‘James & Gina – Forever in Love’ – 30 progression photos

October 17, 2020Leave a comment

Hi blog followers, my latest UnicornPostbox blog post is 30 progression photos of an amateur art portrait drawing of my auntie Gina and uncle Jim. Hope you enjoy!

I used my A3 light pad to outline my auntie and uncle, and shaded using Derwent sketching pencils. For the border, I printed off paw print templates (they affectionately call each other ‘cub’, so I thought the paw prints would be a nice touch, hehe) and again I used my light pad to outline these. I also used a template for the love hearts so they were all identical. I coloured with Boldmere colouring pencils; I believe the contrast of baby blue and pale pink works pretty well. I used a black ballpoint pen to make the images really ‘pop’.

Overall, I am really happy with the end result 🙂

I am only an amateur artist drawing for fun as a hobby, however I feel as though this is one of my better ones – not the most realistic drawing ever obviously (I bodged up a bit on the jacket for instance!) but not bad for an amateur 😛

I chose a diamante sparkly frame to display the drawing, which is very much to my auntie Gina’s taste, hehe 🙂

And here is the end result!

Thank you very much for taking the time to read / view my latest art blog post! I really appreciate your support!

My next UnicornPostbox blog posts will be photos and a description of a caravan holiday to Skipsea Sands as well as another trip to Yorkshire Wildlife Park 🙂 🙂

So please do keep a look out 😛

Stay well, stay safe, much love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook and Instagram page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Twit Twoo’ owl drawing – 30 progression photos

September 2, 2020Leave a comment

Hi, welcome to my personal amateur art and travel / theatre blog, UnicornPostbox. My latest blog post is 30 progression photographs of an amateur art owl drawing. Hope you enjoy!

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I took inspiration for my owl drawing from my art therapy and adult colouring books. The title obviously was chosen because of the distinctive hoot noise owls make i.e. twit twoo, so is onomatopoeia. Two of my owls were drawn freehand, original drawings taking inspiration from the books, however I traced the outline of my middle right-hand side owl using my A3 light pad. I tried to incorporate intricacies to the design of my owls, making them as detailed as possible. I printed off star templates and again used my A3 light pad to create a starry night background. I coloured using Boldmere colouring pencils and outlined with a black ballpoint pen. Overall, I am quite pleased with the way this one has turned out. I do not think it is my best, but neither the worst in my opinion (like I keep reiterating, I am only an amateur artist, drawing for fun, as a hobby). The array of bright bold colours make it a pretty art piece methinks, hope you agree 🙂 🙂 … and here is the finished result:

And there we go! Hope you like my latest post! 🙂 🙂

So sorry it’s been so long since my last blog post, I’m going to definitely try now to keep being creative and draw regularly! I very much doubt I’ll be posting any travel and / or theatre blog posts anytime soon with the current situation regarding the coronavirus pandemic 😦 😦 Hasn’t it been such an awful year! I sincerely hope all my followers are as well as can possibly be, and adjusting to the new normal. Stay safe guys! And yes, please do keep a look out for new amateur art posts coming soon. I intend to draw a portrait of my auntie and uncle next, and then I have a few ideas in the pipeline, so watch this space! 😛 😛

Thank you as always for taking the time to read / view my latest blog post! I appreciate your ongoing support, means a lot.

Take care, all the best, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Under The Sea’ drawing – 30 progression photos

June 7, 2020Leave a comment

Hi, welcome to my blog, UnicornPostbox. My latest blog post is 30 progression photographs of an ‘Under The Sea’ sea-life themed, A2 size, amateur art drawing. Hope you enjoy!

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I used my art therapy and adult colouring books as inspiration for my ‘Under The Sea’ drawing – sketching an octopus, jellyfish, sea turtle, seahorse, crab and seashells. With this art piece, I did not trace the outlines of the images with my A3 light pad as done so previously with other drawings. I studied the subjects in the books very closely, but drew freehand, adding my own subtle changes and intricacies to make them more my own. (However, I do admit I am only an amateur artist, drawing as a hobby). I coloured using Boldmere colouring pencils, bold and differing colours, and lastly outlined with a black ballpoint pen, to make the images really ‘pop’. I am pretty happy with the result, hope you like it too! 🙂 🙂

The finished drawing:

For my next drawing, I think I would like to do an Owl themed art piece, again gaining inspiration from my art therapy and adult colouring books; I have already decided to title it ‘Twit Twoo’, haha. Then after that, I may return to the norm of portraiture and draw as I promised them, my auntie and uncle 🙂 🙂 And afterwards, well we shall see 😛

Thank you very much for taking the time to read / view my latest blog post, I do value and appreciate your ongoing support, all my followers!

