☂

The symbol used in the title of this post is extremely appropriate and relevant to the weather right now - it has been on and off raining all week! I used to love heavy rain back at home in the country, but now that I'm living in the city and having to run all there errands, it really gets in the way! Plus umbrellas can be such a nuisance to carry in strong winds - I find they always invert and then render totally useless. Oh well, that's life! I still love rain when I'm staying indoors drinking tea and reading, or watching a film. I've basically just been working on some projects before class goes back on the 29th of July and I just started a marketing class last Tuesday, which was interesting but a little draining in some areas, it may be useful to my future career though so I think I shall stick with it!

I find it so hard to keep up weekly post updates, even though it doesn't seem like much to do it actually requires so much time and energy to design one - it should be a graded project all in itself!

I've been inspired by a few things this past week, here they are presented in collage format:

Here's been my past two weeks in images:

1. Work in progress photo of my illustration of Brigitte Bardot, which I finished and uploaded in my last post.
2. Another illustration in the works.
3. Flowers collected from the garden for illustration studies.
4. Kind of in love with this Minkpink chiffon sleeveless shirt I purchased from Princess Polly, I can't pass up something with such cute gems on the collar!
5. Another purchase from Princess Polly (can you tell I'm a little bit obsessed with online shopping yet?) - Minkpink leopard print dress and kitten eye sunglasses.
6. Although I do love the winter time, I crave the energy of spring and summer, as well as the scents at the fruit markets and the flowers blooming in the garden - this ombre dress will be a staple in summer, as well as this lace cardigan from Topshop, I envision!
7. More end of financial year purchases from Princess Polly - another Minkpink item - this marigold coloured skirt will be so nice for the springtime paired back with a white tee or high neck singlet and my jellies + Mum managed to score these two barely worn shoes by Lipstik and Zu at the local opshop back at home - they fit perfectly and are so lovely. This is one of the reasons why I love opshopping so much!
8. After all the dark clouds and rain downpours, a pretty rainbow managed to make it's way out in the city.
9. I spent a lovely day out breathing the fresh air in the countryside last Sunday, although it was so freezing out there! This is an image of the little ruin on my family's block of land. I hope one day to built a home in the countryside and live there but right now, that's just a wonderful dream.

Here is an 8tracks playlist I created in dedication to my favourite Twin Peaks character, Miss Audrey Horne.

Vixen from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

That's all for this week's entry, till next time! ♡

☯

This week I have been taking it a bit easy, but I have still been working hard at my university work as post-grad degree work doesn't stop just because we're on a break! I watched two movies this week that I have been meaning to see for some time now - Don't Deliver Us From Evil and Donkey Skin, both are quite obscure foreign films from the early 70's. I quite liked them both - the first was a bit uncomfortable to watch at times due to it's subject matter but the second was a really sweet, quirky and campy French film based on a classic Perrault fairytale; it was a nice little film that didn't require any thought, just pure enjoyment of the wonderful sets, costumes and cinematography!

I have just recently completed a quick illustration of the amazing Brigitte Bardot, just for fun as I now have a little bit of excess time to spare on personal projects, so I want to make the most out of this precious time. I've added them to my digital portfolio on this blog.

Here's a playlist I've created, based on Ancient Egypt and riot grrrl music.

☥ I am the Queen of Sheba ☥ from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

Well that's all I've got for now, ta-ta! ♡

Serene Dream

I flew back home a few days ago, so I've been settling back into my old lifestyle and getting used to things again. I just finished unpacking all of the massive amounts of things I took with me, so it's quite a relief to have everything back in its old place again! Today, I am posting a few things which are keeping me inspired this week.

1. Celebrating the Chinese New Year at a restaurant. They had the most amazing banquet spread - everything was perfect, especially the strawberry fillet steak!
2. Making some drawings, cats and deer.
3. Op-shop finds, a pretty much brand new peter pan collared dress and a comfy t-shirt with a skull doily emblazoned upon it.
4. Finished a drawing of Keira Knightley in Edge of Love, she's super beautiful.
5. Collections of sea-related items.
6. Home sweet home - back again after two-and-a-half months away.

I finished an extremely belated Valentines Day illustration recently too - Valentines Day is quite useless, but cake and kitties are not.
I also completed my Boudicca illustration, finally!


I have also been a bit naughty and purchased two more things online, this glitzy black sequin tank and this polka-dotted prettiness both by Minkpink. Definitely cannot wait until they arrive at my doorstep!
I hope you enjoy this playlist I made!

Sprites in the Night from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

♡

Unfinished Sketches

Just a quick update of what I'm working on at the moment.

