Delinlea, auteur op Delinlea - My little fantasy world

♥ Drawing Lesson 5; Colored Pencils

12 september 2019 by Delinlea Leave a Comment

Hey Lovelies! Today I wanted to write the last drawing lesson of the year, since my favorite season is approaching fast now. I have so much stuff I wanna blog about so I will set this one as the last drawing lesson. I am not sure if I will pick it up next year, depends also if people wanna see more lessons/tips. Let me know down below!
Today I wanted to cover colored pencils. It’s like the next step after graphite. Just like myself, I was scared of using them when just starting out.

Scary

Most people who start drawing, start with graphite. At a certain point you want more, experiment with other materials. Often artists choose colored pencil next, just like me. But, when I just wanted to start with colors, I got scared of using them. I mean, they look really intimidating, so many colors to choose from. Where the heck do you start?!

What to do

What I did, to overcome my fear. Just limit your amount of colors you wanna use, just to get used to draw with them. Pick basic colors, like for skin, a light color, medium and dark color. This way you can give yourself some space and not get stressed of which color to use next, just focus on shadows and highlights. Just like you would with graphite. When you get used to them you can add more colors and play around to see what works best for the subject you are drawing. It can sometimes surprise you what colors you would use in a certain subject.

Practice

Practice is the only way to get better. Just keep going and it’s okay if you mess up, because from your mistakes you can learn. Sometimes it is better to practice with colored pencils, to play around with them, in some easier shapes, draw some circles on paper and try to make them look 3D, as if they will pop off the paper.

New colored pencils

When you have a perfectly new box of pretty colored pencils, I never wanna use them haha. But that’s not where you got them for. I often try to swatch my colors on the paper I wanna use them for. This way you get an idea how the pigments grab to the paper, how hard/soft they are and how the coverage is. Specially if you wanna worked on toned or black paper, it’s important to see how opaque the are.

These are some swatches I made of Caran D’Ache Luminance 6901 Colored pencils on Strathmore toned tan.

Wax or Oil

I have no clue if I need to tell more about colored pencils, well, yeah, maybe that there are oil and wax based colored pencils. Prismacolors for example are wax based. Faber Castell Polychormos are oil based. It’s just way they make them. It is up to you what type you love, again, I have said this many times, it’s up to you what you love and what fits in your budget. But If you start out with colored pencils, don’t buy those very cheap ones you can get at any toy store. Those are usually very hard and barely pigmented. You won’t enjoy drawing with them.

There are a lot brands out there that have good quality pencils. But whatever you are able to buy, what fits into your budget, it’s always good to start with. The more expensive doesn’t immediatly make you better or someting. It comes down to your technque!

Lightfastness

This is something that’s usually stated on the pencils in some way. When you are just starting out it’s not something that’s very important. When you start selling your work it get’s important. Why? Because you don’t wanna sell an artwork that will fade in a few years.

I am not going deep now into lightfastness, I feel like that is something for another time.

I hope this drawing lesson is a bit helpful again! Like I said, this is the last one of this year. I will see if I will be back next year with more!

Love
Danielle

♥ Free Pattern; 7 Dwarfs Ufufy

5 september 2019 by Delinlea 1 Comment

Hey Lovelies! Remember I made Dopey of the 7 Dwarfs of Snow White earlier this year?! Well I made his friends finally, couldn’t leave him alone! And it feels also perfect with fall kicking in. I don’t know I always think of dwarfs/gnome with fall xD. So, here’s today’s pattern. The remaining 6 dwarfs, Grumpy, Sneezy, Bashful, Sleepy, Doc and Happy.

For this DIY you’ll need:
♥ Yarn in the colors; Beige, Brown, Yellow, Dark Pink, Light Orange, Light Yellow, Light Green, Blue, Light Blue, Light Brown. (I used Budgetyarn.com and Stylecraft Special DK)
♥ Fluffy Yarn in White.
♥ Crochet Hook (I used a 2,5mm hook for the ‘normal’yarn and a 3mm hook for the fluffy yarn).
♥ Stuffing.
♥ Scissors.
♥ Sewing Pins.
♥ Yarn Needle.
♥ Felt in Black.
♥ (Fabric) Glue.

