Zainab's Art Adventures

Hey there! I've been inactive for quite a long time, but I'm back now. :) This post contains sketches I've been making all this while, mostly pen. Those of you who have been following my blog probably know my preference for using pens over pencils for sketching. Something I love drawing: my hands and feet. I used to draw hands a lot but recently I realized that it had been a long time since I last did that. not bad, eh? I'm definitely NOT a natural. :p my sketchbooks are filled with lots of failed sketches like this one, lol. when you're bored during a workshop... I don't often get the opportunity to draw people; largely because no one sits still long enough to be sketched. However, sometimes I do doodle people during programs etc. when no one is looking. ;D  I drew these random people while waiting at an airport lounge with nothing else to do. I guess it isn't very ethical to stare at people while you're drawing them (o...

Long time, no post, I know . :/ I've been busy but I hope to be active on this blog once more. :) Here are some pen sketches which I made in Kashmir (on a trip to Sharda; Neelum Valley). I have been meaning to post these for more than a month but procrastination always gets in the way. :/ Kashmir was a wonderful place, definitely one of the most beautiful places I've been to. We got a chance to explore the place, and to absorb in the sights, sounds and smells of nature. These sketches (some reasonably refined, others quite unfinished) are an exploration of the natural beauty of the valley. Unfortunately (and contrary to the title of this post) I couldn't sketch any of the mountains. They just seemed too huge in their size, and too varied in their features and I really doubted I could capture the landscape with my pen and paper, although I do wish I had at least made an attempt to sketch them. But I did make sketches of other things. :) Here they are. This one was the ...

I have seen artists who sketch or draw special, unusual stuff only, but then maybe sketching is something very special for them. For me though, sketching is something very habitual and everyday; kind of like an exercise I try to do regularly, just to keep myself in shape. Thus the subjects of my drawings are also everyday objects - you are unlikely to find in my sketchbook a sketch of a pretty vase of roses but you are very likely to find a drawing of a pile of books or a cluttered table. I also tend to sketch  with pens rather than pencils  because then I can't erase or keep on trying to make my lines straight; I simply   draw , without criticizing my own work. While I'm drawing with pens, I am not expecting perfect end-results; instead, I am simply enjoying the journey, and am more at peace with myself. So here are some more pen-sketches. Although I have mainly used black fineliner pens instead of coloured ones, I have used coloured highlighter markers (one of my a...

Recently I began to realize that my drawings were loosing their spontaneity, that they were becoming more deliberate than ever, and that drawing was not meant to be so deliberate . This thought was somehow very worrying. :/ I had to do something to make my drawings as springy, spontaneous, and playful as I myself am. ;D  For that, I decided to do sketches purely with pens . No pencil under-drawings, and absolutely no rulers or compasses or geometrical tools whatsoever. I decided not to be too obsessed with proportions and straight lines and accurate angles, and focus more on the essence of drawing rather than its mundane technicalities. This one was the first drawing I did with my new mission in mind. I started off with the scissors and the jar and then proceeded to the surroundings. In this drawing you can see me and my siblings' joint desks, in its typical, natural, messy state. XD Even though the results are not very good at all, the activity was very relaxin...

I made this poster not very long ago. It didn't turn out exactly the way I expected it to, but I guess the typography's OK and the hatching(the computer chair and the man's suit) is not bad. Ta-da!  I made this sketch of Minar-e-Pakistan(one of Pakistan's famous historical landmarks) recently(using a reference, of course). It's really good, except for a fact that my silly little seven-year-old cousin put green pen marks in two places. D: and I had to get this one FRAMED!!!

I recently did this sketch. After all those fists I drew lately in a poster I didn't draw any more 'hands'. I completed this on Tuesday. This is a 'V' sign, or, more commonly known as 'victory' sign. I had a lot of fun doing it , especially the background hatching ( I learnt this technique in the book, 'Drawing Media') which I did with a blunt HB and a 2B pencil. My model for this sketch -my left hand! XD