Well today was loadsa fun! I felt like I was truly in my element again. It’s been a long old edit but one I’m super happy with as it turned out exactly how I had pictured it (swipe to see my sketch/drawing of the concept). I’ve spoke about the idea development, how I created it and more of the good stuff in the behind the scenes video that is slowly uploading to YouTube as I type this...

My first mobile phone was a Nokia 3210. The only game or any form of entertainment on it was Snake and I used to play it for hours and hours trying to make the longest snake possible. Little did I know that 15 years later our phones would be filled with so much to see and do. I love it in so many ways but I also find it overwhelming with all the news and negativity I’ve been seeing on here recently, it’s quite unsettling and unnerving. A digital detox might be in order (once my project is over of course!)

Started the day with a few ideas (swipe to see my quick concept sketches) and ended the day with this happy little moon. This doesn’t really reflect how I’m feeling today but I enjoyed creating it and in this current climate I wanted to make you stop scrolling and smile for a moment! 🌙 (also a reminder to look up tonight if you’re feeling anxious, it always makes me feel better)

Over two weeks late, oops! Never before has that happened but I think with the current circumstances we can let this one slide. I had already shot the images of my face, however since the past two weeks have been so consumed with all things CV, I decided to sit on it. I couldn’t quite bring myself to create anything at the time and I had to switch my focus to ‘real life’ things.

My business has been turned completely on it’s head for the next few months (& who knows how much longer?). A few weeks ago I was all ready and prepared for a wonderful year of work to begin. Jack had just finished his job on 13th March to go full time with me this year (eeeek, hello super bad timing!) and now our income has pretty much nose dived. Thankfully some of my incredible clients are helping by paying sooner rather than later (I honestly can’t thank you enough) + the gov will help a little bit, but still, it took a few days to let such a dramatic change settle in my mind. I’m sure it’s similar if not the same for a lot of you, we are all in this together!

With all that being said, safety is the ultimate priority now and I’m so grateful for all our key + NHS workers. You are amazing! 👏🏼 I wish I could help and I’m feeling kinda helpless about not being able to do anything meaningful right now. But I’ve decided to do what I do best! Embrace this sudden little open window in my schedule and continue creating and making as I would normally would do! Hopefully I can provide a safe space away from CV for those who need it most, let’s keep dreaming ♥️

LUST is painful, it interjects the core, punctures the cells, highlights weaknesses yet enhances a power - insatiable, controlling, unquenchable. .

This week is meant to force me out of my comfort zone, I think I just got catapulted into space with this image! Been working on it all day, it’s taken me 6 hours to get to this point, and I can see so many faults yet I’m super proud and mildly creeped out by my own mind. Learning new editing techniques - check ✔️, questioning my own sanity - check x 100 ✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️ Nevertheless this was fun to make! 🍓

Inspired by the Jollification - @lightningseedsofficial album artwork by @farrowlondon

Inspired by Princess Mombi and the museum of heads from Return to Oz: one of my favourite movies as a child. In the film Mombi rules over the Emerald city, she owns 30 beautiful heads and can switch them depending on her mood 🌚🌝✨

I remember first watching this film on a Sunday afternoon when I was around 8 years old. It scared the life out of me but I couldn’t stop watching, my eyes were super glued to the 10x10in analogue tv in the kitchen. At the time I thought it was incredible; the effects, the style, the set, the props, the CGI (!!!), the acting - I was obsessed and so inspired back then!

I dreamt that I woke up from a dream and began pulling long, black, slimy slugs from my eyes a few weeks ago. I pulled out 15 in totally and oddly I woke up with sore eyes IRL, it was very very strange (But I don’t really expect anything less with my vivid brain).

I was chatting to Jack about this weeks project last night and we spoke about how much each of these sins are effecting my head. I’m finding it pretty difficult to channel all the negativity into a concept, so today I thought I’d flip it on its head. Slugs are known for being slow (& you could say sloth-like) but boy are they determined! This past summer we would sit out in our make-shift garden on an evening and watch the slugs make their way up the 10 metre wall, they never gave up!