Stitches used (US Terms):
Magic Ring.
BL = Back Loops.
FL = Front Loops.
CH = Chain.
SLST = Slip Stitch.
SC = Single Crochet.
ST = Stitch.
Inc = Increase.
Dec = Decrease.
(…) = Repeat the space in brackets the given number of times.
[…] = Total number of stitches.

Color Scheme for each Dwarf

Name Shirt Pants Hat
Grumpy Dark Pink Light Brown Light Brown
Bashful Light Brown Light Brown Light Blue
Doc Light Orange Light Brown Light Green
Happy Light Brown Blue Light Yellow
Sleepy Light Green Light Green Light Blue
Sneezy Light Brown Light Brown Light Yellow

For all dwarfs you alse use the colors Beige, Brown and Yellow.

Pattern

The pattern will be the same as Dopey, which you can find here. With some alternations. Look carefully which color you need for which dwarf. The faces will give each dwarf the personality, so look carefully at that.

Body

If you have a different color for the pants make sure to change color at row 16!

At the body, row 12, you worked in BL make sure to keep the first stitch marked. When you finished the body, work in the front loops of row 12, to make a part of the rim of the shirt but also his beard.

Beard, work with your fulffy yarn:
Skip 5 st, 7SC, 2HDC, 2DC, 2HDC, 7SC and leave the remaining 5st as they are. Fasten off and weave in tail.
The stitches you skipped you will SlSt with the matching color of the shirt. Fasten off and weave in tail.

Arms/Feet/Belt/Hat

These are all the same as Dopey, no alternations, just check you are using the right color for the right dwarf.

For those dwarfs, you don’t have to make the ears, they will dissapear under the hat anyway. You can tho, if you still want xD.

Assemble your dwarfs as described on Dopey’s Pattern. And once again, make sure to check what each face looks like, this will give the difference for each. For Doc I made him some little glasses out of wire, so adorable!

I hope you enjoyed those instuctions. The 7 dwarfs are finally complete! Now I miss Snow White, I’ll make her one day!

Love
Danielle

♥ Happy Birthday to Me!

30 augustus 2019 by Delinlea Leave a Comment

Hey Lovelies! Guess what it is today?! It’s my Birthday! That’s why I am a day late with uploading, because I really wanted to upload on my day xD. And to celebrate I wanted to give you this adorable cupcake pattern, with a very naughty dragon. I guess it likes cupcakes as much as I do! Are you ready to celebrate with me and enjoy this pattern for now?

What you’ll need:
♥ Yarn, StyleCraft Special: in the colors Cloud Blue, White, Walnut and Wisteria (+ some extra scrap pieces in colors of choise for sprinkles.)
♥ Crochet hook. (I used a 2,5mm hook)
♥ Stitch marker.
♥ Stuffing
♥ Yarn needle.
♥ Sewing Pins.
♥ Safety Eyes, 8mm
♥ Scissors.
♥ Sparkly Thread. (optional)

Stitches used (US Terms):
Magic Ring.
CH = Chain.
SC = Single Crochet.
ST = Stitch.
FSC = Foundation Single Crochet. (Optional)
FPSC = Front Post Single Crochet.
BL = Back Loops.
FL = Front Loops.
Inc = Increase.
Dec = Decrease.
Slst = Slip Stitch.
(…) = Repeat the space in brackets the given number of times.
[…] = Total number of stitches.

Pattern Cupcake

Cup of the Cupcake + Cake
Start with the color Cloud Blue.

