November favourites 2015

November November another month towards a new year. I am overwhelmed on how fast November just left me.

November is a tough month. Needless to say it got me learning more about myself and my time management. A few pointers i have to bring out to myself is to get myself to focus on one thing at a time.

*Before we move on to these favourites, let me address a sill typo i did at the painting above. I tend to misspell favourite as favorite. Fyi, I usually use "favourite". 

Without further adieu let's go on to the things that made me happy on the month of November! 

1. Pixi exfoliating toner 

This toner claims to make your skin glow as it is a exfoliating type. I started using this toner for about 2 weeks now, can't really say much about the glow of my skin. But! I can noticed my acne scars lightened and also my skin appeared smoother. 

2. oishi Marty's cracklin , salt & vinegar chips.

Oh god , I wish i could forget how tasty this junk food. This is too addicting.  

3. Innisfree mineral eyeshadow in shade 41.

This eyeshadow is a pretty unique one as it has a reddish brown with a hint of orange. When I get lazy i just use this as my eyeliner and also a hint colour on my eyebrows. And yes, I wear this colour often to school too!

4. Favourite colours of the month- Holbein watercolours in Marine blue, Gold and Quinacridone Gold.

I finally splurged on my first artist grade watercolours! Can i just dance around ? yip yip! 

I can't explain how these pigments go very smoothly on paper and how pigmented they turn out to be. I have not experimented all the colours but so far i'm loving these three colours. 

5. Maybelline mineral concealer. 

My skin got worsen from all the lack of sleep I got. So i had to go with a concealer to cover the guilt on my face. whats great about this concealer is that it does not feel thick and yet it glides on my skin smoothly. I usually apply this concealer without any foundation on because well you know... i'm just as lazy as a potato.

Now we're onto the month of December ,which is my favourite month of the year! 

I thank you guys for keeping in touch with my blog. I have a few exciting plans for next year and I hope to commit on the monthly favourites for 2016 and beyond! 

Happy holidays!

From Ashley 

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October favourites + extra painting tips.

October favourites

1. Coconut iced coffee

What happens when you want something hydrating and a energy booster drink ? It becomes double awesome! 

2. Wild Witamin c Ester facial creme.
I don't really splurge on skincare items as I believe it won't do much justice on my oily skin. However I stumbled onto this as I was searching for something organic and affordable and most importantly that can last me for months. Although the creme might be a little to the richer side, i haven't experienced any clogged pores ever since I started using this.

3.  W&N Cotman Cerulean blue & old holland green earth 
can't help it, I just love to feature my favourite colours of the month. I like to mix these two colours to create pastel like leaves/ vines.


4. Cass art Hot press paper 300gsm
If you like detailing then you might like painting on a hot press paper ( which has a smoother surface than cold press)
It is not easy to find hot press paper around malaysia for and affordable price. I bought a few gummed pads from cassart.com

5. Baked potato fries.
How can one not resist fries ? i have mine baked please.

6. Peaceful cuisine  
hearing the ambient sounds in the kitchen is oddly satisfying. His videos are so artistic and calming. a video i first watched when i was searching for recipes to make a iced latte variations.

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September sketches.

  September is the starting of autumn. 

I had cravings for ice cream, I miss the matcha softo from my visit to Kyoto years ago. Painting it makes me much more hungrier.

 Another experimental paint for mint chocolate chip ice cream. I personally think it would be better. But I have tried..

Pink soft serve. Can you guess what flavour it is?  hint: cherry blossom.

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September favourites 2015

1. Deep sleep pillow spray- There's something weird about this spray it gets really comforting when I spray it on my pillow before bedtime. This spray helps to keep me in a deep sleep, which is helpful for me to get away from looking at my phone before bedtime.

2. Carre de chocolat ( 70%) - I personally do not like chocolates- unless they're darker than 70%. The chocolates comes in a thin slice cube which is perfect for me not to feel overwhelmed with chocolate. 

