communitySILLYING

Note to the Newbies: New Here? Not sure how you stumbled upon this strange and exotic page of the internet? Clicky click HERE for an explanation for all the scribble.

Hello kittens!
Or should I call you my ‘nibbles of interest’? Perhaps something a little less derogative next time. I’ll keep working on it.
I just thought I’d drop you a line to keep you excited and thinking of our future together. Not that I want to push you into any commitment you don’t want to make.
In this enticing entry you will find:
-Community Speed Dating
-Top 5 ways to Inspire You Silly

I’m really happy this has grabbed some attention (especially you, you’re great.) but we need MORE. Let’s build our own little community! Let’s bake cookies, join hands and sing songs around the campfire. Nothing to lose right?
So as a little warming up exercise, this is a time for COMMUNITY SPEED DATING. This is an easy way to make friends as quickly as Pokémon trainers do.
Simply tell me/us:
Your name:
Your age:
Your location:
Your favourite art style:
(Optional) Your favourite flavour of sandwich:
Simples? I think so!
Fill that out and I can almost SMELL those imaginary peace cookies. Mmm, hypothetical chocolate.

What next on the agenda? OF DREAMS.
Do you think that you might lack motivation for DAILY drawings? Well no fear, citizens. Captain Inspirafun is here (note to self: draw that!). You’ll find out where I scavenge around for inspiration for my art and things that might make drawing every day a little easier.



Something that I’ve been doing for a while is daily checking blogs and journals of all sorts. Mostly film/videogame related ones but recently my friends really got me into some fantastic art blogs and I went out searching for my own. I’d encourage you to do the same! (And tell us of some really interesting ones!) Most of these are updated regularly and I always find them fantastic inspiration for my art work.
Here are my top 3
1: http://www.booooooom.com –A wonderful mixture of talent. If you’re new, its fun to peruse the archives for things you’re interested in. Down the side there’s LOTS of links to other lovely places.
2: http://www.sharesomecandy.com –If you’re not much of a reader and need a quick injection of inspiration. This is fantastic to flick through. Always something bizarre to get your –creative- juices flowing. If you’re interested in one particular artist you can find all their work in links at the side.
3. www.blogspot.com GET SEARCHING. Often, once you find one fantastic blog that inspires you it’ll open up a world of others. This is one I’m not WELL versed in but if you know any, don’t forget to comment. Here’s a few of my favourites. For Patterns! For Fashion!


I was shown this link, by Vicky, a follower of the project, and I think it’s really useful to show you. Click Here
Once you go on Amazon, you’ll find heaps of books for helping someone with something that’s similar to a Visual Journal. It’s all very well looking around for inspirations on the internet but I think if you have something in your hand it makes a real impact. I will be ordering my copy shortly and if you’re tentative to buy anything I’ll do a small review and regurgitate what it says. Or you’ll just have to ask Santa very nicely.
Look at the recommended section further down the page: Here are a few I found that could be useful:Illustrated Life
Artists Journal Sketchbooks
Decorated Journal

(Be aware I’m giving links from the UK Amazon. If you’re from another part of the world; get searching!)
From an illustrative point of view, I also think comics/graphic novels would be a great idea to include in the journal. Check out Amazon for some How-to books. If you’re generally interested in comics and what’s out there, the Forbidden Planet blog is a really great place to collect snippets of comics. Click here to see!


I love deviantArt. It’s where I gained a lot of confidence in my own art which has pushed me forward to put my work out there. It gets some stick for sometimes being a little /too/ nice. But as long as you keep up the art and progress then I see nothing wrong with it. As well as being a super place to weave your way through a friendly art community, its search function is extremely helpful for looking at lots of ways to take one concept. This gives you plenty of different angles to work with which I think is fundamental in art before you chose the one that means most to you. If I’m going to draw a dragon, let’s say, I’ll search for ‘dragon’ and –whilst crying inside a bit at the endless talent- get thoroughly inspired by others. (That doesn’t mean copying though.) Let’s just say deviant Art has been extremely kind to me and check out mine – Mindless Plug Alert Especially check my favourites and supporters though, because there are some fantastic artists to see.
If you have any more art networking site you’re involved in, send me a link to your page! :]


Going back to an earlier point about having things in your hands help you, recently found that my school library just throws away the old Vogue magazines. But in Maddy-world NOTHING gets thrown away and I managed to salvage them. I discovered Vogue is MASSIVELY inspirational, obviously to those interested in fashion but you can find uses for it whoever you are and whatever you do, including graphic design, illustration, photography, collage, fine art etc! It’s such a good resource for getting body proportions and faces right and if you get just ONE good copy next year, I promise you, you’ll find plenty of inspiration.
Of course any fashion/arts magazines can be used for the same reason.
Check out titles like ‘Bizaar’, ‘Jelly’, ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘ELLE’


The last one is so simple yet so effective. No matter how much this entry might seem like I’m encouraging staying inside, scouring the internet and stacking your bedside tables with books and magazines galore; the outside world is really where our inspiration can thrive. If you’re stuck for a day of what to draw/do; have a walk to nowhere, go out in your garden or –if you don’t have a garden or are suffering from a sever case of ‘the lazies’- look out the window and have a nose into other peoples’ worlds. You’ll be surprised how fresh air can make everything seem clearer and not enough people do it now-a-days.

Footnote: Twitter is the latest cool thing to be into. It’s hip and down with the kids. MOST of the sites are now involved in tweeting interesting things and it’s a good way to check for updates without having to individually check every site.

I hope this has got you salivating again and remember this should be about YOU. So if you have anything interesting you want to share then comment below. Or you can drop me a line on the spanking new e-mail (no spanking allowed) indievisual@live.co.uk (yes, I made a specific email-let me have my fun!)

I’m hoping, after some business has cleared in my personal life, I can start promoting this full-throttle and explaining a bit more on how to get started. What to do once you get your book. Have you all got your book by the way? Cos you may want to asap so you can start preparing it.
If you’re near a shop called Paperchase (and if you’re not I feel bad for you cos it’s amazing!) and you like brown paper there are some cute little brown books with LOTS of pages that would be kind of ideal for this sort of thing.
That’s all for now folks, don’t forget to keep on spreading the words like butter over warm toast and getting inspired!

(Drawing. As promised. SHABAM)

I'll hopefully be writing more updates soon. Been filming a few things too.
Have a great week everyone!
Happy scribblings,
-Maddyx