Wednesday 29 June 2016

re-do doodle in the style of Anime/Manga


Within Japan, 'Anime' refers to all animation throughout the world, the word itself being a shortened version. Outside of Japan 'Anime' can refer to not only Japanese animation, but also 'a Japanese-disseminated animation style often characterized by colorful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastical themes' (Wikipedia). While the focus in Western animations can usually be on action, in Anime it tends to be on emotion.

Within Japan, 'Manga' (translating as; whimsical or impromptu pictures) refers to both comics and cartooning and sometimes also to animation. Outside Japan 'Manga' refers to comics originally made in Japan.

It's understandable that Anime Illustration or Manga Art is more commonly called 'Anime' and Manga', referring to a style of drawing, particularly focussing on facial features. I'm not either an Anime Illustrator or a Manga artist but for this blogpost have done a little research on the genres and have taken a doodle of mine and attempted to re-do it in the Anime/Manga (A/M) style.




The doodle, drawn in the style I was using last year, doesn't have a realistic look as the eyes and mouth are only hinted at. The A/M style is also non-realistic and has much more enlarged, doll-like eyes whereas the mouth is much smaller. Overall appearance of A/M is cuteness, whether the face belongs to female or male. A higher forehead is created, the eyes dropping lower than they would in a traditional face. Eyes, nose and mouth are often 'unfinished', the lines tapering out into nothing. Eyebrows are finer, the thicker part being in the middle rather than above the inner part of the eye. Eyelashes are accentuated. 


I've attached some links below to an interesting Pinterest page with lots of facial variations, and to an excellent YT tutorial vid from Mark Crilley drawing in the Manga style. Doing this challenge was interesting but I'm not sure the style is for me. I enjoyed my previous 're-do a doodle' a few weeks back - link. If you're interested in drawing Anime/Manga style I'd love to see your work - post on Instagram attaching the hashtag #bloowabbit and I'll have a look.




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.

Monday 27 June 2016

Not even July and I'm planning for Christmas


Yes, just halfway through the year and I'm thinking of Christmas. I have to, I make a lot of gifts. Time is of the essence and all that. I know there's a large box of handmade jewellery on the shelf and beside it a large box of handmade cards, but each year I think of something special to make family and friends - last year it was junk journals. So far this year I haven't yet decided.



What I can do though is make this year's Christmas Planner. Last year saw a planner cobbled together from an old games board with a lot of festive stickers and inside were four months of planning space. Each month had its own decorative theme to make using the planner enjoyable:
September: Paris (had a lot of Parisian stickers to use up)
October: Autumn/Fall
November: Blues and greens of Winter
December: Traditional red & green Christmas

Each month's section also had a 'duty':
September: Craft ideas plus links to YT 'how-to' 
October: Shopping lists for making and baking
November: Gift lists & budgets
December: Christmas card list, Christmas food list, Christmas Day dinner countdown schedule (yes, I time it all)



PARIS...using flat and 3D stickers from high street stationery shops and sub boxes, plus notepaper illustrated with scenes from the city. Sticky notes allowed me to make lists of craft ideas and then scrap those for newer, better ideas.



AUTUMN...beautiful transfer stickers from my sis-in-law included pheasant, pumpkin, late flowers and leaves. Shopping lists for materials to make gifts and ingredients to bake on sticky notes were transferred into my personal planner to have at hand at all times. 



WINTER...although there was not a pick of snow when I started to used the November section, the beautiful scrapbooking stickers really got me in the mood for Christmas. I could keep on top of what gifts I'd made and what I had yet to create. 



CHRISTMAS...in traditional reds and greens. How many Christmas cards to make, write and post and how many sweetmince pies to make. Presents to wrap, friends to meet. And the Christmas Day dinner schedule - when to put what in the oven. 

By using a Christmas Planner instead of a series of notebooks and a page at the back of my recipe book I have a single record of what I made, what we ate and what gifts we received. Something to look back on.