3. Bossa nova - Always find it very relaxing while painting.

4.W&N cotman in intense blue- My favourite go to colour mix for shadows. Go ahead and try! 

5. Maste solid colour washi tapes in grey, yellow and turqoise - I love washi tapes and I cannot lie. 

6. Quitter by Jon Acuff -  I'm still halfway through this book. No doubt I like it because this book gave me a punch into the reality of reaching a job I ever want for so long. and once again, I'd still be persistent on painting.

7. red bean ice potong - Oh the nostalgia, perfect for hazy weather that we're facing in Malaysia/singapore/Brunei. 

I hope September was treating you well. Do share your favs here in the comments! 

P.s. Unfortunately I'm not joining inktober this year. I am currently cranking a lot of cool stuff for the month of December *hintprintshint* 

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August doodles : skulls + life

   August was a rather harsh month. Like a roller-coaster ride, travelling down the tracks endlessly with no end in sight. To pick up my brush to paint something leaving me feeling frustrated. Mind you I am pretty stubborn enough in my pursuit of art, until I realised I have reached the burnout limit.

My better half gave me advice to take a week away from painting. However, took me a while to get convinced that I need a break. Mainly because I was too obsessed with my progress as an artist.

Eventually I took his advice and boy, I'm glad I did.

My pause gave me clarity on understanding of my abilities and limits, I decided on improving my skills that I have been much afraid to face till this very moment.

I decided to give myself the challenge of drawing anatomy , particularly the skull. What I admire about it is of its irregular lines and organic shapes. Starting out with a few references which  gave a slight demotivating outcome. But overall with good practice, I think it's not that bad for a start.

Now onto the sketches!

The pencil sketch is the first one. I wasn't confident with the shapes yet hence the guidelines.

A few references from pinterest and some drew in their own expression.

My personal fav would be the side view. It just looked so badass.

Putting bright colours in it and a funny caption.

Here's the sketch of me trying to combine two elements : floral + skull

When you're stuck in a rut, always believe it shall pass - even if it feels like there's no end. Try to sketch out the things you're not familiar with and who knows you might begin to like it.

Random fact : Grey brush pens are awesome to sketch with. This is the brush pen I used to sketch out the silhouettes. 

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Of styles and self discovery + old paintings!

      Some small paintings I did around May i think. I was trying to find my favourite way to paint flowers. There are so many ways to paint a flower but I always want to discover new ways to have better connection with what I am creating.


        Majority of my paintings are created through my process of experimentation and self discovery. I always loved the poetic way an individual tries to find ones connection in the creation of art, hence my various styles.

             Also! You are welcome to stick around as I am planning to share my stories of how I started the fruitful journey with the medium of watercolor.

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Sketchbook pages : July 2015

Hello! 

Some of my fav sketches in my sketchbook. 

the peony is a sketch for a comission. Client wants it very batik inspired.  

Another revision sketch on the peony. 

Unfinished page on mushroom. I had a great fun detailing the wild mushroom ;) 

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoy soe of my sketchbook pages. I'll be posting more on this kind of series in future. 

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August Favourites 2015 + updates on life

I know this has been a very unexpected post. I've been away from the blogging scene for a few months now. My family is currently going through a tough time. My dad is currently hospitalised since the month of june. That's why I have not made any posts since then. I do face alot of ups and downs especially my doubts upon what i'm doing with my life. (let's not get too detail on that) 

But I'm keeping myself positive all times, read more books, eat well and exercise so I can keep my negativity away as possible.  

some stuff i really like for the month of august

1. Keep cup - my fav colour is green. so is the barista who intro this to me. we are happy campers.

2. Iced coffee - it's good for hot afternoons.

3. Kettle chips - Honey Dijon and sour cream and onion mm hmm

4. Key & Peele - my very fav esta  loco

5. Canon g7x 

6. Durians and lots of durians  - local durians are the best

7. W&N cotman brush size no.8 

8. W&N gold brown and rose opera - colours I've been using a lot lately

9. TED talk  - some vids i really love :
-.for introverts
-.for anyone who wanted to find their own style
-.be more mindful less distraction.


