Dear stranger.

I'm back! And finally with a new drawing! I'm so sorry for not posting for so long, I just haven't had the time to draw like I had before. But I'm trying to conciliate classes with drawing, so I can have some more free time to draw. Can't promise anything but I'm trying.

This one started as simple draft I made after a test when I finished earlier and I had plenty of time 'till the end of the class. When I got home I decided to risk and color it and I actually like it. Don't mind her skin, I'm still learning how to color properly human skin and which colors to use. I have no idea of who she is, some of my friends say she looks like me, others even said she looked like Lara Croft. I just drew what came up to my mind and she came out. Enjoy!

(Click on it for a full and better view)

Update.

Hello there beautiful people. Been gone fora it a while uh ? Since school started, the time I have for myself is very little. In consequence to it, I haven't had time to draw either. I'm currently on a 3 year course of Cullinary. 

Yes, besides drawing, cooking is also something I've always loved. And I decided to invest in Cullinary for my future. Of course, as many other things, choosing this path is something that requires sacrifice. But this is my future. My mind and body have to be 100% on school and the time to do other things is not as much as before. But then again, sacrifice. I know that in 3 years from now, it will all be worth it. :)

So I am sorry if I'm not posting as often as before. I haven't been drawing lately, because I've been tired, or because there's no time. But I don't plan on giving up on drawing ! The last thing I did was a Buddha in my school notebook but I haven't colored it yet, ahah. Anyways, I've been receiving lots of requests, thus is safe to say I have lots of commissions to do. So you'll be hearing from me. :) I just have to manage my time well enough to keep on drawing and cooking.

Anyway, I hope you understand and keep following the blog. I'll leave you with a picture of what has been my day-to-day activity lately. In the picture we're eating what we cooked on that day. I'm the one with the pink shirt. x)

The hakama.

This one's part of a comission I finished recently. I am not showing the full drawing for privacy reasons. I am sorry for the quality once again, but this one I wasn't able to scan. It's in A2 size, and as you probably know, it's huge. It doesn't fit my scanner. So I took a photo, and my camera isn't the most professional so it came out like this. If you want to see the details properly, just click the drawing and you'll see it in a bigger size.

The hakama is the skirt-like pants that some Aikidoka wear. It is a traditional piece of samurai clothing. Wearing it is part of the tradition (of most schools) of Aikido.

There were different styles of hakama. The type worn by today's martial artists is called  joba hakama. The seven folds in the hakama (five in the front, two in the back) are said to have the following meaning:

1. Yuki - courage, value, bravery

 2. Jin - humanity, charity, benevolence

 3. Gi - justice, righteousness, integrity

 4. Rei - etiquette, courtesy, civility (also means bow/obeisance)

 5. Makoto - sincerity, honesty, reality

 6. Chugi - loyalty, fidelity, devotion

 7. Meiyo - honor, credit, glory; also reputation, dignity, prestige

In many schools, only black belts wear the hakama.

Information taken from: http://www.aikidofaq.com/misc/hakama.html 

This is a general definition of the hakama. If you wish to know more about it, the details, feel free to research. :) If there's wrong information feel free to let me know so I can correct. 

Have a wonderful weekend ! :)

Inspiring songs.

Today I'll leave you with another song of Omnia that I love and that I usually listen to while drawing. I advise you to listen to it 'till the end, because somewhere in the middle of the song, it completely changes. That's one of the things I love about Omnia, you're listening to a calm, peaceful song and suddenly it changes  completely without you expecting to, to a more energetic one. This song's called Richard Parker's Fancy and it's absolutely beautiful.

Inspiring songs &...

It's drawing afternoon today ! And if I don't finish it today, tomorrow is drawing day too. :) The sketch is done and I'll start now with the details (shadows, light, etc etc). This week's song is a calm and romantic one and I obviously like to draw to the sound of it. It's tittle is Perfect for Me, by Ron Pope. Please enjoy !

I

Anyways, changing the subject now... I am very GLAD to let you know, that Avan Jogia, yes you read it well, Avan SAW drawing I made of him ! (don't know Avan ? Don't know which drawing I'm talking about ? CLICK HERE !) After trying to make the drawing get to him so many times, I finally did it and when I least expected. I shared the link to the drawing sometimes in a reply to him on Twitter, even when he was live tweeting with Twisted fans under the tag #Twistedchat, but I didn't get lucky enough until 3 days ago. I went on Twitter some hours after publishing once again the link to the drawing, and to my surprise, I saw that Avan faved the tweet ! You can't imagine how proud I am. This just comes to proves that your hard work always rewards you somehow. This was the best reward I could get.

In English, it reads: ✩ Avan Tudor Jogia has marked your tweet as favourite.

Filipa, 

                        your tweet was faved !

✩ faved by

                              Avan Tudor Jogia @ATJogia

Surprise, surprise.

Still have a lot to work on. I have a deadline to finish the drawing I'm currently working on, it has to be done before September 19th. That's the day I start my Aikido practises again, and the drawing I'm working on is for my sensei, but he has no idea I'm doing it. It's a surprise. :)

After that, I have at least three comissions to do, if I'm not mistaken. For friends, family, and people that have seen my drawings and wanted one too. I'm really happy. I just hope that when I get back to school I have time for everything. And for the blog too, even though I haven't posted much lately. :/
Hope you are still with the blog. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a pic of me working on the sketch of the drawing I mentioned I was working on right now. :)

Inspiring songs.

Hi everyone. I know I haven't been posting much lately, so I'm sorry (I already lost count of the times I say this at a beginning of a post lol). I am glad to say that lately what's been taking my time is some requests and some comissions I got. I'm really happy that people like my work just enough to ask for a drawing. And some people gave me a lot of suggestions of who to draw next and how to improve my technique, so thanks everyone ! It feels really good to have feedback for something you work hard for. :)

Anyways. I'm not sure of when I shall post again with a new drawing, and I'm not sure if I'll have people's permission to post the comissions I'll make here, so I thought about posting something different and that I could update every week.

Every week I'll share with you a song that I usually listen while I'm drawing. Songs that inspire me and ease my mind to work.

Today I chose one of my favourites ever. It's called Fairy Tale, by Omnia (one of my favourite bands, you should listen to them !). The lyrics are not theirs, it's actually a poem written by Lewis Carrol. And let me just add, it's breath-taking. This song soothes my mind. I easily stress when something doesn't turn out the way I want to, and this song helps me to control stress too. 

I'll leave you with the song, the lyrics are on the video. :)