For Christmas 2016 I'd hoped to have designed a planner that I could sell as a downloadable online, complete with illustrations, but it may take me another year of honing my ideas. I began last year by looking at what was for sale on etsy & amazon and ended putting together pages from an undated planner pad, page markers, sticky notes and stickers, all held together with lashings of sticky tape. 

This Christmas might see a better organised book. I may keep the lists, craft and gift info at the back as I remember flicking back and forth to find the info. I'd like both sides of the pages to be printed - the ready bought planner pad wasn't. And to any crafter out there thinking of Christmas...yes, I'm running late!!


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 24 June 2016

gel pen art & FREEBIE downloadable colour-it-in line drawing


Have been experimenting using gel pens over a base colour of alcohol markers. So a quick blogpost showing the line art (above), the base colouring and the gel pen detailing.


Image in my head of a fairy holding an orb. Could have been any colour scheme but settled for lots of blues & greens, touches of yellows and pink hair.


Gel pen details include blue and orange on flowers, yellow and blue spirals on dress, pink highlights on hair, plus played about with circles or yellow, blue & green on wings. Finished with a black outline and touches of white gel pen to make things pop.

If you fancy having a go, print off the free colour-in line drawing, pdf link below. Just right-click on the image and save on your laptop or PC. Don't forget to take a picture of your version and post on Instagram with the tag #bloowabbit 





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 22 June 2016

free downloadable planner stickers


Yes! There are free downloadable sticker designs out there for the printing. Even if you don't own a Silhouette like me there are plenty of straight-edged boxes perfect to separate with a paper cutter or even a pair of scissors. I googled 'free downloadable planner stickers' and these are what I found. There were others but they either didn't appeal to me or else there were problems downloading.




I had two different packs of sticker paper: matt Chiltern Wove Self-Adhesive Photo Paper £2.10 and glossy Polaroid Sticker Paper £5.67. Both were A4 and I preferred the Chiltern Wove for its velvety matte quality. Each pack contained 10 sheets and provided more than enough stickers for seven spreads plus event stickers and flags for future use. 

My printer was acting up the day I printed and there can be seen yellow lines on some stickers which weren't part of the intended designs. I went ahead and used them rather than bin them. LInks to the various sites are at bottom of page. Bar the first spread I only used stickers from each sheet although some would work much better with some added washi or alongside other kits.



First spread was a month layout decorated with washi I had plus a scattering of B&W designs from craftsposure. There are loads left to cut and stick for birthdays, holidays and to inspire. From the website there's a link to downloadable flamingo and cocktail stickers at Make & Tell.


blitzy immediately caught my eye. I love the Summery colour range and the pineapple 'make-a-sticker-paperclip' was a bonus. I liked the hand painted quality. There were enough stickers for a spread with white areas plus some others left over. This is a spread I'll enjoy using in my planner. 



From Glam Planner Stickers were a range of pale pastel sticker designs. These suited my needs as they were mostly straight-edged. I also liked the amount of check strips included. I spent a little time cutting out the circles with nail scissors - curved blades are perfect for this! The washi tape helped make more of what I felt was a very pale spread.



thepinningmama had lovely soft watercolour effect sticker designs, many of which were inspirational. Check strips had tiny splodges of lighter colour. A very straightforward spread with plenty of white areas. Step-by-step instructions from the website.



A very quirky Summer of designs at Planner addiction - the banana full box made me smile. One of my favourite spreads with plenty to choose from and a handful of bits and pieces to carry over to another spread. 





From Three Cheers & Co come a design set that may have been aimed at New Years but could equally suit any party. Very retro. ALthough the spread is pale I like this set, it's another favourite.






I included another set from Three Cheers & Co because it's bright and Mexican. WIth a few skulls it might be perfect for Day of the Dead spread. A little bit of everything, just enough to create a spread by itself.

What I've included are just the tip of the iceberg of what's available out there. If you sign up to newsletters from sticker crafters you may also find freebies offered now and again. 


Links I used: 
craftsposure
blitzy
Glam Planner Stickers
thepinningmama
Planner addiction 
Three Cheers & Co

Other Links:
Va Voom Vintage
Wendaful 
Craftaholics Anonymous 


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.