Feeling like a kid again in more ways than one

Recently, two simple occurrences made me feel like a kid again. Firstly, was the ending of the latest Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens teaser trailer. I don't care what the fan boys (and girls) say but episodes I through III sucked big time. Seeing Han Solo with Chewie again brought back all those long forgotten memories of me as a five-year old totally enraptured with the Sci-Fi world that George Lucas created. I have high hopes for what director J.J.Abrams will bring to the Star Wars franchise. Notwithstanding his lame 'Vulcan is destroyed timeline' in the last two Trek movies, he actually made Star Trek cool again. I am hoping he can do the same to the Star Wars franchise.   

Line drawing - initial rough outline of Princess Leia Organa

Drawing is approximately 1.1X enlargement of the black and white photo printout

On my12th attempt at portrait drawing using graphite pencils, I was moved to draw the most famous royalty in space i.e. none other than Princess Leia Organa. At this stage of the drawing, I have managed to draw a rough outline of her portrait, followed by extensive work on her hair. The drawing is approximately 1.1-times larger than the black and white photo reference I am using. Next up is the shading of her skin tone which will give me an idea if I need to further darken the shade of her hair.

Drawing of Leia's famous buns, roughly 80% completed

To get a more detailed view of the hair, I used an iPad display of Leia's colour photo

Secondly, the missus got me a brand new set of artist grade coloured pencils - Derwent Coloursoft 72. Why should a set of coloured pencils make me feel like a kid again, you may ask? Well, as a very young kid (a long time ago, in a galaxy where you live) a lot of my 'toys' comprised stationery (as well as second hand books and bootleg music but that's a story for another day). Stationery!!?! Yes, stationery as in paper and writing instruments. That may seem sad but I was actually very happy as back then I drew almost every single day. After all these years, one gift that stuck to my mind was a Staedtler 36 coloured pencil set from my mum. So this new set made me feel like that kid again, one who was in love with art before the public school system wrenched ... nay, beat it out of me.    

A brand new set of artist grade coloured pencils courtesy of the missus

I guess my attempts at drawing again is an unconscious bid at recapturing my youth (Freud eat your heart out!). But this time around, I am setting a very high target of achieving a quality work that is sellable. No, no really, please stop laughing. I am a firm believer of the idiom If Anything Is Worth Doing, It's Worth Doing Well. While producing such a high quality work may (or may not) be beyond me, I am sure as hell going to enjoy every moment of my journey trying to get there. Now excuse me while I go draw ... and paint, that too. We mustn't forget about the miniatures now, must we my precious? FourEyedMonster was last seen scrambling towards Mount Doom with a light sabre and a tricoder. He will return upon successful completion of his latest quest to paint the Hexcast Sorceress.