As a lot of you guys know I do little vlogs every now and then and I really enjoy it, but it does get a little lonely in the long run.
As much as I love to hear my own voice droning at me from the computer screen, I enjoy talking and discussing with others more. That's why I am proud to tell you that soon, very soon a new video hangout will be up and running. It will feature me and some of my wonderful friends who are also illustrators. I will be hosting the very first show and I'm looking forward to it. I predict awesomeness!
I don't want to tell you what the hangout is going to be called and exactly what it will be about, but I can tell you that it will contain drawing utencils, nerdy and geeky humor, pretty ladies and alcohol (though no one has ever accused us of being lady-like mind you). What more could you ask for?
No surprises, no half truths, no false advertisement! Here there be PIE!
Even though this is not strictly in line with my usual subjects I just had to share this with you all. I made my first pie in December. It was a classic apple pie with caramel sauce and it was utterly delicious. Unfortunately my husband detests all manners of cake or pie that contains apple. He's not really a fan of pie in general really...
(I don't understand how such a thing is possible, how can one hate anything with caramel and apples in it?)
Anyway since then I've been determined to convert him into a pie lover! A task I imagine is slightly easier that converting people to the cult of the flying Spagetti monster, but he is a stubborn man so you never know.
These two certainly seem to think pie is the cat's pajamas!
This is my second attempt at making pie and after tons of research into different types of pie I decided to try baking Mini Peach Pies! They just seemed tart and sweet and perfect! Below are some pictures of my process.
I had pre-made the crust and put it in my fridge for two hours. Yeah that's right! I don't fuck around when I bake, I make it all from scratch. (cred, right?!) I rolled it out with my rolling pin...
And stuffed the dough into my mini tart molds, I brushed the bottoms with whisked egg and poked holes into them with a fork to keep them from buckling and being soggy:
In a bowl I put some chopped peach, sugar, cinnamon, flour, nutmeg and salt and tossed it around a bit. I filled my little pies with the filling and added a small lump of butter on top before putting on the lids.
At this point my kitchen looked like a small hurricane had blown through it, looked at the havoc I had wreaked and decided it's work was already done and went on it's own merry way. below is a picture from new years eve when I was cooking...this doesn't even come close to how it looked today! I'm the messiest chef you'll ever meet.
Here my lovely pies are cooking in the oven, becoming all delicious and golden!
Aaaand here is the finished result, six yummy mini peach pies. They smelled heavenly and tasted just as lovely.
I made two types of pie, one with a full lid and one with a snowflake shaped lid. Both ended up looking good.
Ooh just look at that little piece of tart! golden, crispy and juicy.
So the question that remains to be answered is, did my dear hubby like the pie? Yes in fact he did. He loved it, so all my hard work payed of. I can finally bake pies that we both will enjoy and I've converted the bastard to the great world of pie.
I wonder if he ever gets tired of me bugging him into trying out new things, because if you think this is the only hobby I have that he gets dragged into you are sorely mistaken, yes sir...or ma'am. You have no idea what that poor man goes through because of me :p
Or well one dryad actually, there is no plural here. I recently entered the latest ArtOrder "Nymph" challenge. "What challenge was that?" you might ask. Well, I could tell you but you know what instead of me doing a second rate job of it and skipping important details (because I'm whimsy and a bit forgetful) I'll just link it to you instead! Go here!
Even though I did not win the challenge I had a lot of fun working on this piece. Dryads are cool, I'll have you know( waves passionate finger about). I also struggled a bit for sure. I started the challenge in a sort of creative dry spell. Originally I wasn't going to do a portrait style image at all, but no matter ho hard I tried my other idea just didn't work out at all. So this was sort of the emergency plan.
As you can see I made the image look like a comic book cover, the title is just something I made up on the fly. Below you can see the image uncluttered by letters.
If you want to see the other entries in this challenge then you can check out the ArtOrder blog here!
)Oh books, I just love them!
I don't know what it is about them...or well, yeah I do. Books are generally made of pure awesome. The feel and smell of paper and ink is just magical, not to mention the magic that one can find within the books, all the stories they tell, the unknown worlds they transport you to.
