Reviving old hobbies`

I used to draw all the time. As a kid, I wanted to be an artist. Studying art at GCSE kinda beat that out of me, and I haven't really drawn for fun since. It's hard to find time to sit down and make art happen. Work is long and tiring, and I don't ever feel like doing much when I get home.

But, the games I wanna make need art, and I'd like to do it myself without resorting to crappy MS Paint drawings. I know I'm capable to drawing, I just needed to get back into it.

Some of you may know that I'm a huge Harry Potter fan. I've got a Deathly Hallows tattoo, and I read the books around twice a year.

✌

A photo posted by Sophia Clarke (@sophiaaar) on Aug 12, 2015 at 9:06am PDT

On Monday, I'll be visiting the Warner Brothers studio in London to go on the Harry Potter tour. Needless to say, I'm really excited. My excitement spurred me to get out my sketchbook and draw. I could've practised just by drawing anything, but I know Harry Potter so well, and I have such a clear picture of what they look like in the books in my head, so why not draw them?

It didn't start out well. I kinda wanted to see what I could do from memory, and without any real practice. As in, I just went for it. It was mostly just random sketching so I could remind my hand what it feels like.

Gryffindor common room

Harry in the cupboard under the stairs

Later, I decided to actually look up some tips about how to draw people, and I tried to develop my style. Realistic stuff is fine, but it can look really bad unless you're 100% amazing at it, imo (I've always thought cartoonish drawing are cuter anyway, and I think they're fun).

 Not bad, I guess?

I kinda wanted to draw this picture of Emma Watson; partially because I love it, and partially because I wanted to practice facial expressions. I started out wanting to make it cartoon-like (hence the eyes), but I kinda felt like the shading in this photo is most of what brought across that expression? Idk but I went with it, and it kinda turned out weird.

Tbh I started to get bored, Realistic drawing is not really my jam, and it didn't even look good. Instead, I decided to bring together all the practising I'd been doing and see what I could do with Harry. I wanted to do something that looked bold and cartoonish, but not chibi or manga... Idk, I just wanted to see if I could develop my own style.

And I'm not that mad at it?! Even if he does look a bit manga. I wanted to do something distinctive with the eyes, because Harry's eyes are such a big part of the books (and I remember reading that they were almond-shaped, so I wanted to emphasise that). Obviously I still need a lot more practice, but I'm actually okay with the Harry drawing. I mean, look at how grumpy and disinterested he looks! That's what I wanted! I was aiming for pre-Hogwarts Harry, you see.

I'd like to get out my watercolours at some point and add some colours to these drawings. Bold lines with a soft palette could look strange, but meh, I wanna try! I love painting with watercolour.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my doodles. I don't know.