I'm trying my best to keep my blog alive as possible. I'll be posting up my sketches every now and then.

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May favourites 2015

This post has been on my drafts lately. I apologise for posting this a month late. I'll make another post to explain to you why. By the way the post below was written during June. Thank you for being patient :)

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Sorry for the delay of this post.

The month of may has been a good ride. mainly onto my productivity in painting.

1.Insanity workout

I started this during the second week of May. Not going to lie this workout almost had me staying in bed for the whole Sunday.

2. Vietnamese coffee

I can't say no to coffee can I ?

3. mint leaves 

I have a small garden patch to grow mint. After 2-3 weeks later the mint leaves kept sprouting. I didn't know I have a green thumb lol. 

4. face masks

I have grown a little tanner recently. Although i dont mind being tanned 

5.lemon

Fact: I always buy lemons whenever I do grocery shopping.

6. old pencil.

I am pretty sure this pencil I got it since high school. If you are curious it is the staedler 'F' pencil.

7. size 1 round brush

Pretty good with detailing. TIP : always invest in good brushes. Winsor newton cotman is good enough.

8. Winsor and newton cotman watercolour tube in "Turquoise"

Perfect for painting leaves and the greens.

9. Daler Rowney aquafine watercolour tube in "Payne's Grey"

I recently find myself using this colour often. Especially when creating darker tones 

10. Cleanser - Balance Me 

Bought this during the Luxola sale. What I like about this cleanser is that it not only cleans your face well but also removes surface makeup ( powder, sunscreen) 

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Things happen for a reason

                 As cliche as it sounds, it really does happen a lot in my life. One of the recent things that made a huge impact in my life would be the death of my 1 year old laptop.  

        As you know from my recent posts from twitter that i kinda get dramatic over this loss and my cold-turkey from my addiction to gaming. What happened that made my laptop died instantly was infact from a overheat issue from the motherboard...and the coffee spill actually gave the deathblow to it. 

          I was very mad at myself for being so slow in reacting. Perhaps the thought of spending big bucks on a new laptop freaks me out. Anyway, what brings me into enlightenment is that I started being more productive and more time spent away from my laptop. So I thought this may serve as a lesson to me - a pretty pricey lesson. To value time and the little things around you. I slowly forgive myself and continue to strive on. Time won't justify grudges. It just poisons you instead.

             It wont be long before I can save enough to get a new one - I hope. I'm giving myself a good month or two to fully focus on improving myself and my time management skills.

So to make things briefly. What I've learnt from this big mistake: 

1.Learn to forgive is something you should do before loving yourself. 

2.Holding grudges poisons you instead. So let it go.

I'm sorry if this post isn't helpful to you. I think I need awhile to express myself through blogging. Give me time :D 

P.s// I've recently joined bloglovin. So you guys can follow my updates as soon as you can! 

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April Favourites !

It is May 1st today and to those who are working, Happy Labour day! 

can you believe we're almost reaching the half year of 2015. That is very insane! 

My time during April started off pretty good but towards the end I faced quite a number of hiccups.

I'd probably talk about it in later posts.

A number of things that made me happy recently :)

1. Sleep
Not everyone can understand the luxury of sleep. To me, sleep is something I highly appreciate.

2.more pens! 
I recently found a case of coloured pens from muji that I bought few years ago. Cannot believe why I left it in the closet. It is a good pen for sketching too.

3. streaming music from 8tracks 
Listening to music is one of my inspiraton to get ideas to draw. Especially the happy indie music playlists. This one is one of my favs.

4. Steamed bun
I just like buns in general. I love them get toasty in the oven so you can get this crusty skin on the outside and juicy inside. yum!

5. Face mask 
They help me feel alive again for 20 mins. I like them cold from the fridge.

6. Hair pins
The must have for long bangs. Especially during workout. They fly around my face and that can get very annoying.

