A Small Wish List [7]

It’s that amazing time of the year: the time of Christmas wish lists! Usually I’m a master in composing page long lists of all the thing that would make my life Amazing, but this year I had to do some thinking. Some hard and long thinking to be honest. And although I still managed to compile a decent list (with the usual suspects being books) I’m also becoming a fan of asking for Useful Presents. Had anyone suggested this to me some ten years ago I would’ve audibly groaned at the idea.

Let’s start with books…

Because books are always a good idea! I love giving and receiving books as presents and I know I’m not the only one. Did you know people in Iceland give each other books on Christmas Eve? They then spend the evening reading. It’s called Jólabókaflóð and it’s pretty much my favourite Christmas tradition I discovered this year.

• If you don’t know Martina Flor and you’re into lettering, you should go follow her on Instagram. Last year she wrote The Golden Secrets of Lettering: Letter Design from First Sketch to Final Artwork. It looks pretty awesome and I think it will be the perfect addition to my small collection of books about lettering.
• The Art of Looking Sideways by Allan Fletcher is a ginormous massive books. Every “books for designers” list ever mentioned this books and I want this piece of pure inspiration in my home.
• Since And Smile Studio talked about this book quite often in het IG Stories I’ve been very intrigued by A Bigger Message: Conversation with David Hockney by Martin Gayford.
• One of my favourite booktubers published a new short story collection this year. What makes The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell even better is its beaufiful cover. It’s by one of my favourite illustrators, Aitch.
• I think 2017 was the year of Norse mythology because multiple books were published about it this year. And I’m a sucker for a good mythology so when Neil Gaiman wrote his Norse Mythology book it became an instant wish list item. Norse Myths is another amazing books about Norse gods. It’s illustrated and it looks absolutely stunning.
• Last, but not least is a book that would make my ten-year old self squeal in delight (my 29-year-old self did the same). Kelsey Oseid’s What we see in the stars: an illustrated book of the night sky looks so pretty AND it’s about astronomy.

Maybe you were already thinking “strange, there are no Harry Potter books on Eline’s list this year”. That’s not an option people. There will be Harry Potter books on this list until the last tree has been made into pulp! (Ok, that was dramatic and I don’t mean it #treesareimportant). But seriously, this has been an amazing Harry Potter year*, so yes, here are some Potter books.

• As every year since they started publishing the illustrated Harry Potter books, the new one is on my list. This year they published the illustrated Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban  and I’m so excited to get my hands on this one. The cover looks stunning! And I can already see how amazing the darker stories that will follow this one will look in Kim Kay’s style.
• Another illustrated edition that looks really awesome is the new Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I already got 2 versions of this book, but Illustrations!
• I wish I could visit the History of Magic expo in the British Library but until then the Harry Potter: A History of Magic: The spellbinding companion to a unique exhibition book looks really awesome. The expo and the book are all about the sources of real life magic that inspired J.K. Rowling when she wrote the Harry Potter books and later when they produced the movies, which sounds really intriguing.

(*by this I mean I went to London in September and finally visited the Harry Potter Studios and saw the fricking play! But I might tell you all about it another time)

Artsy things

I’m on putting a small part of my art supply wish list in this post, but if you’re interested in art supplies, books for illustrators of graphic designers or if you’re just curious, you can find my complete wish list (a.k.a. a gift guide for designers and illustrators ;)) on the Studio Maddy blog.

• Every time I see someone paint with gouache I really want to give it a try. I have some old high school tubes that I can barely use, so this set of Winsor & Newton Designers Gouache  would be really welcome.
• Another thing I would really give a try is weaving. I’m not sure how to start so the workshop weaving at Helen B’s, hosted by Eva V, looks a good way to start. Another workshop on my wish list is a ceramic transfer workshop, also at Helen B’s.
• This plastic palette ties in with the gouache paint I mentioned earlier. I haven’t found anything like this Reeves foldable plastic palette in local stores, but I think it would make painting with gouache a lot easier (so much space to mix paint!)
• When I saw the Uniball Pastel Posca PC3 set for the first time my hands started itching. I would love to take these bad boys on a spin and create the cutest art work.
• Every time I do tradition illustration, with pencil and paint, I remember how much easier things would be with a Lightbox/Tracing Pad. So much easier than drawing on a window!

The dreaded Useful Stuff

Last but not least, some useful things.

• It’s a sweater with a dinosaur print! Do I need to say more? Really? RAWR!
• Years ago I found the perfect foldable wallet. But I hesitated and when I returned to the store it was gone. I bought myself a second choice wallet (boohoo) and never forgot about the Perfect Wallet. This wallet’s by Oh My Bag called Josi gets pretty close to what I had in mind back then. And my second choice wallet is starting to fall apart. Coincidence? I think not.
• I think my boyfriend can attest, but I have such a hard time waking up in winter. I’m pretty sure it’s the lack of light, so the Philips Wake Up Light might save me from sleeping too long.
• For the past couple of years I made my own planner’s, which I still like. But this cute planner by Frannerd looks so amazing and I’ve seen how much effort Fran put into it, so it’s made its way to my wish list.
• What I want (I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want) is an iPad Pro with and Apple Pencil. Or the new Windows Surface Book 2. But those are pretty expensive, so I would be happy with stylus for sketching on my Samsung Galaxy tab 2. I’ve done some research and the Adonit Jot Pro looks like the best option from my tablet.
• Another dreadfully useful thing is this Jieldé look-a-like desk lamp. It’s also very pretty and will make working in the evening so much easier.

So, that’s all peeps. For someone who had to think long and hard about what she wanted I ended up with quite a long list. What’s on your wish list this year?