I can remember sitting in my mothers kitchen when I was about sixteen, reading one of the Harry Potter books. It was winter and completely dark outside. I had turned of all the electric lights and was reading "Harry Potter and the goblet of fire" by the light of a lonely candle (tottally recommended btw, there is no experience like reading about magic by candle light). At that point in time I was a very insecure teenager, with a history of being bullied and feeling lonely behind me. It was all fresh in memory however. My saviors were books and art. Ever since I was a kid I used my beloved books to escape the real world. When I read my Fantasy books I forgot about my troubles and for a couple of hours I felt like a hero in an epic saga. I didn't feel lonely as long as I had a book propped open in front of me.
Part of my beloved bookshelf ^^
Now I'm an "adult"...I don't really feel much like a proper adult- Except for when I get bills in the mail and my heart slams on the breaks and momentarily stops. I would much rather stay a whimsy kid with a chunky book in one hand and a sketching pad in the other, but no such luck (damn you Peter Pan for tempting me with impossible dreams). Instead I've settled for the next best thing, I am now a whimsy adult with a chunky book in my messenger bag and a drawing tablet hooked up to my computer! I could be worse off ;)
This year I am dedicated to celebrating my love of books, and therefore I have set myself the goal of reading at least 15 books this year. I'm already at a good start so I might have to adjust that number up but for now 15 is the magic number. To keep track I've opened an account on Goodreads.com which allows me to make reading lists, track my progress and discover new wonderful books to read in the future. I urge you all to figuratively "run" and do the same!
So far my reading list looks like this:
1. The Hobbit by Tolkien - a re-read, still good, but not as good as I remembered.
2. A Clash of kings(Song of Ice and Fire book 2) by George R.R. Martin - Loving it!
3. The confidante by Hélène Grémillon - Absolutely hated it! Piece of sh#@ garbage...
4. The hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams - So much fun!
5. In bed with a highlander by Maya Banks - Not really for me, so won't be reading more in this series, but some ok smutty bits in there though ;)
6. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - Just started it and liking it so far.
7. A storm of swords by George R.R. Martin - yet to start
8. A feast of crows by George R.R. Martin - yet to start
9. A dance with dragons by George R.R. Martin
- yet to start
10. undecided
11 undecided
12. undecided
13. undecided
14. undecided
15. undecided
I have yet to decide what the books 10 - 15 on my list should be, but I have a bundle of titles in mind, and two book clubs that I'm following have a book every month that I can opt to read as well. I'm so looking forward to delving into the rest of this little project!
I hope you guys may feel inspired to do a reading challenge as well! If you want to you can friend me on goodreads and we can track each others process, I'm also a member of the Sword and Laser book club and the Vaginal Fantasy Book club which is free for everyone to join.
Since I love Fantasy literature it almost goes without saying that I love the "Sword and Laser" fantasy and Sci-Fi literature show. It is a part of the Youtube channel "Geek and Sundry" and there is a new episode every Friday.
One of the hosts of this show is the lovely, geeky and charming Veronica Belmont. I find her to be very approachable and that I share a similar taste in books with her. Also she co-hosts the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club with none other than Felicia Day, Bonnie Burton and Kiala Kazabee, which I find to be very enjoyable even if I rarely read a lot of erotica.
So pretty much on a whim I decided to draw a fantasy portrait of Veronica Belmont or should I say "Elfmont"and here it is:
(c) Anita K. Olsen Stoebakk
And in case you didn't know what the real Veronica looks like here is a picture I fished from the Google pond:
Yep, I'm back with a vengeance.
A new year is here and that means new content. After the epic collapse of my lifeline to the outer world (read: my laptop) I was forced to take a break in my video making. However I'm hopefully back on track now and you can look forward to more of me in the future! Huzzah!
So sit back and relax, and do try to enjoy my latest video.
Books I mention in the Vlog:
Jon hodgson - Fantasy Art for beginners
Gary A. Lippincott - The Fantasy Illustrator's Technique book
Burne Hogarth - Dynamic Anatomy
James Gurney - Imaginative Realism
Holly DeWolf - Breakin into freelance illustration
Darrel Rees - How to be an Illustrator