We are unfortunately still in very difficult and uncertain times with the regard to the coronavirus pandemic, so please do stay safe everyone!

Take care, many thanks,

Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Namaste’ – Indian inspired drawing, 25 progression photos

May 7, 2020Leave a comment

Hi, welcome to my personal blog, UnicornPostbox! My latest blog post is 25 progression photos of ‘Namaste’ – an Indian inspired amateur art drawing. Hope you enjoy 🙂 🙂

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Firstly, I used my A3 light pad to trace the outline of mandalas from my mandala adult colouring book, the outline of an Indian lady was traced from my art therapy colouring book also (I admit I am only an amateur artist, drawing as a hobby!). I took inspiration from another art therapy colouring book for the elephant, but I actually drew this one, my own design, freehand. I coloured in the entire ‘Namaste’ drawing using Boldmere colouring pencils, and I lastly used a black ballpoint pen to make the images really ‘pop’ 🙂 🙂

I am interested in Indian culture, in particular I am intrigued by Hinduism. I have the upmost respect for other people’s religious beliefs, whatever faith they may follow, however Hinduism resonates well with me. I have bought books on the subject, and have tried to educate myself and learn more about this fascinating (in my opinion) religion. I just love the bold bright colours associated with Indian culture, and gorgeous intricate patterns, and I have tried to incorporate this into my drawing. I have titled my artwork ‘Namaste’ which is well known to translate from Sanskrit as ‘bowing to you’, e.g. bowing to the divine within you, and is a traditional Hindu friendly greeting. My Indian lady and elephant have closed eyes, two sentient beings, bowing down in mutual respect and admiration of one another 🙂 🙂

And here is the finished artwork:

Thank you very much for taking the time to read / view my latest blog post!

I am not certain what I will draw next, maybe I will continue to gain inspiration from my art therapy and adult colouring books, with animals, paisley patterns, mandalas, flowers etc – I think an Owl themed art piece could look really good, likewise, a sea-life themed drawing would be ace and enjoyable to draw! Or perhaps I could incorporate lots of flowers into a design, maybe lotus flowers alongside more Indian inspired mandalas or a girl meditating. Just a few ideas, we shall see!

I do hope all my followers remain well during these unprecedented and difficult times, please do stay safe everyone! Sending a huge social distanced hug!

All the best, peace and love, Lauren xx

‘Beth and Josh – Forever in Love’ drawing, 27 progression photos

April 17, 2020Leave a comment

Hi, welcome to my UnicornPostbox blog, this blog post offers 27 progression photos of an amateur art drawing of my beautiful sister Beth, and her lovely boyfriend Josh. Hope you enjoy 🙂 🙂

I used my A3 light pad to draw the outline of Beth and Josh, once I had cut the reference images so that only their heads were being traced. I did this because I made the decision to draw Beth and Josh inside a big red love heart, in keeping with the ‘forever in love’ theme. I sketched as usual using Derwent sketching pencils and the colouring pencils I drew with this time were Boldmere premium artists colouring pencils. The background I incorporated block colour squares, similar to my previous drawings; all images were outlined using a Pilot FriXion pen.

I am really happy with the way Beth has turned out. I believe I have been able to achieve a very good ‘likeness’. I accentuated her lips to make them bigger, as this is her personal preference, and made her eyelashes more prominent also so her eyes ‘popped’; moreover I contoured her face nicely with shading. Josh was much harder to draw for some reason. The amount of times I rubbed out his eyes and redrew, haha! 😛 I think he’s got a bit of a look of Freddie Mercury and Cristiano Ronaldo amalgamated, ha! Admittedly, I am only an amateur artist, drawing as a hobby! Therefore, I don’t believe I have been able to achieve as much as a likeness with Josh, however overall I am pretty pleased with the drawing. Beth and Josh are both over the moon with it, and it shall hang pride of place on their wall when they move in together soon, so that makes me very happy 🙂 🙂

I am not sure what I will draw next. I would still like to do a few family portraits as I would say I feel most comfortable practising portraiture, I have promised to draw my auntie and uncle at some point… however I would also like to experiment with different subjects and styles of drawing. I have purchased quite a few art therapy / adult colouring books, with mandalas, flowers, animals, paisley patterns inside etc, and a fantasy Art Nouveau colouring book, so I think it would be good to use them to inspire my own unique original amateur art. I would furthermore like to get some inspiration from famous artists and art movements, have a bit of a play about, so watch this space!