1: 6SC in Magic Ring. [6]
2: Inc all around. [12]
3: (1SC, inc) 6 times. [18]
4: (2SC, inc) 6 times. [24]
5: (3SC, inc) 6 times. [30]
6: (4SC, inc) 6 times. [36]
7: BL! 36SC. [36]
8: (FPSC, BL 1SC) 18 times. [36]
9: (FPSC, BL inc) 18 times. [54]
10: (FPSC, BL 2SC) 18 times. [54]
|
14: (FPSC, BL 2SC) 18 times. [54]
Change to the color Walnut
15: FL! 54SC. [54]
16: (2SC, inc) 18 times. [72]
17: 72SC. [72]
18: 72SC. [72]
19: (2SC, dec) 18 times. [54]
20: (7SC, dec) 6 times. [48]
21: (6SC, dec) 6 times. [42]
22: (5SC, dec) 6 times. [36]
23: (4SC, dec) 6 times. [30]
24: (3SC, dec) 6 times. [24] Stuff the cupcake around here.
25: (2SC, dec) 6 times. [18]
26: (1SC, dec) 6 times. [12]
27: Dec all around. [6]
Fasten off and weave in tail.

Frosting
Use the color white.

1: Ch 16, insert in second ch from hook, 15SC, turn. [15]
2: Inc, 12SC, dec, turn. [15]
3: Dec, 12SC, inc, turn. [15]
Repeat row 2 and 3 until you have 36 rows!
Note, you always increase at the same side, and decrease always at the same side.
Note 2, I don’t use Turning Chains, but you can if you feel more comfortable doing so.
Sew the first row and the last row together.

Pattern Dragon

Head
Use the color Wisteria

1: 6SC in Magic Ring. [6]
2: Inc all around,=. [12]
3: 12SC. [12]
4: 12SC. [12]
5: 3SC, (inc) 6 times, 3SC. [18]
6: 18SC. [18]
7: (2SC, inc) 6 times. [24]
8: 24SC. [24]
|
10: 24SC. [24]
11: (2SC, dec) 6 times. [18] Add in the eye between row 5 and 6. Stuff the head around here.
12: (1SC, dec) 6 times. [12]
13: Dec all around. [6]
Fasten off and weave in tail.

Ears (Make 2)
Use the color Wisteria

1: 4FSC. [4]
2: Dec, 2SC. [3]
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Horns (Make 2)
Use the color White.

1: 3SC in Magic Ring. [3]
2: Inc, 2SC. [4]
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Feet (Make 2)
Use the color Wisteria

1: 6SC in Magic Ring. [6]
2: (1SC, inc) 3 times. [9]
3: 9SC. [9]
4: (2SC, inc) 3 times. [12]
5: 12SC. [12]
|
7: 12SC. [12]
Fasten off, make the foot flat and close the opening.

Arms (Make 2)
Use the color Wisteria

1: 6SC in Magic Ring. [6]
|
4: 6SC. [6]
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing.

Tail
Use the color Wisteria

1: 6SC in Magic Ring. [6]
2: 6SC. [6]
3: (1SC, inc) 3 times. [9]
4: 9SC. [9]
|
8: 9SC. [9]
10: (2SC, inc) 3 times. [12]
11: 12SC. [12]
|
14: 12SC. [12]
Fasten off and leave a long tail for sewing, stuff the tail as well.

Assembling

Before I sew anything together I use sewing pins to position all pieces, this way I can easily move around things until I like it. I recomment you doing this as well.

Sew the frosting to the cupcake, mine came around row 20/21. With a piece of white yarn sew a straight stitch along the top edge of the frosting. Pull both ends of the yarn and knot it tightly.
Assemble the dragons head, sew on his ears and horns. Also stitch on some ‘frosting’ with some white yarn. Then sew the head on top of the frosting, in the middle.
Position his feet, arms and tail as well and sew those on if you are happy. You don’t have to position them evenly to give it a silly look.
Last stitch on some sprinkles with some scrap yarn in colors of choise!

I hope you enjoyed my little birthday gift to you! This won’t be long online. And if you made this little cutie, make sure to show me on social media!

Love
Danielle

♥ Vegan Brownie Cashew Bites

22 augustus 2019 by Delinlea Leave a Comment

Hey Lovelies! Today, I wanted to share a quick recipe, because who doesn’t love snacking while crafting?! Better do it healthy~, right?! Some time ago I bought a bar simelar to those bites, and it was pretty expensive. I loved it too much, but buying it again, wasn’t too fond of that. So I tried to make my own, and that worked! These are so easy to make and taste so good! I have no chocolate cravings at all when I have those around. I hope you will enjoy those Brownie Cashew Bites as well.