7. my own customised ink
I couldnt find a reddish brown colour of my liking. so I did some mixing- with browns, yellows and reds. I'm using this ink for the drawing above too :)

8. scones - cranberry scones mmmm...
my current favourite teatime snack. Best eaten during a rainy afternoon with bitter coffee. mmmmm...

9. Hand cream - currently using L'occitane cherry blossom 
It's really important to keep your fingers hydrated. Mine always get dry and it sometimes develop into cuts which is very painful when I paint.

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10 random things about me!

Hello everyone!

I hope you're having a great day today.I actually started this post a while back but I couldn't really make myself to finish it. You'll know why as you read on...

March favourites + thoughts

Whoa it's April already ?! 

some stuff that I've been liking this march

1. #GIRLBOSS
There are often times when I get a lot of free time at work. To make my free time less boring I downloaded a few e-books *ahem* to read. Reading this book inspired me to learn how to step up my game in making decisions and also taking opportunities. 

2. First aid facial cleanser
This cleanser is for lazy people like me that can remove makeup/sunscreen. I like. 

3. Chocolates
I love bitter chocolates.

4. Washi tapes
I'm not embarrassed to say that I love hoarding washi tapes. They're like little gems that look like treasures in my eyes. my current favourites - gold polka dots and the red stripes (??) 

5. coloured pens 
Another obsession - collecting coloured pens. I have no idea why they look like precious stones to me. But i love using this pink one from zebra serasa. pretty smooth writing for journals. 

6. watercolour ink - 36C Hyacinth Blue 
I always reach for this colour whenever i paint. It's a very pretty violet on a cooler tone. perfect for painting night skies and galaxies.

7. sunscreen
In my country, where we have tropical climate, it is very crucial to have sunscreen on. I learnt this lesson when I found out I have brown spots on my face. Those who have oily skin, try this one!  

8. Copic markers
This drawing was coloured using copic markers ;)

9. Steven universe
This show got me growing inside whenever a new weekly episode comes. Even the theme song is playing in my head now. 

10. COFFEE
I like mine with almond milk . Whats yours? 

11. mint
 I love adding mint leaves, orange and lemon slices into my detox bottle. Makes water even refreshing *u*


March has been a interesting month for me. mostly on self-discoveries and lessons learned in life, the emotional ups and downs ,having major art blocks. But it got better when i took the leap on trying out things I don't usually do.

     I use to draw faces and flowers alot, but I figured that I enjoy drawing florals and cute stuff too. Often at time I thought this might be very conflicting despite the discovery that I enjoy the style I am adopting now  compared to the one I had before. I was very clueless of what I really want and this goes on for days ( thus artblock happened).

    I had no idea how I managed to get out from the art block. But i took away something from it and that is that I should not limit myself to one method but freely explore different ways instead. Keeping an open mind is important and let that style in you emerge out as you put more effort in it. :)


By the way! 
I recently re-opened my etsy store so if you fancy some stickers and postcards ( coming very soon), feel free to browse in my shop! I'll be adding some cool stuff soon!

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Artist block - How did I cope with these monsters?

This post actually took longer than I expected. Probably it's my noob attempt to blog properly. Give me more time to practise this heh.

Every once a while these monsters can crawl up into you that possibly drains your passion out from your heart. Maybe after a project you just don't know what to do next, or having the self- doubt thoughts hitting in. or maybe you start to feel that you no longer enjoy what you're currently passionate about.  

I currently have this "artblock" moment since last week. Couldn't get good night sleep, having too many thoughts clogging up my mind. Usually my art blocks come and go naturally, when I am able to find new ideas to get inspired and such. 

But this time is different.This art block is too evil right in the core, which forces me to look in my underlying problems.

1) Making excuse to avoid the problem

I treat art blocks as a sign that I should ignore it and leave it till the day after. In this case this actually means me getting away from the problem itself. 