As me and mum are self-isolating due to the coronavirus pandemic, I’m afraid I will not be posting any theatre / travel blog posts for some time, as you may have guessed. I do have a couple of wooden stools however stored in a cubbyhole which I may upcycle outside on a sunny day. I haven’t upcycled in a very long time, so now would probably be the perfect opportunity, so again, watch this space!

I do hope you are all well during these unprecedented and extremely difficult times. Sending a huge social distancing hug to all my UnicornPostbox followers, I very much value your ongoing support. Thank you so much for taking the time to read / view.

Take care, all the best,

Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Beautiful Mum’ drawing – 15 progression photos

March 27, 2020Leave a comment

Hi welcome to by personal blog UnicornPostbox, hope you enjoy my latest blog post ‘Beautiful Mum’ – 15 progression photographs of a pencil drawing of my gorgeous mum Debbie…

I firstly used my A3 light pad to draw the outline of mum. I sketched mum using Derwent sketching pencils, and I used coloured pencils for the background. The red love heart / pink background is really mum-esque, it certainly reflects her loving nature, she’s an angel on Earth 🙂 🙂 Plus pink is her favourite colour, she’s a girlie girl definitely, hehe. I likewise opted for delicate soft calligraphy for the ‘Beautiful Mum’ title, using a Pilot FriXion rollerball pen.

Here is the finished product! I am actually really pleased with the way this one has turned out 🙂 🙂 I am only an amateur artist who draws as a hobby, but I’d like to think I am improving the more I practise. I am nowhere close to accomplishing hyper realism, I realise that, but I seem to be getting back to the level I was at when I studied Fine Art at A-Level many years ago. So that’s good 🙂 🙂

I love drawing so much and find it so therapeutic. Mum was absolutely over the moon with her drawing, so that makes me an incredibly happy daughter. Mum is a very poorly lady in the later stages of early onset Alzheimer’s disease dementia, so anything that puts a smile on her face means the world to me!

I know I promised in a previous UnicornPostbox blog post I would try and deviate from the norm of portraiture and try drawing something a little bit different, perhaps amateur art inspired by famous artists, but I think I will do a couple more family portraits first. My sister has asked me to draw her and her boyfriend, and I may do my auntie and uncle also… so please do keep a lookout for more art blog posts coming soon!

On a very serious note, I do sincerely hope all my followers are well during these immensely difficult times, in regards to the coronavirus pandemic 😦 😦 Please stay safe everyone!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read/view.

Much love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Jack and Jessie’ Springador drawing – 35 progression photos

February 11, 2020February 11, 2020Leave a comment

Hi, welcome to my personal blog UnicornPostbox, please see below progression photographs of my latest amateur art A2 size drawing of two Springadors, Jack and Jessie…

I used my A3 size light pad to trace the outline of Jack and Jessie, Derwent sketching pencils to shade, coloured pencils for the block background, and a black Pilot FriXion pen to make each image ‘pop’…

Hope you enjoy 🙂 🙂

I drew Jack and Jessie as a gift for Paula, mine and mum’s great friend of many years…

I explained I am not a professional artist and only draw amateur as a hobby, but she was absolutely over the moon with her surprise present, and says she will cherish the drawing forever of her two lovely dogs…

So that makes me very happy indeed! 🙂 🙂

Thank you so much for taking the time to read/ view this latest UnicornPostbox blog post. Your ongoing support means so much…

Please keep a look out for some new Travel/Theatre blog posts coming very soon! 🙂 🙂

All the best, much love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Spencer and Debbie – Friends Forever’ drawing – 60 progression photos

November 1, 2019Leave a comment

Hi all! Thanks for visiting my UnicornPostbox blog. My latest post is 60 progression photos of an amateur art drawing; ‘Spencer and Debbie – Friends Forever’ – drawn as a late birthday present for my mum Debbie’s best friend Joan, of Joan’s (very naughty, lol) bullmastiff Spencer and my lovely mum. Hope you enjoy!

