VICTORIA HALL

~WRITER AND ILLUSTRATOR~

How to make art that you love

Little zombie boy - speed sketch in watercolour

Sketching in Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens

Happy Halloween and thank you!

Oct 30, 2018
1 min

Happy Halloween and thank you!

Hi, everyone! Just a quick note to wish you all a very happy Halloween. As you can see from my (many) Facebook posts, this is hands-down my favourite time of year. Thanks for staying with me while I indulged in all things creepy! I’d also like to thank you for supporting my recent horror art launch. Whether you’ve sent kind words, shared my work with friends, or even just thrown me a like, I appreciate it. To those of you who have been good enough to buy my designs, I say the

Horrible fairies from all over the world

Jun 24, 2018
2 min

Horrible fairies from all over the world

This International Fairy Day, I’m giving you the heads-up on the nastiest sprites from across the globe. Spot them and stop them from ruining your trip! Happy International Fairy Day, fairy fans! No doubt for most of you, the word ‘fairy’ conjures up images of Peter Pan’s playful Tinkerbell, Fern Gully’s forest-saving Crysta or even Sleeping Beauty’s generous fairy godmothers. But, did you know that not all fairies are good? In fact, anywhere you go, there are some downrigh

Four important creative lessons I learned this year

Dec 30, 2017
3 min

Four important creative lessons I learned this year

2017! What a trip! There have been wins, losses and lessons…but no regrets. Here’s what the year taught me… There’s no doubt about it, 2017 was one of my busiest years to date. I launched a new writing business, made serious progress with my first-ever screenplay and started work on an exciting new art project, which I can’t wait to share with you in 2018. At the same time, I put extra effort into my most important relationships, tried to improve my health and fitness (admitt

Five inspiring forms of Vietnamese art

Oct 20, 2017
2 min

Five inspiring forms of Vietnamese art

Join me as I reflect on my recent trip to Vietnam and rediscover some of the country’s most inspiring forms of art. Vietnam, with its exciting atmosphere and rustic beauty, is a destination that this traveler simply could not miss. Influenced by years of war, colonisation and globalisation, part of the country’s appeal is its fascinating cultural diversity. As you’d expect, Vietnam’s unique cultural blend of ‘east-meets-west’ extends to the local art scene. Winding through th

It's in the eyes...

Line and wash character sketches

Jun 14, 2017
1 min

Line and wash character sketches

Here are some line and ink sketches that I recently created. I really enjoy using this medium. I normally try to develop the line and wash together, rather than 'filling in' a line drawing. I like the line to remain crisp, so I dip the pen in a waterproof ink and then use a water-soluble ink for the washes. Here, I've used Winsor and Newton inks and a Speedball pen on smooth hot-pressed paper. I always let ink dry naturally. I never use a hairdryer! x VH #VictoriaHallIllustra

Picasso

Mastering observation

Jun 5, 2017
1 min

Mastering observation

When I’m asked where I find inspiration for writing or illustration, my answer is always the same: life. From a young age, I developed an interest in life as I saw it. I was particularly interested in the people around me—family, friends, foes—and their motivations for doing what they do. Beautiful people. Interesting people. All utterly fascinating. That’s how so many of my characters have been born. Through observation. Every day, I remind myself to open my eyes and my ears

My favourite part of the Sydney Writers' Festival?

May 29, 2017
2 min

My favourite part of the Sydney Writers' Festival?

Folks, the 2017 Sydney Writers’ Festival has wrapped. My favourite part of the program? Family Day! Held in the heart of Walsh Bay on Sunday, 28 May, Family Day encouraged bookworms of all ages to come together for a delightful celebration of creativity and storytelling. Needless to say, the weather and harbour-side location looked picture perfect. With a hot coffee and a fresh croissant, I took a stroll around an exhibition of Roald Dahl’s book covers from across the globe.

How to draw a super simple dolphin

Apr 29, 2017
1 min

How to draw a super simple dolphin

In this short video tutorial, I show you how to illustrate a super simple dolphin. This tutorial is perfect for little ones, so grab your pencils and crayons, and have some creative fun! xx VH About Victoria Victoria Hall is a Sydney-based author and illustrator specialising in picture books, chapter books, educational books and nursery art. If you're looking for original, high-quality and affordable illustrations, contact Victoria for a quote today. #Art #illustration #Illus

Happy holidays

Dec 21, 2016
1 min

Happy holidays

With the festive season upon us, now feels like a good time to wish all of my readers a happy holiday. I hope you have a wonderful break and enjoy some quality time with your nearest and dearest. This Christmas will be a special one for me. My family, who live in the U.K., are visiting Australia for the very first time. Before I go offline for some much-needed family time, I thought I’d share some of my Christmas-themed sketches with you. These will be making an appearance on

The big release

Sep 19, 2016
2 min

The big release

It's been almost two weeks since the release of my third children's book, The Fairy Beasts. I just want to thank my friends, family and followers for their well wishes—and for buying lots of copies of my book! While it's still early days, I'm really pleased with how well The Fairy Beasts is doing. Two years ago, when I launched my first children's book, I naively thought that once it was out, I'd be able to put up my feet and drink tea while the orders flew in. Nope! I now kn

The Fairy Beasts - available now!

Sep 5, 2016
2 min

The Fairy Beasts - available now!

Victoria's third children's book, The Fairy Beasts, is available now in print (AU$14.99) and digital (AU$3.99) formats from Amazon, Apple iBooks, www.victoriahallauthor.com and selected bookstores. In The Fairy Beasts, Victoria Hall explores greed, loneliness, friendship, bravery, perseverance and survival. Gothic, humorous and a little bit gross, The Fairy Beasts is a fantasy story about real fairies. Real fairies are not made of sugar or spice or anything nice. They are dan

Book proof: The Fairy Beasts

Aug 25, 2016
1 min

Book proof: The Fairy Beasts

I'm excited to have received the proof of my new book, The Fairy Beasts, today. Finally, my motivation, commitment and serious hard work has come to fruition! I feel a great sense of achievement holding a hard-copy version of it in my hands. Now, it's time to start the publishing process, which includes arranging sales, distribution and marketing activities. Please stay tuned for more information on how you can get your hands on a copy of The Fairy Beasts! Thanks for reading.

Layout and design

Jul 23, 2016
1 min

Layout and design

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be completing the layout of my upcoming picture book. Here's a sneak peek at one of the interior illustrations. You can see that I've gone quite gothic with this book, as it's aimed at older readers. Stay tuned for more updates. Thanks for reading. Victoria x #VictoriaHallIllustrator #VictoriaHallAuthor #VictoriaHallBooks #VictoriaHallWriter #VictoriaHallArt

Working with coloured pencils

Jun 9, 2016
1 min

Working with coloured pencils

In an effort to be more diverse, I'm introducing different mediums to my portfolio, starting with coloured pencils. It's been a few years since I last used them, but after reacquainting myself, I realised why they're so popular with illustrators. Their soft, gentle finish was the perfect choice for my sketch of a little girl and her puppy: The frustrating thing about coloured pencils is that they can take a long time to build. Being impatient, I almost abandoned the picture i

Update on my new book

May 2, 2016
1 min

Update on my new book

Hi, everyone! I've finally completed the illustrations for my new book. Yay! I'm now going to take a short break from the project, before completing the design and layout. It's important that I feel re-energised and able to look at everything with fresh eyes during the next phase. Please stay tuned for more updates. Thanks for the support and encouragement! Victoria xx #Picturebook #VictoriaHallAuthor #VictoriaHallIllustrator