Self-Indulgent March

March involved artsy instagram accounts, Brit lit reading, and experimental drawing techniques. School-wise it was rough, but I made it to the other side.

*Life Hacks*
Driving Practice 
The majority of the adult population may know how to drive so feel free to laugh, but yes driving is a useful life skill. I'm not the most comfortable with doing it but I've been forcing myself to practice so I can get my license before the summer. It's pretty cool being able to get myself to destinations out of walking distance.

Jukebox the Ghost Concerts
I technically saw the Jukebox the Ghost concert at the very end of February but I've been thinking about it weeks into March. I want to make it a priority to see more concerts. It's honestly a great human experience.

*Beauty Choices*
ModCloth Grace Notes Dress
I adore ModCloth. It's my favorite online clothing store. Maybe my only online clothing store. It's just got the cutest things and always a perfect dash of vintage. To get to the point, I bought my prom dress there and I'm kind of in love. It's flouncy when I walk around in it. It's such a pretty cut. I just love the way it makes me feel when I wear it.

Pantene Hair Smoothing Creme 
In my years-long quest to find quality hair smoothing serum, my friend may have just pointed me in the direction of something that works. The Pantene line is just fantastic.

*Recent Readings*
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
I didn't get to do any pleasure reading in March but oh well, I did a lot of reading for my british literature class. I'm writing a research paper on Mrs. Dalloway, the book that popularized Virginia Woolf. I didn't necessarily relate to Clarissa but the stream of consciousness style was incredibly unique.

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
Another Brit Lit reading, Gulliver's Travels is pretty hilarious. I love the lilliputians, that section had me smiling and laughing audibly as I read it. Swift is the king of satire. It's funny how these books we read aren't really so modern but they remain really good at what they do.

*Internet Obsessions*
lorraineloots
Time for some art instagrams. Lorraineloots I've been following for a long time but might as well discuss her here since I'm working on my february watercolor series (yes, it's march) inspired by her. She is incredibly talented and I am in awe of her style. I kind of want to be her.

elfandiary 
This guy is also an amazing watercolor artist. I even purchased the same watercolor set he uses, that's how inspired I am. He just has such a crisp, realistic drawing style. I'm so impressed.

*Art Explorations*
White Charcoal on Craft Paper
Another life drawing class. This time I brought some old brown craft paper and tried sketching and then adding white charcoal on it. The dark background really makes the white stand out.

Water Brushes

My grandmother insisted I buy this. Basically how it works, you take off the body of the brush. It's plastic and hollow and you fill it with water. The bristles are made of this cool synthetic material and you can squeeze the brush slightly and water flows through the bristles like ink through a pen. Pretty interesting.

*None of these images, excluding the charcoal figures, are my own

UNICEF Club

I'm an officer in my high school's UNICEF club. We raise money and awareness for children's relief. March is world water month so we've been promoting the tap project. As someone who is artistically inclined of course I wanted to make some posters. They feature a pipe and a drip of water, along with cell phones for the time challenge and a link to the website to try it out.

Along with the posters I made water drops with facts on them. They promote the tap project and educate people in the process. We definitely take proper sanitation for granted. 

Drawing Nudes

Today I have something very exciting to talk about, my first nude figure drawing class! There's a group that organizes life drawing sessions about 10 minutes from my house. Of course Hannah, my partner in creative crime, had to check it out with me! 3 hours long, here's a breakdown of what I drew and how my figures developed. We started with 30 second drawings which I don't have a photo of, but they were practically impossible. And the timing continues from there:

5 minute drawings

10 minute drawings

20 minute drawings

The final 40 minute drawing

I actually feel really good about some of these drawings. I think for my first time doing this they turned out pretty well. It was nice to do some drawing just for myself.

PaperPanduh Haul!

I finally received my package from the most adorable online shop I've ever found - PaperPanduh! I am addicted to looking at cute stationary online so in the past I've forced myself to indulge as rarely as possible. I knew that as soon as I started buying stickers and pens I would never stop but PaperPanduh is the store that has cracked me. The website is so simple, the product shots so lovely. I want to buy everything. Here's a rundown of what I purchased.

First of all, my order came in a beautiful gold foil padded envelope. Inside the padded envelope my purchases came in a pretty floral paper folder. Within that the products were wrapped in green tissue with some twine. The whole thing was so fun to open. Best of all, she included some extra stickers and a personal note to me. So sweet.

I bought beautiful little crane scissors, and three felt tip pens. I loved all the available colors so I got one of each kind; pink, cream and mint. I used my terrible phone camera to take these photos but they still photographed so well.

But I can't forget the original point of this order, the stickers. They are gorgeous. I bought the brunch stickers, tea cups, and perfume bottles. Did I need these in my life? Absolutely not but I could not resist.

In conclusion, I've lost my mind when it comes to my new sticker addiction but Emma, the woman behind PaperPanduh is lovely. There was a mix-up with my order that she easily helped me to fix. The whole purchase was a wonderful experience.