❀ Wedding from the 60's/70's, Unknown ❀

❀ Virgina Woolf ❀

❀ Karen Elson ❀

❀ Lana Del Rey ❀

❀ Self-Portrait ❀

❀ Jane Birkin ❀



And here's another playlist for you, I'm so into making super long playlists at the moment, I think I need to try and curb my addiction because it's so time-consuming! I've been listening to a lot of period film soundtracks lately and that's really helping me to get inspired and do things. I'm also in the process of trying to teach myself my heritage language, Ukrainian! So far, I'm not doing so poorly but I only know the basics really, such as yes and okay. I am learning through audio tapes as well as dictionaries and the alphabetical pronunciation lists, so hopefully I can one day speak the language fluently. x

❀ ✿ ❁ ✾ ✽ ❃ ❋ (for Beatrix Potter) from bambisvalentine on 8tracks Radio.

Incipient

Hello! ♡

So it's official - I am finished with my degree! I managed to pass everything well and I am super happy with how everything turned out! Now it is just time to play the waiting game to see if I am accepted to do the masters degree and be prepared for the graduation ceremony next year! Very excited but also a little nervous. :) Three years have flown by so quickly and I feel I've learnt a lot about design and where my skills lie, but of course there is much life-long learning to be continued.

I have started working on those personal illustrations that I have sorely neglected during this year (now that I have my holiday time), but I will finish them soon, otherwise I'll feel unfulfilled as I always feel when I haven't finished something I've started. (I have too many notes all over my phone and computer of things to complete!)

This work is just a little amalgamation of all the things at the current time I find comforting and pretty, just a little illustration to pass the time.

This is titled Winter Harvest and relates to the season of Winter, the notion of cycles, seasonal vegetables, fruits and herbs and protectors of the forests and their respective wildlife. I have entered this into the Yen Young Female Art Awards, which you can check out here.

My illustration of Boudicca is quite close to its final stage, however I still have to work on perfecting certain elements, but I have left it at home as it is too hard to safely cart around watercolour paper on airplanes. This was the last photographed stage it was at.

Here are a few snapshots of things that have related to my life at this present moment. (From L-R, top to bottom):
1. Photo editing and in a current phase of loving white and roses. Plus, these sunglasses are so perfect for summer.
2. Finding nostalgic childhood books that are so wonderfully illustrated.
3. Setting up the Christmas tree, it looks so magical.
4. Starting the first in what I want to be a series of small portraits of women I find intriguing and inspiring, This initial sketch is of Virginia Woolf. It doesn't resemble her greatly; it is funny how the simple stroke of a pencil can dramatically alter the expressions within a drawing, something so tiny can have such a great impact on the resemblance of the subject.
5. My cockatiel Buzz, a strange parrot indeed - she only likes one person in my family and it isn't me!
6. One of my 21st birthday presents, a gold diamond ring from my grandmother. ♡

My holiday afternoons will consist of reading the newest Frankie and Lula magazines, and drinking plenty of tea.

I have been listening to a lot of soundtracks from some of my favourite films of late, this one has been permeating my mind for quote some time now. It is the Love Theme and Finale by Ennio Morricone from the 1997 version of Lolita. So beautiful and peaceful. ♡



That is all for now, until next time,

Morning Dew

Hello lovelies,

Once again, I have been distant from my blog, but I am updating to show you some of the work I have been feverishly working on during the time since I last posted.

I'm working on some covers for publications for three Shakespeare plays. I chose a play from each of the three genres - history, comedy and drama and started to illustrate some concepts for them. I wanted to select characters that were most intriguing to me from each of the plays, so they could be the focal point of the cover design. So far I'm just trying to illustrate and test to see what works and what doesn't, so below are examples of what I've been drawing.

Illustrations of plants for Hamlet - some rue, fennel, a violet and a daisy.

Puck illustration for A Midsummer Night's Dream book cover.

Falstaff illustration for Henry IV Part One book cover.

Ophelia illustration for Hamlet book cover.

I've also been working on other stressful projects (including the making of my portfolio) so I wont be able to post for a while, a few more weeks until I've finished classes, then I might have a few spare moments to write. But as of now, I have barely any time.

So good-bye until next time!

Liquorice Allsorts

Hello again, ❦

I have been once again pressed for time due to uni, it's quite stressful as I expected and seeing as it's third year I'm pushing myself further because I want to graduate and get my degree! One little piece of paper can mean so much and is so badly strived for, it's pretty crazy! I am now at the beginning of my two week break from uni, which wont really be so much of a break as I'll be studying and catching up on unfinished work!

I'm working on a Stevie Nicks quick drawing at the moment just for fun, I started it last week but uni work got so out of hand that I had to prioritise my life. It got bad at one stage but I managed to get all my work done so I am really happy and relieved. I have one more week left before mid semester break, so I'll be updating as much as I can! As you can see I still have a long way to go before I complete it!

Stevie Nicks is definitely one of my biggest inspirations, alongside Debbie Harry. Both of these women are so creative and just do their own thing, I love that.

That's all I have for now, more updates throughout out the next week. I'll finish my illustrations and post them up here. :) Bye all. ♥ Blondie - Shayla