists drawing Christmas baubles - Marcello Barenghi, Jasmina Susak and TutoDraw...

Heart Shaped Christmas Bauble - Drawing  3.23
Colored Pencil Drawing: Christmas Tree Decorations | Jasmina Susak  1.57
How i draw Christmas Ball - Drawing  2.23



Digital:

incredible detail from Eclectic Asylum Art...

Unbelievably Realistic Microsoft Paint Art : Santa Claus Speed Painting Time Lapse  2.31




Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit


All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Saturday, 24 December 2016

ABADID 24...last year's Christmas Eve...


This year facebook has been posting 'memories' on our pages for us to see, read, look at and decide whether to share or not. A lot of these posts I ignore. But the post below struck a chord with me. This day three years ago friends, like me this Christmas, were experiencing the grief of losing someone close. And I was experiencing the tumult of a changing lifestyle for me and my little family. 


If you've read my blogs recently you'll be aware I lost my sister last month. And grief rises and falls like the waves of a turbulent sea before it eventually calms. I thought I was over the worst of the tears but last night it just hit me again. There was no post from her, no newsy letter or Christmas card with the year written in the top corner, no long chatty phone call. Just a big deep hole where she had been. And then today I read this old fb post...

Christmas Eve 2013...
It's been a strange Xmas this year (tree still not up)...
This Christmas season I've been to the ADF GIFT preview at the Gallery and had a glass of hot port while chatting to old and new faces there and surrounded by wonderful creativity on display...and went to a close friend's Solstice evening where seven of us brought food to share, enjoying a glass or two of yuletide punch and swapping stories and wishes around the fire...marking the end of another year and planning new things for the next...
Earlier this Xmas Eve I've spent some time with a friend, Harry's godfather, who's spending his last moments in the hospital at the ripe old age of 92 with his daughter by his side...and another friend is going home to be close to her dad who's also very ill in hospital and not expected to recover...life winks out and yet life continues...
It's been a year of activity in my little family having de-registered Harry from school to home educate, allowing him to have the freedom to learn in the style of his choice and demanding I learn about educational legislation and make contact with a politician to fight off BELB's ultra vires demands (very pro-active for us)...and my beginning CBT to have a practical tool to cope and continue with both tiny and seemingly insurmountable obstacles...because we fight and survive from a place where we believe that life can indeed be good...
To all of you who celebrate Christmas, Xmas, Solstice, Yuletide or simply celebrate another day of life and what it brings...may the last days of 2013 be good and may 2014 be better xx

Life can indeed be good...

Grief is a natural process and in its crazy swinging from one extreme of emotion to another we heal. Slowly that pendulumic swinging slows until we find ourselves, after a time, in a calm place where our emotions have settled and our memories are clear and without pain. That calm place is where I'm headed.


Tonight I'll be filling my son's Christmas stocking (yes, he's 18), make some mince pies and watch Elf which is always a good source of laughter. We'll each open a single present, something that's become tradition for us. And tomorrow we'll enjoy a good meal and look at our gifts and watch some more films. Maybe I'll start that new book. 

Life can indeed be good...




Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.


Friday, 23 December 2016

ABADID 23...scraping the barrel...



I'm finding it difficult to come up with ideas to blog about and yet am still determined to finish A-Blog-A-Day-In-December. 

So today I'm doodling - a friend sailed on the ferry to mainland UK yesterday evening, a day early to escape the full force of a predicted storm. The storm was named Barbara - are storms and hurricanes and typhoons always named as female? Is this because Nature is a Mother? hmm...


So my friend wrote something about it and posted it on fb and in response to that I drew something that popped into my head...






Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Thursday, 22 December 2016

ABADID 22...ARTWORK - bloowabbit 2017


As a rule I don't make New Year resolutions. I feel that it makes more sense to alter course when I need to do so throughout the year. But I wondered what bloowabbit might decide to focus on in 2017.


My Bloowabbit fb page is my art page and bloowabbit@blogspot.com is where I write about art related things (mostly). Then perhaps bloowabbit is that part of me that is to do with art. So bloowabbit's focus for the coming year wouldn't be anything to do with healthy eating or good sleep patterns. So I came up with six things that bloowabbit might put energy into:

- Draw
- Videos
- Blogs
- Submissions
- Paint
- Write

And instead of making a list bloowabbit might make a drawing...




Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.




Wednesday, 21 December 2016

ABADID 21...baubles...


Picked up three plastic baubles in my local craft shop and began to paint a snowman's face in reverse. First the orange carrot noses were painted.



Then the coal eyes and smiles and finally over the top of the features I painted a circle of white paint. The baubles were too small to paint an entire snowman but a snowman's face fitted perfectly.




After the paint was fully dry I half filled the baubles with plastic snow, fitted the halves together and tied baker's twine at the top which served both to hold the plastic bauble together and also to hang them on the tree.


Had picked up a craft kit at the January sales this year and now took it out to paint. The three baubles were porcelain and came with some small paint pots which I think are acrylic. I decided to mix paint to go with this year's tree. 


Mid grey, gold yellow and teal blue were mixed. Each bauble was painted with some of each colour.



The deer is my favourite, the pudding turned out well but the owl is a tad strange - it's more impressionistic than an actual bird. I changed the pink ribbons to grey ones and hung them on my tree. Technically I should be able to scrape off the acrylic paint if I ever wanted to repaint the baubles to match a different colour scheme.

felt stocking from craft kit 2001


Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Tuesday, 20 December 2016

ABADID 20...ARTWORK - Carol of the Bells...


Hark! how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say,
Throw cares away.
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold.



Ding, dong, ding, dong
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling
One seems to hear
Words of good cheer
From everywhere
Filling the air.



Oh how they pound,
Raising the sound,
O'er hill and dale,
Telling their tale,
Gaily they ring
While people sing
Songs of good cheer
Christmas is here
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas.


On, on they send
On without end
Their joyful tone
To every home
Ding, dong, ding, dong.



Variations on the Carol of the Bells:

Piano Instrumental - Tommee Profitt
Choristers - Liberia Oficial
A capella - Pentatonix
12 cellos - ThePianoGuys



Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit

All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.