How do you draw a swirl, mummy?

Click on image for larger...image!

I have been getting quite caught up in these strange doodles lately!  This one looks like it is ready to start spinning and take off.  It all started when my son asked me about a photo he saw of the swirling milky way (not the chocolate kind, the one in the night sky...is it called the milky way?  Will have to check on that).  He asked me how to draw it, and we started talking about 'swirls'.  I showed him how to draw a simple swirl, and then later I made this swirly doodle ink drawing on paper, which I then scanned and added some colour using Photoshop and my trusty graphics tablet.  I might do a few more of these little fellows, maybe throw them together and make a weird fabric design for my Spoonflower shop.  Never know, it might be just the thing for someone's next quilt or party bunting...or not :P...........'til next time, from MM.

Sushi For Lunch

 Sometimes I have such a craving for sushi, I just have to make it.  It is too expensive to have it at a restaurant, so  I decided it was time to try my hand at making it myself.  Hooray for YouTube...I have learnt how to cook so many things from watching videos!  And I should also mention my good Japanese friend who is a great cook, and showed me the finer points and some cool ingredient ideas (Thanks, Mutsumi! :D) 

Well my first attempt was pretty pathetic...let's just say when my family ate it, more rice ended up in their laps than in their mouths.  However, I didn't give up.  I have practiced since then, and thankfully improved in my sushi rolling skills so that the rice stays inside :D

South Korean 'Kimbap'

I used to work as a teacher in South Korea.  There they call it 'Kimbap':  'Kim' means seaweed and 'bap' means steamed rice.  It is a pretty popular dish there, with even a hit pop song being made about it.  When I went for picnics and outings with my kindergarten students, the kind parents of the students would always make us delicious Korean food, and Kimbap was always there.  The parents would also make a mini bite sized version of it for their children which was so cute.  When I was running late and hadn't had time to make my lunch, I would quickly pop in to the kimbap shop down the street and grab a chonon (about 1 dollar's worth) kimbap roll, usually tuna and mayo flavour.  I was always impressed watching the Korean ladies as they expertly made it each morning.  They Probably wondered who the crazy foreigner was staring in at the shop window.  I don't think it was such a fun job for them, I bet they didn't get paid much.

Korean Kimbap usually has one special ingredient:  'Kimchi' - spicy fermented cabbage.  When I first arrived in Korea it was not my favourite ingredient, but as time went on I developed a bit of a taste for it.  I mean, every restaurant I went to usually had it as a side dish, and the school I worked at always served it for lunch with steamed rice, so it was impossible to avoid it.  Now I sort of look at it with fond memories in the asian food shop and think about good ol' South Korea :)

So anyway, the point of this little ramble is that my Korean Kimbap adventures were the inspiration for the drawing.  You can see the sped up version of the actual drawing on my You Tube Channel.  I might do a bit more work on this one and make it a print in my available in my shop.  Let me know if you are interested in purchasing one, or if you have any other suggestions for this sketch.

Sushi Cake

Oh, and if you now feel like having a go at making Korean Kimbap youself, check out this video by Aeri, from 'Aeri's kitchen'.  She makes some really good cooking lessons.  For something a little bit different, try this Sushi Cake from 'runnyrunny999's' channel.  I have yet to try this recipe but I want to one day, it looks so pretty with the pink rice!

So what about you?  Do you like sushi or kimbap?  If so, what is your favourite flavour ?  Feel free to comment :)

Bye for now :)
MM

Sneak(er) Preview.

Click for a larger image.

Today I decided it was time to do a little bit of promotion for my printable colouring book 'My Happy Flower'.  I'm im in the process of finishing a very short 'sneak preview' video and for the the M.Mosquito You Tube channel.

I took the sneaker image and couldn't resist doing some good old fashioned colouring in of my own, so that I could film it and include it in the video. The book is based around a little story in which a flower grows in a shoe which has been forgotten by its owner.

I broke out the Prismacolour pencils (ahh they are so soft and lovely to use) and got shading.  There is something so relaxing about shading, even when it is done at 2am when the kids are asleep.  I got a bit carried away, but it was a lot of fun.

Maybe I went a bit overboard with the dark tones, it turned out looking a bit heavy, like one of those tacky concrete flower planters you find in some people's gardens with mold growing on it (no offense to  anyone who has one in their garden, they are very stylish...no really :P)

Watch this space, the video will be ready soon (when my computer starts behaving itself again and lets me finish it)

Anyway you can grab a printable copy of the colouring book to use as many times as you like from here.  I reckon its a bit of a bargain, really, for only $5.50 (I mean, what can you get for 5 bucks these days?) But then that's just my opinion :P

Bye for now
MM

I've gone and changed everything!

For no reason in particular I decided to give my blog a bit of a face lift.  As if it wasn't bright enough before, I decided to go with a big pencil drawing theme with lots of chirpy colours...what do you think?  Too much?  I had lots of fun making it though.  Maybe I will get sick of it and change it again soon, but for now I am happy with it.  There are other drawing blogs which have a very sophisticated and professional look to them.  Don't get me wrong, they look very slick, but no matter how hard I try I always end up leaning towards the cute colourful image...what do they call it these days....Kawaii?  Kitche? (did I spell those correctly?) Anyway I love all that stuff.  I suppose I will never be a 'serious' artist, whatever that is. 

I remember when I was at high school and my friends used to say to me 'Oh you're good at art, but you're not a proper artist...you don't draw things like portraits and stuff', well ok so I'm not into that sort of drawing, but hey it has never really worried me that much.  The cute stuff keeps me happy.  Maybe one day I can achieve the serious artist image.  Hmmm what will  I draw next?  More big pencils...Hooray! :)))

PS:  Sorry if you are reading this and I have already changed the theme, and you are thinking 'what is she on about'??  Anyway it was sort of pencils everywhere all falling down with lots of happy colours and a big pencil as the banner...still doesn't make sense?  Ok don't worry its not important LOL :)

Bye for now
MM

How To Grow a Flower - Ink Drawing

This is the latest of my drawings for my YouTube channel.  I have only just found the time (or the free hands) to type about it, that is why I posted the video all by itself first...its difficult to type when I am feeding a baby...well it is possible but it would take me too long using only one hand :).  My computer is now a Mac, which is really exciting but I feel like I am learning how to use a computer all over again and things seem to take forever.  I just got used to windows movie maker for editing my drawing videos, even though it is so simple and sort of old fashioned, I could punch out a quick video frequently without having to really think too hard...now I am  using Apple IMovie, and its a bit tricky to learn but Im getting the hang of it.  It has some really cool transitions and other features (hence the cheesy ripple effect and funny sound effect at the start with the big pencil...I couldn't help myself :D)

 

Anyway I thought since people seemed to enjoy my 'Flowers are Fun' video (which was my first ever drawing video), I would do another version.  I think I like this one better, with all the bits sprouting from the outside of the flower...or is it spaghetti?  Who knows?  But I really enjoyed drawing this one.  This is a great activity for loosening up before you do another drawing.  I would like to  scan this one and do something else with it in the future, though.  A commenter on YouTube suggested making a collection of these black and white drawings and making them into a colouring book for children.  I think adults would also enjoy colouring these in as well.

 

Some people called this a 'Zentangle', which seems to be a growing drawing trend at the moment.  I have no idea where this word came from,  but I have always drawn these just for fun.  You can call it that if you desperately want to hehe :)

Anyway until next time, take it easy :)

From MM