Backyard Shed

I posted recently that I’d gotten back into Copic markers and gave a sneak peek of my Copic drawing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to work on that drawing for a while because I was waiting for the delivery of a new gray marker that I had bought. I will finish it though (eventually)!

I thus finished the one below first. It’s from a photo of a shed in my backyard. I used this website to turn the photo into line art that I could use to color in. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Also, this is the first of a series of scheduled posts that I’ve written. What with the semester starting next month, I wanted to pace myself so that this blog wouldn’t be abandoned yet again. You can expect posts every two weeks for a while. I hope this will help my efforts to resuscitate my blog!

K

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Blog Revamp

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog or you’ve seen it before, you may have noticed that something has changed… practically the whole website! I decided to change the theme, because I felt like my old theme was too traditional for me, what with the serifs and monotone palette. Not that the theme itself is bad, but I guess my tastes have changed.

I do feel somewhat conflicted about not having my header picture with the logo. I tried adding it, but it felt sloppy and wasn’t well aligned with the rest of the features. I guess I get quite sentimental and attached to these things and that it’s time to let go.

I’ve also spent quite a while categorizing my posts, because for the past ten years that I’ve been blogging, I haven’t used categories! When I learned about them, I thought it was too late to add them to all of my posts, but I decided to undertake the task and just do it. And I have succeeded!

I hope you like the new updates. Let me know what you think!

K

I’m Free!

Hello, everyone! It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve last visited my blog!… oh wait, it has been, hasn’t it? It’s been five months… and I’m happy to say that my exams are now over and I’m graduating soon! I’m also taking a gap year before I go to college, so I’ll have loads of time to do art and post on my blog. I look forward to taking more care of my blog during that time.

I haven’t finished any showable pieces yet, but I have made an online portfolio, so if you checked that out, I would be very happy. It has some pieces that I haven’t posted on my blog (from my International Baccalaureate exhibition) so I hope you enjoy it!

The link is: http://kristinecho.wix.com/portfolio

K

2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 45 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

End of the Year: A New Start

It’s the end of 2013 and therefore a new start tomorrow. But for me, that is happening in more ways than one. Today, I’m leaving a country I’ve lived in for 11 years and going back to my hometown. It’s exciting, worrying and nerve-wracking all at the same time. Which is not lightened up by the fact that there is a snowstorm in New York right now…

So, I won’t be able to post for around two weeks, unfortunately. But at least I’ll finally be able to upload pictures of real snow, rather than the fake one that is falling down.

But there is some unfinished business here for this blog: New Year Resolutions. Let’s see how I’ve done this year!

• Upload Illustration Friday posts regularly. Now, this is debatable, but I’d say check!
• Write travel guide for Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, no… But with more time in the U.S., I’ll be able to!
• Continue book reports. No… sadly, no…
• Draw things unrelated to Illustration Friday and post. Check!
• Get 100 views in one day. This is my long-term goal. I haven’t done it yet, but I won’t let that get me down!

Two out of four… I could do better next time. And for that ‘next time’, I’ll write some new resolutions!

• Write travel guides
• Upload progress of drawings (not only finished projects)
• Explore the WordPress community of artists: I’ve found it’s wonderful!

And, as usual, my long-term goal of 100 views.

Thanks to everyone for a great year!

Happy New Year!

K

Blog on Fire Award

Today I woke up to a pleasant surprise: I have been nominated for the Blog on Fire Award by creativeliz! Thank you so much!

The Rules:

List 8 random things about yourself:

• I go to a school that is literally on the equator.
• I am allergic to cats but not dogs.
• I can recite eight poems off the top of my head.
• I used to be afraid of saying the letter ‘V’ because I thought it would call vampires.
• Recently, I made a list of phobias I have. In total, I have 14.
• I think Google is the best invention ever. Wikipedia is a close second.
• I cannot watch scary/action movies so I read the plot on IMDB instead.
• I like green as a color, blue to wear, pink as furniture, and white as a game piece.

Nominate 8 of your favorite blogs and let them know:

hannekekoop

Lorna Alkana

aaronpocock

Runderella

Aaron the Ogre

Vivian Cheung

Mary P. Williams

The Illustrious Peacock

Thanks again for the award!

K

Happy 2013!

So, another year has passed again, and another one has started. Lots of things happened in 2012, like the U.S. Presidential Elections, the (not) ending of the world, and, personally, my starting of high school! For my blog, I’ve also undergone many big changes, like turning it unofficially into my art blog and joining Illustration Friday. At the end of last year, I made a few resolutions for this blog. Now it’s time to check out how many I fulfilled!

• Get 100 views in one day. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do this one yet again. However, I did make a new personal record with 76 views in one day with this post! That counts as something, right?
• Write travel guide for America. Check!
• Upload more drawings. Definitely checked!
• Make better header. Check!
• Collect more subscribers. Check! In fact, this year I have gotten 18 more subscribers! Thanks so much everyone!

Now, for my new resolutions:

• Upload Illustration Friday posts regularly
• Write travel guide for Niagara Falls
• Continue book reports
• Draw things unrelated to Illustration Friday and post
• (Get 100 views in one day: I shall never give up!)

So, these are my new resolutions. Have a great 2013 everyone! And let’s start fresh like this little sapling!

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

New Record!

My record for most views in one day for this blog was 75 views, set on January 2009. But that record is now broken! On October 19th, I got 76 views for this blog. Thanks to everyone who helped make that happen. 🙂

As for updates, I am currently working on Illustration Friday’s new theme: Sky. I’ll probably post it in two days, but that depends on how much free time I have. I won’t give out any spoilers about the piece… yet. 😉

K

End of the year

Well, it’s now the closing of the year, although it seems like just yesterday that it started. I’ve done so many things this year, like getting a new art program, going to America for the first time in four years, and, probably one of the biggest events, getting braces. There’s also been some great changes and incidents for this blog, like using tags, writing my 101st post (now actually 110!), and, the truly greatest change and event of all, moving my blog.

At the start of this year, I made some New Year resolutions about this blog. Since it’s now the end of the year, it’s time to check how many I fulfilled!

• Finish the Paris and a bit of Belgium page. check!
• Post events on time, not the day after. check!
• Write more often about my daily life. (this one is debatable but) check!
• Fill my posts with pictures and drawings. (also debatable but also) check!
• Get 100 views in one day!!! definitely not checked…

So I’ve got all of them except one! Great! Now, for next year’s resolutions (with the unfinished one from this year included):

• Get 100 views in one day
• Write travel guide for America
• Upload more drawings
• Make better header
• Collect more subscribers
• Receive Freshly Pressed! (for long-term, not only next year, because it is highly improbable)

Another five for next year (not including the long-term one, which would make it six), and hopefully I’ll be able to complete all of them by the end!

K