Wednesday 31 January 2018

Hashtag and Instagram...


When it comes to social media I'm not the brightest. I have my fb pages, my Instagram account and then I have a Twitter account that I try to avoid. I'm aware that Twitter can be the key to building followers yet I find it all too much. I find it difficult to decipher what to read and what to ignore. To me, Twitter seems like a huge meltdown of millions of people all trying to speak at once. But this year I intend to tweet more often. 


I love Instagram. I have a smartphone and am conscious of wanting to upload images every few days. And this week I discovered how to create a hashtag page. I've been diligently echoing my februdoodle event on my fb pages, on my Instagram page and on my Twitter account. But with only 237 friends on fb, 70 followers on my fb art page, 59 followers on Instagram and 17 followers on Twitter I doubt I'll make much of a social media impact.

I'm very appreciative and grateful for the pals who like and share my art. It's you who make me want to reach more people.


So 2018 is the year I push my social media strength. I may not develop superhero status but doubling numbers by the end of December would be a fair achievement. Setting time aside to read and reply seems important, it's not a one-way communication. And then there's my Pinterest page. I have 75 followers. Wow.

As for the challenge itself I will thoroughly enjoy completing it. It would be very exciting if other artists, doodlers and interested folk uploaded their work too, colour or black ink - just add the hashtag to your image description.







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 26 January 2018

Februdoodle

earthy doodle 2012

I'd been watching Peter Draws on YouTube - the one when he's up at six in the morning and doodling with a black Sharpie. And I realised I missed doodling. The wonderful aimlessness of taking a pen for a walk and seeing where it takes you.

Peter Draws (I think that should be his surname) has a nice voice, low and lulling. Sometimes he reads a story as a voiceover to his video but this one was a verbal ramble alongside the visual doodle.


coloured tree 2015

So next month I'm creating 'Februdoodle with Sharpies'. Every day I get to doodle, low pressured art, and see what I end up with after 28 days. February's a great month, over more quickly than the others. It's a hasty kind of a month, a free spirit within the year of months with extra days. A nice month to do a challenge.


big eye 2015

I've been looking at my art supplies and have a huge collection of Sharpies that need used. I reckon I'll use coloured Sharpies too, not just black on white paper. Whatever the mood takes me. I'm looking forward to it.


angel 2016

Drawing with Peter Draws: A Sharpie Doodle



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 14 January 2018

Writing...


In recent years I've written short stories mostly about my childhood. Keeping memories alive and colourful. They're true stories with a little added, because a storyteller always adds a little. When I write short stories I am a storyteller, not a historian. 


And now I'm wrestling with a novel I started a few years back. It all began when I was 14 and walking home from school past bullies who gave me a really hard time. This was the 70s when Northern Ireland was in the middle of civil war. So, a girl dressed in a convent girl's uniform was an easy target for lads who 'kicked with the other foot'. I was spat upon, shoved onto the road and had stones thrown at me. I'd had enough. I created in my mind's eye a companion to walk home beside me, an Amazonian warrior. She was built like a brick s**t house, carried a sword and a shield and made me feel not so alone. She was the brave parts of me manifested. She helped me deal with the sectarianism.


The novel is about her, her origin, her life and her adventures. Fiction. Although her history took some shape over 40 years ago I began writing it down in 2016, the words gushing out of me onto paper. Hard copy. I ended up with 70k words which I then cut down to around 40k. The beginning of the story needs work and the end of the story is strong. But the middle is the hardest, trying to pull it all together so that it reads well, so that the story flows. I've been putting off finishing the novel even though it excites me when I'm working on it. It excites me so much that already ideas for 2 subsequent novels have taken form. I just need to sit down and write it, not worry whether it's a good tale or not. I'll leave that up to the publisher.



'Everyone has a book inside them, which is exactly where it should, 
I think, in most cases, remain.' Hitchens


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 11 January 2018

Picking up pigment pens...


It's been October since I last drew regularly. Bar making a little art book in Dec I haven't felt the inclination to draw. Feel I should be drawing but just didn't or couldn't. Guess that block hasn't yet gone.

Had got myself a new Passion Planner which I liked using throughout last year, for art, writing and blogging. Finally got it opened and scribbled in it. A few false starts but now seem to be planning drawing and researching. That Andrew Loomis book I got for my Nov birthday has been opened. Great book. It was first published in 1943 and many of the illustrations seem quite vintage but it breaks down each main part of the body, male and female, giving useful tips on figure drawing


The first drawing in my sketchbook was out of my head, not looking up any visual references. When I do this the features tend to be ill-placed and too large - the eyes in particular. After drawing some exercises from the Loomis book the image has improved a little.



Loomis suggests first drawing a sphere, flattening the sides and then adding lower points for the nose, mouth and chin. Drawing and re-drawing makes the method more second-nature.


The drawing I like most using his technique I drew in pencil. I become aware of the features in relation to each other and the hair 'fits' better. The drawing is unfinished but I like it how it is. This is an imaginary person drawn using the tips in the book. 


I've written about other drawing aids available online, to buy and to download. I'll list the relevant blogs below.

ISBN: 9780857680983 'Figure Drawing for all it's Worth' by Andrew Loomis




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.