Art from my childhood and teens

[luzula]

So I lived with my parents for almost two months, and spent some of that time looking through the huge pile of art that I made in my childhood and teens. It was interesting to see what occupied my mind, though sadly, a lot of it wasn't dated. Let me share some of it with you...

First, one of several unicorns with wings! I especially like the little wings on the hooves--I mean, Hermes has wings on his sandals, right, so why not? Also the little twinkly star at the end of the horn.


A hoopoe (härfågel). I think I've never seen one, so I was probably browsing bird books.


Awww, pterodactyls with bright colors! They look like they're on one of the small islands in the archipelago at the coast where I live. This one is dated; I was 14.


When I saw this one I immediately knew that it was fanart for Peter Dickinson's The Blue Hawk--it's the scene where the main character climbs out of the huge ravine out onto the peaceful sheep meadow. See the precipice in the foreground (that sheep is walking awfully close to it!) I loved that book, and still do.


The great thing about this one is how the princess (fairy-princess? she has a wand...) is combined with sauropods browsing from the treetops. *g*


Another dinosaur! I think this was drawn free hand, but I did NOT compose it myself--I was copying an illustration from Robert T. Bakker's The Dinosaur Heresies, which I loved.


Awww, fan art for The Secret Garden.


A shoe, probably for a school assignment--shoes did not greatly occupy my imagination, I think.


A self-portrait, fairly accurate, I would say.


A cat! There were lots of cats, even though we didn't have one. Hardly any dogs until we actually got a dog, after which there were lots of drawings of her.


And finally, a dragon resting on its hoard; I can't tell if it's fan art for something, or just a dragon in general.


...I hope this turns into a meme. : ) Not sure how to tag it though, I don't have an art tag.

Comments

[china_shop]

That's so cool! These are all great! I especially like the colourful pterodactyls, the self-portrait and the dragon, which has such an appropriately possessive air about its hoard. And I'm wondering what happens if the unicorn's hooves all fly in different directions! *g*

[luzula]

Well, I think the wings on the feet are mostly decorative. *g* And actually to me the dragon looks fairly sympathetic, although yes, possessive, too? I do like the smoke coming out its nostrils...

[aria]

Oh I love these! Especially the self-portrait, it really does look like you :D

[luzula]

Hee, thanks! I had longer hair then, though, it was blond and curly.

[jesse_the_k]

A lovely find.

Your hoopoe is quite accurate. Of course the shoe is my favorite.

[luzula]

Oh, have you seen a hoopoe? And I do like the shoe, it's just that dinosaurs were clearly more on my mind...

[isis]

These are so cute! I love Hermes Unicorn, and all the dinosaurs. And your cat is very cattish!

The self-portrait certainly looks like you.

[luzula]

Aww, thanks! It's fun to get a view into what occupied my mind back then.

[chestnut_pod]

Your unicorn/Pegasus has excellent engineering! I’m sure those fetlock wings are great stabilizers.

[luzula]

Fetlocks, so that's what that area is called! *knows nothing of horses*

Hee, yes, I'm sure engineering the flight capabilities was the reason I put them there...or not.

[mergatrude]

Aww! These are so great!

The dragon reminded me of the cover of my copy of The Hobbit, but a little more dinosaur-looking. *g*

Sadly, I think most of my high school art has gone to landfill (long before recycling was standard).

[luzula]

The dragon could have been from The Hobbit? I don't remember.

Aww, that's sad that your old art was thrown away...

[nnozomi]

I love these! The unicorn is just what I would have been drawing at that age if I'd had any drawing talent whatever; and I love the fluffy-spiky cat--you could make a very respectable postcard out of that--and all the surprisingly realistic dinosaurs! The dragon makes me think it should be fanart for So You Want to Be a Wizard, do you know that one?

[luzula]

The dragon makes me think it should be fanart for So You Want to Be a Wizard, do you know that one?

No, I don't! It could conceivably be for The Hobbit, though I was never into that as much as LotR.

I love how all these pictures demonstrate that I was both into Sciencey Dinosaurs and Sparkly Fantasy Unicorns.

[mific]

These are great! Lots of talent - do you still draw as an adult?

[luzula]

Aww, thanks! I kept a sketchbook for a while in my early twenties; since then, nothing. I guess it's one of those hobbies that fell by the wayside, sadly, because you can't do everything. In the unlikely event I ever grow bored and have nothing to do, I guess I could pick it up again...

[genarti]

I love all of these! What a fun find!

(I only read The Blue Hawk a couple of years ago, but I loved it. It's really a marvelous book.)

[luzula]

Yes, it was a fun find! I hope more people do the same...

I can also recommend Dickinson's The Ropemaker if you haven't read that! But yeah, The Blue Hawk will always be close to my heart.

[genarti]

I have! Twice, and loved it both times. I think The Ropemaker was the first Dickinson I picked up because I found it randomly on a library shelf, and then a couple of years ago I remembered how much I loved it and went looking for more by him, and found The Blue Hawk that way. Just really lovely thoughtful, different books -- I never know from the premise where a book of his is going to go, but I always enjoy where it takes me, and it's always in a really thoughtfully built world.

[luzula]

I find that older children's fantasy books are often much more unpredictable than modern YA fantasy, which I appreciate!

[solo]

Those are so cool, you were talented even then. I'm particuarly intrigued by the random leg at the bottom of the (fairy?)princess pic. Whose is it? Did the sauropods gnaw it off?

The kitty is fluffy and delightful!

[luzula]

I've never posted any art before, and don't really make any nowadays--it's just something that has fallen by the wayside.

Ha ha, yes, I have no idea where the random leg comes from. : )

[baronjanus]

Lovely stuff!

[luzula]

Thanks. : )

[seascribble]

Aww it's sweet your parents kept all your art. I like the shoe.

[luzula]

They've been begging me for years to come and take it off their hands...

[regshoe]

Oh wow, these are great :D And such diverse styles, too—I like the sort of chunky lines you used for that cat. And the dinosaurs! Aww, I love the hoopoe—excellent choice of subject (I've never seen one either, and can remember being fascinated by the pictures of them in bird books as a child).

[luzula]

Aww, thanks, I'm glad you liked them! Sometimes I regret not doing any drawing/painting as an adult, but you can't do everything, I guess.

[starshipfox]

The dragon has an oddly sweet and kindly face! These are a lovely record of your interests. I love the hoopoe! I remember being made to draw my shoe in school -- I think it's a common exercise (and soooo boring).

[luzula]

Hee, that is certainly not my shoe! I did not have any high heeled shoes...I don't know whose it was.

And thanks, I'm glad you liked them--they certainly are a fun record to have.

[hyarrowen]

All of these are great, but my fave is the cat - I love how you've captured the essence of a cat in just a few strokes.

I admire all your choices of subject, apart from the shoe, of course, and a school assignment explains that. I had to draw bottles. Naturally I put the most work into a price sticker on one of them.

[luzula]

Hee, I thought for sure your favorite would be the dinosaurs, but the cat is nice, I agree. Thanks! : )

[dhampyresa]

I love these!

[luzula]

Aww, thanks! : )