Recipe

Ingrediënts:
♥ 75 Gr                Rainsins.
♥ 90 Gr                 Dates.
♥ 50 Gr                Cashew nuts. (I used roasted)
♥ 1/2                    Lemon (use the zest as well as the juice).
♥ 1 Tbsp              Cacao powder.
♥ 1Tsp                 Vanille/Mint/Orange extract. (optional)
♥ 2 Tbsp              Dried Coconut, grated. (Optional)

What you need as well:
♥ Blender.
♥ Teaspoon.
♥ Container to store it in.

Put all ingrediënts, except the coconut, in a blender and mix until it becomes a paste. Sometimes it stays a bit dry, try to add a tiny bit of water.
Using the teaspoon to scoop out bite size portions. Using your hands to roll it into balls. Drop the balls in the dried coconut and cover them completely. I did use coconut because it is so sticky, but you can totally skip this if you don’t like the taste.

Best way to store it, is in the fridge. It will stay good for quit some time. But I wonder how long it will stay stored. I can’t get my hands of it! xD

I hope you will like those bites as much as I do! Enjoy!

Love
Danielle

♥ Drawing Lesson 4; Paper

15 augustus 2019 by Delinlea Leave a Comment

Hey Lovelies! It’s drawing lesson time! Today, I wanted to talk about paper. Some people say it’s not important and use printer paper. But in fact it is very important. Maybe not when you’re just starting out, but when you’re gonna start drawing more professional, you might consider using better quality paper.

Acid Free

Acid free?! Why?! I hear you thinking, but it is one of the most important things to check if you buy paper. It has to do with the life time of your paper, how long it will last. If there is Acid in your paper, it’s most likely gonna affect the paper itself, it can turn yellow over time and becomes brittle. This goes even faster when it is exposed to light and or heat.
When your paper is acid free, you or others are able to preserve it longer. This makes the risk of damage to your artwork less. And if you are a professional artist, this is one of the things you want!

Texture

There’s a lot of paper to choose from. It’s very personal to what the outcome of the final artwork will be.
Texture is also often called the tooth of the paper. It can be very smooth with almost no tooth. This will hold less layers of, for example, colored pencil. But smooth paper also gives a smooth result.
You’ve also heafy textured paper, you can feel all the bumps in there. This is usually considered that it will hold a lot of layers.
Ofcourse there are many variations in between. It all comes down to taste, what is the result of your artwork that you are aiming for? Do you like to layer a lot? Or not at all? Also, what medium works well on those papers?! It’s totally up to you, what one artist likes, doesn’t mean you have to like it as well. Often, over time, your preference change. That’s good, that means you are growing, wanna try other things.

Below some close up’s of Paper I use.

What type of paper

There are so many papers to choose from, it’s sometimes hard to make a decision. But it already helps if you know what you wanna do with the paper before buying, do you wanna use if for graphite or colored pencil, for soft pastel or mixed media, watercolors maybe. On all papers it is stated where you can use it for, this makes you range already smaller.
It’s also helpfull to check what other artists use and how their result is on that particulair paper. This gives you an idea of how the paper acts. Though, keep in mind that your technic may be different so your result might be different as well. It all comes down to testing. Often at stores you can get test sheets of the paper, so you can feel it, draw on it. See if it is something for you.

Personal

In the end, paper is a very personal preference. For example, when I just started out with pastel, I bought canson mi teintes paper, since a lot of people I followed were using that as well. It was so frustrating for me to work on that and stopped trying with pastel. Even tho I did invest in a lot of materials. After some time I came around some different paper for pastel and tried that one, but that wasn’t my thing either. After a lot of time past I got my hands on pastelmat. This was the solution to my problems, it wasn’t my technic, it was the paper. I am able to have fun with pastel now.

This shows, what works for someone else, doesn’t have to work for you. Just keep trying and not giving up. You will find what fits your style!

I hope this blog is a bit helpful, and helps you with your art journey! It’s fun, give everything a try, and ask your supplier for sample’s, you don’t always have to buy to try paper out! If you have more questions, I am always willing to help you out!

Love
Danielle