Le Petit Hobbit

Father's Day has long passed, but I still wanted to show you what I gave my dad. Or more importantly… how I wrapped it. It's hard to shop for my dad, but I think he was quite happy with the Le Petit Hobbit shirt I got him.

Anyway, I figured "Parent Days" are mostly about the effort you put in. So I took some extra time with the wrapping. As the shirt was a mash-up of Le Petit Prince and the Hobbit, I decided to combine the two in my drawing as well.

Somehow the gift wrapping I do for my dad always turns out well. (This one too.) It's quite magical, haha... I mean, even the Elfish ring became a perfect circle in one go, and I did it freehand! Since the actual shopping can be stressful, I'm very thankful the wrapping comes naturally. But I'm mostly glad he appreciated it. He even took it home with him!

Inside my Sketchbook

A while ago I posted my first Zentangle endeavor, it has since become a wonderful hobby that I practice almost daily. It's something I often do in the evenings, when I'm sitting in a waiting room or if I just have a spare moment.

Even though I still find it relaxing, I do have to admit that my earlier statement of it not having "any pressure whatsoever" is not totally valid anymore. I did cut myself loose from the book and am drawing more freely, but as a perfectionist I do find myself wanting to get better and better at it. I'm currently working on improving the 3D effect.

I'm not playing by the exact rules. I often make up my own patterns and elements, and I try out different shapes and sizes. I've also treated myself to a very nice pen set that has given me more options than just the 0.4 I started out with.

These pictures are all from my first sketchbook. I'm actually now on my third, so I might post a peek into that second book soon. Anyway, I thought it was a nice touch to tangle on the book cover as well, and I do love the result!

I also occasionally venture out of my books and try bigger scale tangles. The one below is quite large. It also has some shading that I think really makes it pop. Since, I've actually experimented with a bunch more shading techniques.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little peek inside my sketchbook. There will probably be more posts like this in the future as I have no plans of quitting this hobby anytime soon. In fact, I'm sure I'll make one or two more this very evening.

One Zentangle a Day

When I got that nasty flu a little while ago I decided I could use a hobby that would take very little time or skill and would just be relaxing and without any pressure whatsoever. Zentangles came to mind. So I ordered a book!

It took a while to decide, because there are so many, but I ended up picking One Zentangle a Day by Beckah Krahula.
Of course it only arrived two days ago. But in those two days I've been zentangling like crazy. I love it!

Every spread is a one day tutorial and it teaches you three patterns that you can use to fill in the zentangle. It might seem a little simple, and it is. However, it is great having a manual and seeing all those neat little patterns that I might not have come up with myself.

The picture above is my very first zentangle. Is it simple? Yes. Is it kinda messy? Sure. Did I have fun making it? Hell yeah! I love this new hobby. Don't be surprised if you see more of these popping up in the future...