Sketchbook//Portrait//Diary

A Sunday

A pretty typical Sunday for me includes...



A bunny and a good soundtrack...



...to do a bit of work to.



Celebratory done work tea and move into the garden for sketchbook chill times...



...with this guy. This creates a need for crisps so we go to the corner shop.



Then end the day with super tasty dinner and an awesome film.

Simple but effective.
Hope you're having a good week ^_^

Shop Update ~ A Squeegee, A Stapler and A Witch

A few new designs are up in my Society6 and Redbubble shops. The squeegee and long arm stapler are going to be part of a group that I'm going to make into a sticker set for my Etsy shop soon, once I've got a third sorted. My long arm stapler is one of my favourite things I own so I'm excited by the idea of being able to cover my house and me in things with one printed on.



This was originally an ink drawing I did for Inktober last year and has been on my pile of drawings to work up for a while now. Photoshop wanted it to stay in that pile, crashing just as I was finishing it on Saturday night (without ever saving because I'm a dunce) but I started it again this morning and got it done anyway so whatever photoshop, nice try.

And here's a few examples of the things you can get on Society 6 and Redbubble. If you do get any of these be sure to share and tag me on instagram or twitter so I can see ^_^
@vongarratt #beckygarratt

Let's Draw #4

Warm up doodley times in my sketchbook.
I use my sketchbooks as often as possible to draw as much nonsense drawings as I can. No pressure in a sketchbook, just mess. I often go back through my sketchbooks and find gems that with a bit of work turn into final pieces too. Sometimes sketchbooking doesn't feel like productive work but it totally is in the long run. Whether it turns into an illustration to use or just because the more you draw the better you get or even just because having drawn one random thing can trigger some other completely different random thing that you wouldn't have got to without the first random thing. Drawing with nothing in mind is great, basically.

There will be a lot more of these videos. I really want to do them more often and I'm finally figuring out a set up to be able to ^_^

5th to 10th

Can't see a full length mirror and not take a photo of myself.



I don't always post my vlogs here but I had a couple of photos to add to this one. But there are more on my youtube if you're interested. I've taken to just filming little clips here and there and then stringing them together for a video that is over 4 or so days. I'm sure I'll change my mind again soon and start vlogging differently but whatever, this is working for now. Anyway, here is a vlog. In which I finally get a 2 year old tattoo finished, pine after stuffed toys and look lovingly at my fluffy pets.



That tattoo was the third Will ever did and the first on a person that wasn't him so obviously it wasn't very good and we didn't finish it first time around either. I wanted to leave it well alone for at least a year to calm right down before fixing it (some of the cloud was a bit raised/scarred but is soooooo much better now, nice and healthy again. Remember only his third tattoo plus a load of other junk happened that day that made it ridiculous) so we left it and then I decided that I didn't want him to fix it anyway. I wanted to keep that little piece of his tattoo history as it was. So when we did finally get around to working on it again (only 10 days off of it's 2 year anniversary!) we just coloured the rainbow. And we decided to go with hand poked so it would blend with the bad machine work better lol. Obviously hand poke can be amazing and solid but it's also a nice way to get the dotty effect that Will did on this. Wow, ramble.


Toys R Us is always a good time.



Look at this cool moth. I know moths get pretty cool but I don't see such big ones very often. She isn't sitting in the best spot but you can totally see how they'd blend right in with those colours and weird shapes. Nature's so clever.

Art Journal Flip Through August 2016

August has some of my favourite pages so far because it includes my birthday (＾▽＾)

I'm still really enjoying this. When I bought the notebook to use I only spent a pound because I didn't know if it was something I would actually enjoy doing but that was a pound well spent because I love it. Also because that one pound book is holding up really well. I imagine when I buy my next one I'll be tempted to get something a little fancier and then the binding will just fall apart or something (￣ω￣)

British Art Show 8

Magali Reus / Nicolas Deshayes

All summer, British Art Show 8 has been based in Norwich. It's being held at the castle which you have to pay for and at the art uni which is free. It leaves on Sunday (4th Sept) and we didn't go until Wednesday because we're goofs. Anyway, we haven't the funds this month for the paid bit but we went to check out the free bit. I've been desperate to see some art so I'm lucky this was happening where I live.

Some of it was really cool and some of it was far too middle class art student and try hard. It's one of those things that I can't put my finger on but something can be absolutely ridiculous 'art' and feel real and be awesome and then something else can just feel lame and like they don't want everyone to be able to enjoy it, pandering to 'art' people that want to be superior to people who don't 'get' it. And that's just dumb.



Two of my favourite pieces were installations by Benedict Drew and Laure Prouvost and are in the video but I don't have photos of. I didn't read the information about either of them, I flit between wanting to read everything and knowing what it is I'm looking at and then not caring at all and just experiencing it for myself. To be honest I think you shouldn't need the info plaques other than to credit the artist/date/materials type info. Art maybe shouldn't need an explanation? I don't know. Nothing like that is going to be true for every case but I definitely enjoyed these ones not knowing anything about them. I just wanna say that the video doesn't exactly make it look like I'm taking any of it seriously but to be honest the fact I was relaxed enough to be silly is due to the fact that I was enjoying the piece more than something that I just look at sternly and move on from. A laugh doesn't always mean derision, it can just mean 'wow, this is good'. And lining your shadow crotch up with the vagina shell is just good sense.
   
Aaron Angell


Charlotte Prodger

Anthea Hamilton / Caroline Achaintre

My other favourite were these wall hangings. I could look at them for ages. It's really cool how you can see the faces from afar but if you're too off to the side or too close they look completely different.


Caroline Achaintre

After the exhibition we went to Tiger to check out the new David Shrigley range. It's really cool, as you can see in the vlog. I'll definitely be getting a few bits from it. I just need to figure out if I really need a tote bag (I have to walk so far all the time I use backpacks to save my back), which socks I like best and what I need an a4 plain paper book for that isn't really good for drawing in because that 'I love lists' book is something I very much need.

The art show is on it's way to Southampton for the last chunk of the year (and some of January) so if you're down that way go get some free art in your eyes or if it's not the 4th yet check it out in Norwich before it leaves (o^▽^o)