Hands Up!

Since my last post about my hands-drawing goal, I have drawn a lot of hands.

Once again, Line of Action has proven useful for getting a lot of poses sketched out, with a time constraint that forced me to work quickly, rather than get hung up on one tiny detail.

Scones, Stoolball and Soggy Socks: a Trip to Steyning

Alright, so the 'soggy socks' part is an exaggeration (I wore boots) but when I went to explore Steyning with a friend last Saturday, it was a pretty soggy day!

Steyning (pronounced 'stenning') is a sussex town with a ton of old architecture and a lot of cute little shops, both on the main street and in Cobblestone Walk, which hosts a number of 'sheds' where independent traders sell their wares.

It even has its own museum! I would have made a separate post about the museum, as it counts towards a goal on The List, but no photography was allowed inside, which wouldn't make for a very visually interesting blogpost.
I did, however, see the Steyning man, a vamping horn, and have memories of school PE lessons dredged up by the presence of a stoolball post! (And if you want to know more about those things, you'll have to go to the museum).

After exploring in the prevailing drizzle, we took shelter in Cobblestone Tea House, a really quaint little cafe, and obviously a very popular one because it was still packed after lunch time!

Of course, cream tea was on the menu, so it was cream tea that I had! A fine way to round off a trip (and a pretty good way to finish off a blog post).

How Handy

The first goal I wrote on The List was:

001. Fill a sketchbook with artwork/studies of only one subject

In a moment of absolute madness, I decided the subject would be hands.

Because I'm rubbish at drawing hands.

I've been working on this goal since towards the end of 2014, though I didn't initially get much further than a few half-hearted scribbles, and the picture above!

Though I've posted some other hand drawings, until now I haven't shared any more, so here's my progress so far...

Wanting to avoid spending hours at the computer to draw from on-screen references, I cut hands from magazines instead. Some of the results turned out pretty good, and mostly I switched between pencil and biro.

But I got bored of that, and decided to draw from on-screen references again, using some different materials (in the above instance, oil pastels, and below, pastel pencils).

Finding reference pictures online was starting to become a little annoying, as I couldn't always think of poses to search for.

But my problem was soon solved...

A Dress for a Dragon

It's been a while since I posted any of my designs for goal 53. Design 50 outfits/costumes

And by 'a while', I mean almost a year.

I was still drawing some last march, but then forgot about that goal until December, when I drew some more!

Having picked up the goal again this year, here's a new batch of costume designs. Once again, they're for characters from Folk Tales of the Sea People. Sometimes I've given them a more humanoid spin, imagining these as designs for a theatrical production! Sometimes they're a little odd, such as this first one...

Kashanbo (19/50)
From: The Gentleman Traveller

+ Longline waistcoat of dark green suiting, with lining and collar the colour of wet green seaweed. Batwing-shaped collar and asymmetric hem, gold buttons shaped like turtle shells
+ Off-white lycra dress shirt with seaweed green buttons and pin tucks
+ Top hat to match waistcoat
+ Gold leather mask shaped like a beak
+ Cropped breeches to match waistcoat, cuffs have two-buttoning fastening (smaller version of waistcoat buttons)
+ Off-white stockings
+ Webbed gloves with extra long fingers--seaweed green leather with cotton 'web'
+ Webbed boots to match gloves, extended to look more frog (or kappa!) like.

Read on for triplets, draugs, dragons and more!

Top Goals, Completed Goals, & Recap of 2017

After another lazy December, a new year has begun, so here's a recap of what I got up to in 2017, the goals I completed, and my top goals for 2018!

I'm going to shake up the format of these recap posts this time, and list my completed goals first:

17. Record myself singing and share it
26. Write 1 flash fiction per day for 1 month
31. Hold breath for 1 minute
36. Eat/drink in 30 new places
52. Crochet a hat
63. Learn a song in a foreign language
65. Complete a 365 Project
68. Send Happy Post to 5 people
80. Refashion/upcycle 3 items of clothing
82. Go on a day trip
95. Throw an axe

Bolded goal is from my top goals for 2017...didn't do so well with those this time, but I did work towards 4 other top goals.

I'll add a list of my top goals for 2018 at the end of this post.

January began with the starting of a brand new goal:

65. Complete a 365 Project

I'd wanted to get back into photography, and figured this was a good way to do it. Though it was a goal that would take a year to complete, and I wasn't sure I'd manage to take a picture every day, it seemed like a good challenge.

One of my top goals for 2017 was goal 53. Design 50 outfits.
I'd already begun the goal, but it wasn't until January that I started posting my designs, and drawing more! 
...and after that I drew one more, which I haven't posted yet. Oops.

I also continued working on goal 10. Visit 30 museums/art galleries/exhibitions with a trip to Horsham Museum, and goal 36. Eat/drink in 30 new places with a nice cup of tea and a slice of traybake at Brighton Fishing Museum Cafe.

Alongside those goals, I took the time to complete goal 52. Crochet a hat. It's a good hat.

January wasn't the happiest of months, so I'm honestly amazed I got this much done!

February was a quieter month, though I did go on a daytrip (goal 82) to Portsmouth/Southsea (goal 39. Explore 30 towns/cities/villages) and completed goal 36 when I tried some tasty bubble tea from a new place.

I also worked towards goal 80. Refashion/upcycle 3 items of clothing with the application of glitter to a pair of canvas boots.

Keep reading for the rest of the year, including my top goals for 2018 and my favourite photo of my 365 project!

December Roundup: Last-Minute Goals & 365

Spin (335/365)

2017 is finally over, and here's my last monthly roundup.

I actually didn't do much in December, but I did finish off a few last minute goals!

017. Record myself singing and share it
031. Hold breath for 1 minute
063. Learn to sing a song in a foreign language

These are goals I've been putting off for ages, because the 'evidence' of them would require taking a video. Making video is simple enough in theory, but really pushed me out of my comfort zone!

Despite that, you can click the links above to hear the tiniest bit of singing, my attempt at Finnish, and my 'holding my breath' face!

Of course, another goal I completed - right at the end of the year - was:

065. Complete a 365 Project

December 365 Project Photos. Click link to go to 365 Project page

I was really struggling to find things to photograph during December, but I did try out a few new things. I finally managed to do a long exposure shot to capture traffic trails, and also tried an iphone app that allows me to take 'long exposure' photos (which I used for the first photo in this post).  

Bluebird (362/365)

I also tried out some sunprints, after receiving some sun-sensitive paper for Christmas! This was a fun and simple thing to try out, and something a bit different to include in my project.

Honestly it's a relief to have finished the project. I'm pleased to have got it done, but it was kind of stressful trying to come up with something 'new' to photograph each day. I wanted to take good photos, but there were plenty of 'meh' photos along the way!

Other things I did in December:

• Continued to learn/practise Japanese and German on Duolingo
• Continued trying to memorise all the countries in Africa (goal #33)

It isn't much, but honestly I didn't have the energy (or desire) to do anything in December! Just call it End of Year Exhaustion, I guess!