Other Loves: Art

A while ago I did a post all about my love and passion for photography to showcase my other interests outside the blogging world. This time I'm all about the art. 

Art is a big thing in our family, my grandfather was an artist specialising in watercolour, and my sister is also an artist. My brother and I dabble, but we've never pursued it much further than the odd sketch here and there. I do wish I had all the time in the world to sit and draw for hours on end, because it really does take me hours to draw something like the images shown above. Alas, there isn't enough time in the day and I now rarely get out my sketchbook and pencils. 

The thing I love most about drawing is that it is therapeutic, all of my concentration is completely focused on what I'm working on and the world sort of melts away. The best part is when you've finished with the hours of outlining and shading and you're left with something you are genuinely proud of. I'm not the best artist in the world, I'm not very good at portraits of real people (as you can probably tell from my Jack Sparrow) and I need an image to copy from most of the time, but I'm good enough for me to be proud of myself once I'm finished. 

At the moment I'm attempting to learn web design, which includes using Adobe Illustrator, and it has got me thinking more and more about illustration and getting my pencils out to sketch. Maybe one day I'll buy one of those graphics pads and do a bit of digital art. For now though, nothing can beat the messiness of working with pencils, the hand cramps or the satisfaction when it is all over and done with. 

What hobbies and interests do you have that some might not know about? Do you find you don't have a lot of time to do what you love anymore?