Arty Updates

It's been a while since I made any posts on here, but I've had art crits, exams and all sorts of other excuses to work on. xD Just a quicky to upload some drawings I've finished lately:

A Level Art Coursework based on the theme of Sleeping Beauty

More A Level Art Coursework

And as a bonus, here's my children in need costume - Lydia from Beetlejuice! n_n

Quick Halloweeny Update

Just really quick, here are some photos from a Halloween party I went to on Friday:

Everyone's pumpkins

My pumpkin :3

Me (the witch) and the guy who was hosting the party (the mad scientist!)

I got more photos but they're all of everyone else in their costumes xD I only got the one of me. Happy Halloween (almost!)

Teikyo Festival

A giant origami crane!

Every year the Durham Teikyo University of Japan holds a festival in the middle of October. This year's festival was on Saturday the 20th of October, and it was great fun. There are always lots of activities, from practicing ancient Japanese traditions like the tea ceremony, to arts and crafts like origami. Here are some of the photos from the day! :3

So much origami!

This was the tea ceremony. I'm not entirely certain of the ritual, but from watching it I'm pretty sure that the tea has to be filtered several times, then put in a cup, which has to be turned in a certain direction, then given to the person drinking it. Both people bow, and the cup is turned in the same direction as earlier, before being drank from. It took a long time and is very precise.

My Koi Carp :3

This isn't mine, it was on the wall but I thought it was pretty!

And one of my favourite parts of the day:

I got to try on a yukata! They're surprisingly complicated to put on, and it didn't look all the good over my regular clothes. My big stompy doc martens kind of ruined the elegant look, and my dodgy hip in the photo is actually just my phone sticking out of my pocket, I'm not horribly mishapen. xD Either way, it was good to try one on.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend, and this week is going well! :3

Rapunzel

Rapunzel by Fiona Quinn

In approximately one hour I will be watching a ballet performance of Carol Ann Duffy's Rapunzel, as part of Durham's Book Festival. My school got given 20 free tickets by the theatre, and asked sixth formers that were free on Friday's if they'd like to go. I've never been to a ballet before, so I'm quite excited to see what it's like, especially as I'm told the costumes are made by the same costume designer of Game of Thrones. I'm going to bring my camera to try and get some photographs, although I'm not sure I'll be allowed, so I have a sketchbook ready instead. They can't stop me drawing! >:3

I'll update this post with a review later, either after the show in the library or on Monday. In the meantime, I hope everyone has an good Friday. :3

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As promised, here's the update :3

I went into the theatre anticipating a ballet, half expecting it to be boring, as right before I left a friend told me that she had been the night before, and had left at the interval. However, I tried to keep an open mind, and despite it being a school visit we had very good seats in the second row. We sat for a good 20 minutes or so while waiting for everyone else to take their seats, and I admired the scenery set out on the stage, which consisted of large metal frames, winding around each other with some leaves towards the top, to represent a forest. The set was cleverly designed as it moved to create a bed, the forest, the house, and the tower.

The performance was full of metaphors and symbolism, such as pregnant women carrying around a little nest with an egg inside. I'll admit, I found the opening a little tedious, and difficult to understand. It consisted of people dancing across the stage, throwing giant red and white balloons around, and a couple dancing at the top of a tower.

 

Finally it got into the story, starting with Rapunzel's parents sitting in their bedroom looking over at the witch's garden. The costumes for most of the dancers were fairly simple, however there were two tortoises (I think anyway xD) that followed the witch around, and their costumes were AMAZING. I had to do a double take when they first came on stage because I saw the big heads and for a split second, thought they were real animals. Sadly, I wasn't allowed to take photographs, so I'll try my best to find a picture of them.

 

There were no lines throughout the show, only a voiceover reading out the story every so often, and some music. The second half of the show was much better than the first, and I especially liked the way they had Rapunzel's hair. Obviously, she can't dance with such a long wig on, so she danced around a tree in the tower, and long sections of hair were twisted around the branches.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, but I don't think it should be advertised as a ballet, as it's more contemporary dance. I also think I liked it more for the artistic side than for the dancing, since I don't know much about it.

A picture I found on the internet from the performance

 

 

 

Halloween Ideas for the Absolutely Skint!, II: Spiderweb Poncho

About this time last year I started, what was originally going to be a series of do-it-yourselves, "Halloween Ideas for the Absolutely Skint." This was for those who, like me, are lacking in money, and still want to celebrate the season. This year I intend to continue with the "series", and hopefully come up with some more ideas.

This one requires a liiiittle bit of money, but not much. £1, in fact. Although you may be able to find a cheaper alternative, or could possibly already have one of these laying around. I got the inspiration for this from Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice. It's really simple to make, and though it may sound silly at first, it actually looks pretty good.


Step 1. Head down to your local pound store, and buy yourself a halloween tablecloth. Yes that's right, a tablecloth. xD

Step 2. Return home, and lay the tablecloth out on a large table (haha!) or floor. Fold the tablecloth in half, and make a tiny mark where the centre is.

Step 3. From the centre, cut a hole large enough for your head to fit through. It's easiest to cut a smaller hole and gradually make it bigger as necessary, than cut something too big  in the first place and ruin the project.
Then, add any extras you like. Cut the edges into a pattern, or leave them square if you prefer. I sewed tiny spider sequins onto mine. :3

Step 4. Wear it!

(Sorry for the rubbish lighting in the picture, it was late when I took it. I'll get a better one later.)

Happy haunting! :3

Vain post!

This is gonna be really vain, but oh well! xD On Saturday I had a slow morning, and no plans for the rest of the day, meaning I had plenty of time to faff around with my hair and makeup. I was tired of wearing the same style of makeup every day, so I experimented a little, and I was really pleased with the result.

I'm no makeup artist, but it was the first time I've drawn flicks on my face with eyeliner, and I'm so happy with how they came out.

I also went for a walk in the forest on Saturday, and collected up some pine cones, which I plan to paint and varnish to make Christmas tree decorations (it's early, so what?! xD)

Have a good day everyone!

Photoshoots and Batpumpkins

Last week I was asked by a friend from college to help her make up a modelling portfolio. She wanted to take  some fashion-y photos, and some pictures around the theme “autumn”, and asked if we could find a spot with lots of brightly coloured leaves to jump around in. Her choice of clothing was a big grey jumper, black leggings, brown fur boots and a jacket. The photographs are fairly average, as I’m not the best photographer, but it was a fun afternoon spent jumping around the park, and throwing leaves everywhere. :3

I’m still editing a lot of them, but I have a few “finished” images, of which I’ll post below. I might add some more later, but these are the best ones so far.

I made a mask for my little bat too. n_n

I'm aiming to do lots of creative, halloween related things this month, so I should be updating more often (although only on weekdays, still no internet at home :c)
Have a good weekend everyone!