VICTORIA HALL

~WRITER AND ILLUSTRATOR~

Living a creative life

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

How to be creative when you don’t have time to be creative

Sep 24, 2017
2 min

How to be creative when you don’t have time to be creative

For time-poor writers and artists, journaling can be a quick and easy way to revive your creativity. Read my five tips on how to get started. Things have been hectic since I last posted on here in June. I’ve moved to a new house, worked around the clock on commissioned writing projects, travelled to Asia with my family and quietly celebrated yet another 30-something birthday. When life gets busy, I find it extremely challenging to carve out time for my more creative projects.

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.

Looking to 2017...

Jan 8, 2017
1 min

Looking to 2017...

I have a black moleskin book full of ideas for creative projects. For every project I tick off, a dozen more find their way onto the pages. Ideas for art, illustration, books, and stories for audiences both old and young. It’s at about this time of year that I try to set myself some creative project goals. Where should I direct my time and energy? What project excites me the most? Which has the most potential for success? It’s like choosing between your children. I feel frust

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

Happy World Book Day!

Mar 2, 2016
2 min

Happy World Book Day!

Dear grown-ups, You're invited to join the World Book Day celebrations by reconnecting with your inner child and reading to the little ones in your life. To mark this special day, I'm offering a 20% discount on both of my books! Turning children into readers World Book Day is a fabulous initiative that aims to turn children of all ages into lifelong readers. As you know, this is something I am particularly passionate about, especially when it comes to helping children from di

Choosing media and materials

Feb 21, 2016
1 min

Choosing media and materials

Some advice—you may want to avoid me for the next few weeks! I'm likely to repeatedly ask you to comment on about 10 different versions of the same drawing. Apparently, this is highly annoying. I've finally finished my rough layouts and now I have to decide what media, materials and techniques I'm going to use for my final illustrations. It's important that the look of the artwork matches the mood of my story and the vision in my head. This book is a gothic fantasy story for

Rough illustrations for my new book

Jan 10, 2016
1 min

Rough illustrations for my new book

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on the rough illustrations for my next picture book. This one is a 64-page gothic fantasy story for 6-9 year olds. There are a lot of pictures to create—almost double the amount in my previous books—and it feels like it is taking forever to complete them. At this stage, I am trying to communicate what is happening with my story, straight from my head, without worrying about the details. I am also considering different viewpoints, com

How to draw on location, with a two-year-old, while parading as a witch

Dec 5, 2015
2 min

How to draw on location, with a two-year-old, while parading as a witch

Last weekend, my daughter and I went to Centennial Park to "play witches" and draw on location. Drawing from life is powerful. I love it because it helps me to create much richer and more unique pictures. Most importantly, it enables me to capture the true atmosphere and magic of a place. Probably because I am fully in the experience and using all of my senses. It also helps me to peer into people's personalities and moods simply by observing their mannerisms. And by studying

Free 'Eggy Peggy' printable

Oct 27, 2015
1 min

Free 'Eggy Peggy' printable

Get your little readers drawing funny faces on this free Eggy Peggy printable! To download the file, simply click on the thumbnail image below. In the spirit of Halloween, Victoria drew these spooky funny faces: Don't forget to watch the Eggy Peggy book trailer and get your copy here! #VictoriaHallArt #VictoriaHallBooks #VictoriaHallAuthor #VictoriaHallWriter #EggyPeggyhaslostherleggy

First book reading

Oct 11, 2015
1 min

First book reading

It was just like Eminem said, "Palms are sweaty... knees weak... arms are heavy... "This opportunity comes once in a lifetime..." The first ever book reading! I sat down on a tiny wooden chair facing rows and rows of expectant little faces, and opened my book. In a trembling voice, I read the first line, "Eggy Peggy has lost her leggy!" A babble of laughter. Phew! But I told myself not to relax too much. You just never know what they might do next. "Look at that egg, it looks

Burning the midnight oil