2) Self-doubts

 I draw because it makes me happy. But as I progress further, I'm pretty serious to produce more quality art to prep myself in becoming a indie illustrator. From there I unconsciously began to doubt myself that I can reach my ultimate goal. Well you know I think alot....

3) The wall
one of my greatest fears being the preverbial wall is in being able to move onwards and to adopt new changes to myself.

3) being a perfectionist 
This I am very surprised to find myself being so critical of the small irrelevant details. I'd say this is one of the main things that trigger the monster in me. I have my pride in my work and I take care of every details in it.

4) Being impatient
I'm pretty patient when it comes to painting but the irony is this - I disregard everything besides painting. I skip my everyday workout routines, I don't keep in touch with friends that often and I skip on my reading routine too. It's my terrible mistake to have this kind of habit. I got too into painting until it actually became a chore for me.


For some reason, I felt grateful to have this so called art block. It taught me to acknowledge myself more and give in to my terrible habits.

and now comes the bright side 'u'

I managed to come up a few ways to clear this monster out from my mind. Pretty simple but not easy for me actually, especially for a stubborn person like myself...

1) READ!!!!
Okay time for a confession - I never likes reading. Not until 3 years ago when I met a well-known artist whom I looked up to for gave me this advice and I still remember it very clearly - "never stop reading good books" she's my biggest inspiration that got me realize my inner passion to create art.

Reading helps me a lot! especially when it comes to biographical books. I like to wonder about their lives and imagine how it be if i'm in their shoes.


2) Sectioning your thoughts out.
This point here helped me alot. It is my natural habit to think haphazardly and that can mentally blow up my mind. Since i enjoy enjoy journaling , i try to write down my thoughts that my mind is thinking. And then I section them into categories which worries me alot. From there, I slowly write down a logical way to solve it.

Just an example of how I did mine ..

    problems                                                Solution

I'm scared to waste time                      make a priority list

I can't think on what to draw next         Read a book, relax and doodle etc

I cant find my style                      Keep practising, do not compare yourself with others.

3) deadlines
 I am very terrible at keeping self impose deadlines. I always end up procrastinating them. But recently i kept a discipline mindset to be serious on my own work, even if it's just a doodle. To make sure that I put my whole effort into something I dearly value of. Give yourself a reasonable deadline is also a good practice before you venture out to do freelance in future

4) Talk to someone
This is something that I'm most grateful of. Mind you I don't really have much friends to talk to. So to have someone to clearly direct my problems with is something really special to me. If you cant find anyone to talk out your problems with. I'm willing to listen :)

One of my experimental painting to get out from the monster in my head. Just splat colours and let it do its magic ;)

I do hope my tips can help you through this nasty monster out from you. I'm still learning day by day to be a better person. In fact I do think I have a lot more things to learn about myself.

I hope you have a great day ahead :)
Stay gold and keep hustlin'! 

Hsieying

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#Dear me - a letter to my younger self.

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Amazon.co.jp haul

Hello ~! How are you reader, I'm now enjoying my umeshu while typing this blog post :) 

I hope you are fine.

My package from Japan came the other day. I compiled of list of things from amazon.co.jp  since november last year with the help of my sister whose currently residing in Japan. Pretty exciting to try these babies! Oh look at that gorgeous dr.ph martin's ink bottles. *_*

From left: kuretake wink of stella pen brush (gold) , Pentel pen brush in black, Pentel brush pen, Pentel brush pen in grey and the refill cartridges.

I usually buy in bulk, to make shipping more worthwhile, or maybe because i'm a hoarder.. hmm..

Hoarder hoarder pants of fire.... 

I bought these two bottles, just because I couldn't make up my mind to choose one.

not pictured : W&N series 7 no.1 brush and dr.ph.martin's radiant watercolour ink set C.

I was already testing them out so i didn't take any photos of them.

Do share any thoughts on art materials and ask away any questions, I'll try my best to help :) 

Stay gold! 

