Doodling Bella

First of all THANKS A TON for all the good wishes that came my way in my last post...

I am sincerely indebted to you all my dear friends. ThnaQ for all the love & support!

Some new friends have joined me - I WELCOME you all to Hues n Shades.

This is my much awaited post. I had been planning this for Sometime now. Without much ado....Introducing to my lovely readers:

BELLA SINCLAIR

I have been following Bella since 2009 & so I take the liberty to call her as one of my oldest friends from this bloggyland. Her artworks are like a breath of fresh air after a cool morning shower when the sun starts to brighten up the world. Her characters are alive and vivid.  They speak with a candour that amazes each and every viewer and leaves one & all stunned to the core. Her little angels have always left me dumb-founded and they, without fail, cheer me up whenever I feel low. They are magical and sure enough transport you to a different world. Bella is gentle, jovial, funny, sentimental and loving.

So here’s Bella Sinclair, The Best Doodler in Blogtown, in Meet An Artist…

Welcome to Bella Sinclair’s Doodlespot

I was wandering thru this wonderful place when I came across this particular illo and I was Captivated… I just looked at it for few minutes with a smile and a light heart. The next thing I did was I signed up as Bella’s followerJ

Here’s my much awaited chat-interview with Bella:

Hello Bella

1. I am asking the obvious question first and foremost, when did you start drawing? 

I don’t remember being an avid doodler as a child.  I think an earnest interest in drawing began in high school when I took an art class.  The teacher was wonderful and encouraging.  In college, I took another art class, but I found the professor to be more critical than inspiring.  I thought I wasn’t good enough, so I stopped drawing altogether.  Almost two decades later, I decided to draw as a hobby and I’ve been drawing and learning ever since.

2. Where are you from? Tell me something about your family?

I grew up in California with one older sister and parents who valued education, self-sufficiency, and integrity.  As a teen, I found California to be sterile and longed to escape.  I’ve lived in New York and Tokyo, but now with two kids of my own, I’ve come back to live near my childhood home in California once again.  I think I had to travel around the world to appreciate the wonderful weather and cultural diversity of my hometown.

3. Who inspired you to take up your passion? Who do you call your ‘Muse’?

Oh goodness, there are so many artists I admire.  I remember studying the drawings of W.W. Denslow while reading the Wizard of Oz series as a child.  Once I had kids of my own and started reading picture books to them, I found myself wide-eyed and filled with delight at all the whimsical and beautiful illustrations in them.  The pictures in books were more magical to me than even the ones hanging in museums created by the masters.  I love Maurice Sendak, William Joyce, Dan Yaccarino, Kinuko Y. Craft, to name a few.

4. What led you to choose kids’ as your theme for all your illustrations?

Kids are so much fun to watch.  When you put yourself behind the eyes of a child, the world is full of adventure and wonder and magic.  There’s a renewed zest for life, unjaded by the doldrums or cynicisms of adulthood.  That’s a feeling I would like to hold onto for as long as I can.

5. You certainly have a fantabulous imagination…how do you develop that?

This question really amuses me!  When I was much younger, I drew realistically from photographs.  But that made me feel like a human copy machine, devoid of my own creativity.  I think participating in something like Illustration Friday really helped me to look inward for ideas.

Sometimes, I will draw a scene from my life that I want to remember forever, like the sight of my younger child running toward me after school each day.  Sometimes I draw things I wish would happen.  And sometimes, I will just imagine things I like, for example Maypoles and peonies and elephants, and somehow all these separate images will weave themselves together into a scene – like elephants performing a Maypole dance decorated with peonies.

6. How do you go about creating your illos? Do you follow any procedure?

I draw with pencil because I lack the confidence to lay down anything permanent, like watercolors or ink.  Once the lines are drawn, I scan them into the computer and clean up any stray marks with Photoshop.  And finally, I add colors and textures in Illustrator.

7. Designing software, freehand drawing or the fusion of both; which do you think is the best?

Oh, I can’t decide!  People who are skillful in any medium, whether it’s traditional or digital, amaze me.  It’s all good!

8. What’s your motto in life?

I think I’m pretty much an optimist, so I would say ‘Keep Moving Forward.’  You can’t fix the past, just learn from mistakes to make a better future.

9. What’s your take on friendship in bloggyland?

I’ve met so many warm and wonderful people through the blogs, people I never would have met from my otherwise solitary and private life.  I think friendships formed online can be just as rewarding and meaningful as those formed face to face. 

10. Apart from drawing, what’s your other passion(s)?

I enjoy finding new recipes to cook or bake.  I recently learned how to make artisan breads.  Yum!  I also enjoy lazing around.  I’m pretty passionate about being lazy.

11. What are your strengths & weaknesses in your art? How do you overcome your weakness if you have any?

Strengths?  Hmmm.  I think I’ve become better at expressing emotion in characters with just dots for eyes and hand positions.  I think I could be much better at creating detail, however.  I love minute details, but I often lack the patience or capacity to create it.  I have dear friends, like Ces, who are experts in creating detail, and they give me the courage to push myself a little further each time.

12. Finally, what would be your word of advice to all the artists – young & old alike? (I am all ears…J)

I would have to say, create what you love.  It is very difficult for me to draw something when I don’t feel a personal connection to it.   Then, it’s like pulling teeth.  But when I have a strong, positive emotion for something or someone, the images seem to flow and it is easier to convey what I am feeling.  And the resulting work is more rewarding, too.

Thank you, Deepa, for inviting me to answer these questions!

Bella,I loved this!!! Coz that’s so true… I connect with it totally…

Thank you Bella for being so kind and giving me and my readers your immensely valuable time.

Love you, Bella; and your girls too… Sincerely I can’t get enough of you… Looking forward to more of your magical posts.

Friends, Do not forget to drop by Bella’s Doodlespot, surely you would be in a dazzling world… Before bidding adieu for now...one more of Bella's creation...

Until next post

Love ya