Dressed up

More sketching. Fun times.

© Sophia Chan

"Awkward pat"

Quick sketch of two friends with my new fountain pen. Because of my tendency to use a lot of linear shading, they look much older than they are. Somehow, I find this hilarious.

© Sophia Chan 2013

Blooming Roses

Final outcome! What do you think? Do you prefer it with the black ink detail, or just with watercolour? Personally, I prefer the black pen as it adds depth and enhances the different colours. Sorry for the blurry quality of the flowers - my scanner doesn't seem to be working properly!

© Indistinct Vision 2012

Experimentation

Quick watercolour sketch I did from a fashion shoot spread - found it fun experimenting with the different colours for the flower headpiece. Also realised that painting hair with watercolour is hard! This is at the not-quite-finished stage, I shall upload the final piece shortly...

© Indistinct Vision 2012

Fashion Show

© Sophia Chan 2012

Here are some fashion illustrations I did for the Castle Fashion Show programme. Being rather out of practice with fashion illustrations I did a lot of experimentation with pencil, ink, pen and watercolour, but finally settled on using just watercolour. I had to illustrate figures based on the type of clothes that would be modelled on the catwalk - it is definitely a lot trickier drawing figures from the imagination as opposed to copying from a photograph.

© Sophia Chan 2012

I found myself having to rely heavily on the influence of David Downton's work, especially in this drawing of the red ball gown. However, hopefully with more illustrations I can begin to develop more of my own identity. To see a rough layout of the full programme, head over to my talented friend's blog Miyake Design.

I am now working on my entry for Castle Arts Week Exhibition - first prize wins 100 pounds. Wish me luck!

Life drawing

At university I get to go to life drawing sessions every week for the wonderfully cheap price of 2 pounds per one and a half hour session. I haven't drawn nudes since sixth form at school, and a naked man (gasp, horror!) would never have been let into our all-girls Catholic school.

© Sophia Chan 2012

One of my resolutions is to go every week until my drawing skills are waaay better than present. In my opinion, hands and feet are extremely difficult to get exactly accurate!

© Sophia Chan 2012

Happy Chinese New Year

Recycling an old painting I did for my A level art in honour of Chinese New Year and the Year of the dragon. 恭喜發財！Painted using oils on a wooden board. The background effect was done using shellac and gold leaf was used for the mane and tail.

Another portrait

The beginning of my attempt to draw my grand-godparents. Although they are not related to us, we met them when they answered my mum's advert for a nanny to care for my sister when she was 3. After all these years, I still can't believe how lucky we are to have such incredible grandparents who aren't even related to us.

I am incredibly lazy at finishing drawings, so I am trying to make an extra effort to do so this month.

Oil Paint

This is one of my art final pieces that I did around 3 years ago, for an exam. I love it because it is one of the first pieces I painted properly using oils, which is my favourite medium to paint in. Using oil paints allows you to convey so much expression and when you get it right, it is wonderful to work with.

Camilla

This time, I used black pen again, but with watercolour pencils to add in the hints of colour.

Drawing done from an old Vogue editorial in pen. I'm planning to start exploring different ways of doing fashion illustration, concentrating on using black ink. I chose the image to copy because of the model's interesting face and expression, though I'm not sure if I'm completely won over by using just fine black line for the sketch. To be honest, I'm not thrilled with the result, so next time I might go for more colour or smudge in the lines.

Gondolas

A quick sketch done in black pen when in Venice. I love using pen and ink as a medium for quick drawings because of the rough, sketchy effect that I can get with the way in which I draw. I prefer artworks with less 'finish', hence the name of this blog.

Grandfather

Sketch done in HB pencil. Drawn on a whim when feeling nostalgic over past photos and gone family members.