Finally! Summer's finally here (well... if you live on the northern hemisphere) and most of us are on summer break. If you're like me and have some weeks without any plans like working or travelling it can get boring. 

To prevent boredom I write a bucket list every year with things to do during the summer. I like to do stuff I usually don't have the time for during school but always wanted to do.

So if you've already run out of ideas for stuff to do during the summer, don't worry, I got ya! Most of these things you don't necessarily have to with someone, so you're perfectly fine with this list if all your friends are on holiday.

Taking a pen between my fingers and creating small and simple drawings while listening to good music has always been relaxing to me. During this short time of concentrating on nothing else but the lines on the paper in front of me I forget the stress around me and let my thoughts flow freely.
Because I don't make enough time to follow my passion (and waste way too much time on looking at memes on Instagram haha) I decided to draw in my sketchbook more often.

I don't draw in directly in my sketchbook. I like to draw on a piece of paper and if I like the work, I'll glue it on a page. That way I only keep the nice drawings and I think it looks cool. Sometimes I write tips, proportions and techniques I used next to the drawing because my brain doesn't work and I forget stuff.
I also use the sketchbook to see my progress in drawing. I started to use it in 2015... I think.

So here are some of my favourite pages!




The first drawing I put in my sketchbook. It may look familiar to you because my blog logo's inspired by that drawing.






I don't know if you can tell but I freakin' love drawing eyes. My goal is to draw one so realistic people will freak out.




Here's a handsome green guy and another unfinished drawing that adds to the tiny pile of unfinished drawings. And by tiny I actually meant freaking huge.




And the latest page is filled with tumblr looking girls. Here I also used photos as "models". And oh wow, another unfinished drawing, what a surprise!



I hope you have a nice day!
-Sophie

I haven't been blogging since December last year because I lacked motivation and ideas. Still I don't want to quit this blog. Since I haven't been working on any paintings or drawings worth mentioning (because they didn't turn out as planned ugh) I'll blog about my favourite songs, movies and series from January and February.

Tell Me - R.LUM.R

Angel Zoo - Phlake

Too Deep - dvsn

Deja Vu - Post Malone ft. Justin Bieber

Love - Lana Del Rey

Selfish - Future, Rihanna 

Cigarettes and Cush - Stormzy ft. Kehlani

Best Me - Sylvan LaCue

Veins - LEO

And the whole freakin' Ed Sheeran album!!!! I just love this guy omg

This film made me cry so hard and I recommend it to every person that appreciates a good piece of art! It's so real and beautiful and I just love Ryan and Emma together and the songs are so goooooood skjfhkjnaks. It's a musical about two struggling artists trying to fulfill their dreams. trailer

 

A hilarious French comedy about a father with prejudices against everybody that isn't white and catholic. But one of his daughter's married to a Jew, the other daughter to a Muslim and one to an Asian. The fourth daughter's wants to marry her black boyfriend but her father does everything to sabotage the wedding. Trailer

Never have I seen a series this complex and exciting. I'm currently watching the third season and still each episode is damn thrilling.

It's difficult to explain the plot because there's so much going on but you should just watch the first episode and BOOM you're sucked in and won't want to stop watching, I guarantee!

I love love looove the weird sense of humour of this series because it's exactly my kind of humour! It all starts with Jessica Day moving in an apartment with three guys and then the chaos begins. 

Hopefully you'll check out some of my favourites (even though I suck at summarising plots sowyyy). Let me know which movies you liked because I love watching good movies.

-Soph :)

Every year we face the same "problem" over again: What to get our loved ones for Christmas. These people often deserve something way more special than just a simple bath bomb from lush. If you're still desperately searching for a present don't worry cause I got you covered.

For the last few weeks we've been working on a painting in art class that could be the perfect Christmas present.
Our task was to paint a famous person we liked. But we had to do a colorful and rather rough-textured painting of them where you can still see the strokes of the paintbrush. I quite liked the idea because it seemed pretty simple to do. We painted over a printed photo so you just needed to colour the photo.

I chose to paint Adele cause her contour and eyeliner are always poppin' haha (so the shadows are seen better on the photo).


Since the painting is so easy to make and based on a photo you could print a photo of the person you want to give it to or paint their favorite artist or whatever you like.

How to do it step by step 

1. Print your photo on a rather thicker paper in black and white.
2. With a sponge soaked in water I moistened the photo on both sides to prevent it from curling up as soon as you start painting. Attach it to a board with tape on the sides and wait for it to dry.
3. Now you can start painting (I used acrylic paint). It's easiest to paint it on an easel but you can do it without one too. I first coloured the photo with the bright colours and then the dark ones. With the darker colours mixed with water I could paint over the hair for example.
4. After you've finished painting you can take off the tape and your Christmas gift is done! 

Here's the original photo I used

The painting in progress

I've also made the same thing with Marilyn Monroe. But instead of painting on a photo I painted on canvas:

The photo I used as inspiration

First I sketched onto the canvas



Then I've painted the rest with acrylic paint





Hopefully this post has helped you to find a Christmas gift idea for somebody!
-Love, Sophie :)

If you're a student you probably know the stress before Christmas. Exams, exams, exams. So for the last couple of weeks I was constantly tired (even after drinking a huge coffee) and mainly studying (and of course having some mental breakdowns). Because of that I wasn't able to do the things I wanted like writing posts for my blog and painting. 

But sometimes you just have to take time for yourself and relax to stay sane.

So if you are stressed at the moment here are some tips on how to destress:

This always helps me to relax because the whole process of making a coffee, tea or hot chocolate just calms me down. Make sure to sit down and drink without studying or working cause need to have a break from all the thinking.

I know this is a hard one but it prevents you from procrastinating. To be honest I spent too much time on social media if I don't want to study. Also constantly scrolling through my phone doesn't actually help me to relax and I'm only wasting time. So instead go read a book, listen to some music, draw something or make yourself a healthy snack.

Self care is so important. So doing something for your body in order to calm down helps. You could paint your nails, have a long bath or shower and light some candles or just simply have a face mask.

Talking to a good friend or family member is another good way to destress. You can get things off your chest or just feel good talking again.

Personally, doing sports that makes me sweat and pushes me physically is a really good way to take my mind off the stress. If you're not really into sports going for a walk, stretching, simply just physically doing something can calm you down. 

I hope these tips could help you and if you're having like 3248 exams in the next few weeks... May the odds be ever in your favour.

-Love, Sophie