3 THINGS I HAVE LEARNT FROM TRAVELLING

This year I travelled a bit around the UK, to London, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow and made more of an effort to explore around the city I live in too. I also travelled to California! It was my first time going to America and my first time getting on an aeroplane on my own. The amount of freedom and confidence and empowerment I felt from doing this was extremely overwhelming. So here are three things I have learnt from travelling!

• I am more able than I think

I got through security, an 11 hour flight, then a changeover, then a half hour flight! without having a breakdown lol. I didn't realise how travelling alone is something that I am able to do with such ease. I was really in my element and it didn't feel weird to me at all. Anyways I was able to do a lot more than I could have ever imagined and it was such a breakthrough!

•  I love aeroplanes

I still cannot fathom how an aeroplane can just take off into the sky and fly for such a long amount of time. I was so mesmerised by it. I have always been obsessed with planes. When I was younger I would demand my dad to drive me to the airport so I could gaze at the planes landing and taking off. I was curious and envious of their final destination and all the different reasons people were on the aeroplane. Also the perspective you get of the earth from the sky is unbelievable. It made me extremely appreciative of God's

beautiful creation that is the earth.

• I need to do this more often!

From exploring my city, Liverpool, and tasting food from all the unique restaurants to exploring Brick Lane in London to seeing the historic architecture in Glasgow to going to California! I thought I just NEED to do this more! I've learnt so much about myself and the world around me, in my four month summer break, and want to continue to do so.

Where have you travelled to this year, and what has it taught you? I would love to know.

Amber x

CASS ART STUDENT AMBASSADOR 2016

Since around September 2015 to July 2016 I was one of Cass Arts Student Ambassadors. The whole experience was so much fun and I got to meet lots of extremely talented artists from all over the UK.

One of the most exciting things we got to do, was hold our own exhibition in London. We came up with the concept, name etc and presented all our artwork in an exhibition on Brick Lane.

This is the piece that I decided to be a part of the show. It's called 'Unresponsive'. This piece, when I initially started it, was just meant for experimenting and doing something a bit out of my comfort zone, however I loved the end result, and it is now one of my favourite pieces I have created in the past year.

"A comfort zone is a beautiful place... But nothing grows there".

If you haven't heard about Cass Arts student Ambassador programme, you should definitely check it out and consider giving it a go, if you are in the UK and studying an arts subject.

Amber.

20 STORIES HIGH 10TH BIRTHDAY

20 stories turned 10 this year! So me and Rebecca, created these Polaroid photo frames. We created 10 to represent 10 shows that 20 stories high have performed over the past 10 years. Click HERE to visit 20 Stories High website and check out their shows past and present.

Amber x

YAYOI KUSAMA

Last week, I was in London and decided to go to the Victoria Miro Art Gallery, to check out Yayoi Kusama's installations.

This one is called 'All the Eternal Love I have for the Pumpkins'. 

And this on is called 'Chandelier of Grief'.

If you are in or around London, or don't mind taking a trip to London, I highly suggest that you go and see these two mind blowing installations by such a creative artist. It such an epic experience, as each person gets to go into the room alone, to just spend a few seconds (literally) to admire their surroundings.

Amber x

CALIFORNIA

I was blessed to be able to travel to California with my aunty. I stayed in Coachella Valley with her, were the temperature reached at least 44 degree celsius everyday! I got visit Santa Monica, Hollywood, Malibu and some other beautiful areas. So here are a few pictures from my time there.

FKA TWIGS

I did a quick ink painting of FKA Twigs. Below is a sped up video of me creating the FKA Twigs painting. 

TRIBAL MARKS

Here is a video and two pieces of artwork I have created, based on tribal marks that are sometimes used in African culture. I looked in particularly at the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria and the meaning behind their kolo markings/ scar decorating. I read about how some of the scars can signify a persons hierarchy within the tribe, or they are sometimes worn by marriageable women to show they are willing and determined to endure the pain of child birth.

LONDON PHOTO DIARY 9/2/16

CHINESE NEW YEAR LIVERPOOL 2016

DRAWING WITH WACOM TABLET + ARTRAGE 4/4

I saved the best til last. Well in my opinion. With this piece I wanted to add colour and create something interesting and out of my comfort zone. I think this piece can be perceived as grotesque. It kind of looks like the womans face has been cut in half and the red/pink colours are flesh. However I didn't intend for it to look like that, I just liked the contrast between the reds, the blue and the yellow, and I think this can be interpreted in many different ways.

Amber x

DRAWING WITH WACOM TABLET + ARTRAGE 3/4

With this piece I carried on with the blurred/ moving theme. With this I drew out the face with the pencil tool on ArtRage and then used the clone tool to make it look like it's fading away. I've never created art like this before, it looks quite serious and deep. My main focus with this piece wasn't creating something that looks like a photograph, but something that conveys raw emotions.

Amber x

DRAWING WITH WACOM TABLET + ARTRAGE 2/4

I really liked the sense of movement in my previous piece and therefore wanted to try and do some more work that was similar. I rarely give names to my art but I've titled this piece 'Dancing Rose' as it looks like the 3 roses are in a ballet class and dancing. The main difference between drawing with pencil and paper and drawing digitally is the time. Drawing digitally, especially with a tablet is so quick because you don't have to keep sharpening your pencil or looking for your rubber etc.

Amber x

DRAWING WITH WACOM TABLET + ARTRAGE 1/4

I've been experimenting with the Wacom drawing tablet and ArtRage which came with tablet. This is the first piece. I used the pencil tool to draw a hand then a clone tool to create duplicates of it. I then used a paint rolling tool to add the pink swirls at the top. The one thing that I really like about this piece is the sense of movement which is something I usually find difficult to create.

Amber x

PORTRAIT DRAWING + HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year!

I was asked by my friend, Andrea to draw her and her boyfriend as a Christmas gift, and I obviously said yes because I love doing portrait drawings. I tried something new with this drawing. I usually draw in sections but with this I did a really rough sketch with a pen then went in with the detail later with a pencil. Considering it was quite a quick and easy drawing to do, I think it turned good.

Amber x