Firstly, I used my A3 light pad to trace the outline of my reference photos. I then used Derwent soft sketching and coloured pencils to draw my amateur art, and a pilot friXion rollerball pen to define the images. I’m very much a fan of contrasting grey shades with block colour, it’s becoming my signature style 😛

It is not my favourite drawing I must admit. It’s certainly not a masterpiece by any means; I do not claim to be a professional artist. There are elements I am definitely not ecstatic with, such as the red chair being so abstract, and the random dark blue background was, in hindsight, maybe a mistake, in my opinion (Looked like the chair was floating in water so I tried to save it by incorporating some paw prints, ha!) Also, I wish my portraits were photorealistic, but I’m just not that good, ha! At least I’ve achieved some likeness 🙂

However, Joan was so over the moon with her gift, because of the sentimental value (with mum being so poorly), and the fact that I have dedicated hours upon hours of my time to create her a personalised present she can cherish forever… So that makes me very happy indeed 🙂 🙂

Here are some pics of the finished product!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to view / read, your support is very much appreciated! Feel free to ‘like’ or ‘comment’ or ‘share’ on my Facebook page.

Me and mum are off to Hull for a few days to see ‘Kinky Boots’ the musical at Hull New Theatre! So keep a lookout for a future travel / theatre blog post coming very soon!

Peace and love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Charlie the Chocolate Lab’ drawing – 45 progression photos

August 23, 2019Leave a comment

Good evening followers! Sorry it’s been a while! My latest UnicornPostbox blog post is progression photographs of an A2 size original amateur art drawing of Charlie the Chocolate Labrador, my sister Beth’s dog, I drew as a late 21st birthday present! Hope you enjoy! 🙂 🙂

I started off by tracing the outline of Charlie using my new A3 size light pad. I sketched Charlie with Derwent soft sketching pencils, and used different coloured pencils for the colour block background. I thought it would be a nice touch to incorporate some paw prints and bones in keeping with the dog theme. I also defined each shape, outlining with Berol handwriting pens, to make each individual image ‘pop’. Like my last drawing ‘Psychedelic Elephant’ (see previous blog post) I’m becoming fond of contrasting grey shades against bright bold colours, developing my own artistic style I guess, hehe 🙂 🙂

And here is the finished art piece! 🙂 🙂

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Charlie is getting really old bless her, she’s 13 nearly 14 years old! Our Beth has always wanted a drawing of Charlie she can cherish forever; she was so over the moon, happy and grateful when I presented her with the gift today, hehe!

Thank you so much for reading / viewing! 🙂 🙂

Hope you all have a fantastic bank holiday weekend, enjoy the sunshine!

Please keep a look out for more blog posts coming soon, including an upcycling project and a travel blog (me and mum are off to see ‘Grease – the musical’ soon in Leicester, ohhhh can’t wait!)

Much love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

‘Psychedelic Elephant’ – 50 progression photos

May 18, 2019Leave a comment

Hi everyone! My latest artwork is ‘Psychedelic Elephant’, an amateur A2 size original art piece, drawn with pencils and coloured with oil pastels, produced purely for therapeutic fun 🙂 Please see below 50 progression photos, hope you enjoy viewing 🙂

I started off by sketching my cartoonish ‘Psychedelic Elephant’ with professional Derwent soft graphite pencils.

I then concentrated on the background, using colormate oil pastels to create my psychedelic effect original art.

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And here it is, the finished artwork, hehe! 😀 😀 😀

Hope you enjoyed seeing my ‘Psychedelic Elephant’ progression photos! 🙂

Please keep a look out for a Prague travel blog coming very soon. Art wise, I have a few pet portraits in the line up as well which I am drawing for friends/family… so watch this space!

Peace and love, Lauren xx

(Please visit my Facebook page ‘UnicornPostbox’ to ‘like’ and ‘follow’)

unicornpostbox

art / craft, travel / theatre

Tag: Drawing

‘James & Gina – Forever in Love’ – 30 progression photos

‘Twit Twoo’ owl drawing – 30 progression photos

‘Under The Sea’ drawing – 30 progression photos

‘Namaste’ – Indian inspired drawing, 25 progression photos

‘Beth and Josh – Forever in Love’ drawing, 27 progression photos

‘Beautiful Mum’ drawing – 15 progression photos

‘Jack and Jessie’ Springador drawing – 35 progression photos

‘Spencer and Debbie – Friends Forever’ drawing – 60 progression photos

‘Charlie the Chocolate Lab’ drawing – 45 progression photos

‘Psychedelic Elephant’ – 50 progression photos