Ashley 

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February Favourites 2015

Some stuff that made my february happy

1. Hair tie
My hair grew longer as weeks gone by. So i can't live with hair ties. Or maybe I should just chope em short..

2. Wet n wild megaslicks balm stain.
I admit i like to put some colour on my lips. But i don't fancy lipsticks as it tends to dry my lips. So a balm stain it is! another favourite will be the Revlon kissable balm stain !

3. MD diary notebook
My art diary. Where I plan out stuff to look forward too, goals to achieve and setting deadlines planner kind of thing. This planner helped me writing out my ideas and it does help me churning out doodles because of the smooth paper.

4. W&N cotman tube.
in shade "madder rose" a slight pinkish red. perfect for blush and soft pinks

5. W&N no.4 brush
This brush is good! pretty flexible enough to draw nice lines :)

6. Mono eraser
I bought this eraser during college time ( about 5 years ago?) i didn't get back to use this until recently. I had too much love for erasers till i can't bear myself using them.

7. Pukka tea - cleanse
Ahhhh tea. Such a serene word

8.almond cookies 
February is the month of the lunar new year! meaning you'll find a lot of yummy cookies and traditional snacks around the house. My most favourite one among all must be these almond cookies. YUMS

9.Tombow mono Zero eraser 2.3mm
I have this obsessive habit towards erasers. This is one of the things that caught my eye and i had to get it! This eraser is my go to eraser when I want to make detail sketch or line cleanup. it's soo tiny it can erase the tiny corners. That's something i don't have to fret much.

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January Favourites 2015

Inspired from favorites videos from YouTube , I figured maybe i could share some of my favorites here in drawing form. But I'm not a 'makeup guru' but a person who loves to draw. I add in some random stuff I really adore as per month ;)

So I have some of my favourite things that made me happy inside

1. Tv show : Bob's burgers
 It is one of the shows that i highly appreciate the animation details. Coming from a animation background i do know how tedious 2D animations are created. Thus how amazing the artists try to put so much life into these characters. Story plot obviously puts off a lot of face-palm moments, but i didn't mind much about that. I love gene. He sometimes reminds me of how my bf looks like when he's a kid ( haha!) 
2. Innisfree Green tea serum
This stuff is so good it actually makes my skin less oilier than usual. Light texture, refreshing smell. I've used up half of the bottle for 2 months now. Might want to repurchase this gem!

3. Innisfree eco brow pencil
I couldn't find a affordable brow pencil , not until i find this that is so reasonably priced. I'm a little reluctant to buy expensive cosmetics. 

4. Rohto ChuLip lipbalm
I bought this lip balm to reminiscence my moments with my beloved eos lip balm when i was in Malaysia. Very moisturizing, a good staple product to be placed at my work desk but it's a tad pricey.

5. Sakura watercolour pocket field sketchbox
This was a gift from my dear friend who's currently residing in the states. These palette is really good to begin with, pigmentation is above average ( W&N is better ) . Sometimes it might take a lot of strength to pickup a very pigmented colour off the pan. Sorry I have a bad sense of explanation. 

6. Blogilates detox bottle
Don't judge me. I actually bought this on impulse. I was fascinated by the infuser benefits with this bottle. I gave in that idea and bought one for myself to try. So far I've been using it everyday. I always put lemon slices and cucumber in it on the night before and let it refrigerate. I do find my tummy got flatter than before too.

7. Muji colored pens
I picked these up initially for journal purposes. I was amazed how smooth this pen can glide on the surface and i find myself searching for these pens for doodling.  

8. Tea tree oil
It's pretty humid and always sunny here in Brunei and thus of course the mosquitoes. So I often dab a few drops on my knees and elbows, where those mozzies tend to bite at. I really helped me going through the 'summer' days. It also serves a good killer for acne ;p

Although this is a rather late post. I'm adding it here to somewhat 'opening' my blog (??) Please do look forward for more updates here in my blog soon :)

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