Well that was a fun week!! I didn’t have much planned for ‘pride’ but I’m ok with that today. I’m genuinely proud of myself for taking on a 5th #7dayswithholly and riding the emotions that these weeks always bring! As you can see from this particular challenge, I wanted to embrace clean, smooth ideas that had an element of realism but still kept within the vein of digital art. I kept saying to myself this week ‘I’m such a weirdo, I’m such a weirdo’ (Jack can vouch for that) but by the end I’m feeling more at peace and confident with my work, I’ve learnt a little, played a little and mostly made work that I’m happy with. So yeah! That’s me done for another 6 months (...of this challenge, I’m still going to be making art!) and I thought I’d end it with a Gladiolus. Gladioli bulbs aren’t hardy which means they need digging up and storing until the months of spring (#relate!) - see you next April #7dayswithholly 👌🏼

Peacefully picking the perfect red pepper seeds 🌶

I had loads of fun today creating this image & so did the lady in Sainsbury’s who helped me scan all the red peppers through the self service because I couldn’t count them up quick enough 😂🙈 I’m going to be eating red peppers in everything for the next week, soup anyone? (Recipes welcome!)

This is the first self portrait I’ve shot with my new @sonyalpha A7iii too and I’m absolutely loving the outcome and the ease of use!!! (not sponsored ha!)

I always enjoy where these challenges take me. I’m spending more time on the little details this time and it feels good to be refining. #7dayswithholly 

(Greatly inspired by Flora Borsi ‘Animeyed’ series)

I didn’t want to make this image about this but I’m going to tell you my inner monologue anyway. Since editing this image earlier today I’ve been going back and forth with a constant urge to edit my legs and waist slimmer. This is a piece of ART that I’ve poured my heart, soul & time into and ALL my brain keeps coming back to is that my waist and legs ‘need’ to be smaller. I mean, if that’s not brainwashed then I don’t know what is (!!!!). CMON HOLLY, you’ve created a pretty cool image here and all you can think about is your legs. This is just absolutely ridiculous, get a f’in grip!

I’ve been following @i_weigh, @bodyposipanda, my internet friend @elspethfit & a few other body positive instagrammers over the past few months, and it’s been an absolute breath of fresh air! What an incredible movement these women are contributing to. I’m still working on my own body positive brain battles, but for now, THIGHS BE FREE!

I had about 4 different image ideas for today but I felt they were too stale and not interesting enough, so I decided to sit down in front of the camera and play around with this leaf. I then opened it up into @photoshop and voilà! I love playing around without an end result in mind, it helps me to be a little more fluid whilst editing.

I woke up with the idea of playing with water in today’s image... might have accidentally made a @disney princess poster 😂 not sure what happened there! Where’s the blue haired princesses at?! Although, one of my fave Disney Pixar films is inside out and JOY has blue hair, so today I’m channeling her! (Ironically so does SAD, who am I?!)

For today’s image I thought I’d challenge myself to create a scene from scratch! It needs more work and I need more practise but I’m pretty happy with the outcome of my first proper scene.

This image is also inspired by one of my fave illustrators @furrylittlepeach and it’s part of the #DrawThisInYourStyle #FLPDrawChallenge. I’m a little late to the party but I wanted to see if I could recreate the illustration using photography & in my style (swipe to see to original artwork by Sha’an)

I have a heavy head today (the Prosecco last night might be partly to blame). If you watched my planning video then you’ll know I had a different image planned for today but I woke up super tired from the week of creating so I’ve decided to bank that idea for later.

That’s it, 7 days complete!! SO glad that I decided to add the rainbow theme this week, it’s really challenged my way of thinking about colour in my work, and to not shy away from going BOLD. I’ll definitely be incorporating more colour into my work from now on! I’ve managed to broaden my knowledge of photoshop, push myself to create out of my comfort zone and also shoot all week on my new @sonyalpha (which has been a dream to use!).

Thank you so much for all your support and kind words on my work this week! & also thank you to everyone who decided to join in too, I’ve loved seeing everyone’s take on the colour theme, it’s so interesting to see how people interpret the colours so differently. YOU’RE ALL AWESOME!!

Autumn has always been a time of transitioning for me, for many reasons. The colours change, the clothes thicker, the food gets warmer, and I become one year older. October - my birthday month, my favourite time of the year. There’s an air of contentment (probably the sweet smell of leaves throughout my house after creating this wreath this past week) and I feel I’ve been making all the right decisions.

I have a chipped tooth. My lips are dry. I put big socks on this morning and have an indent in my shin. I’ve got tan lines from my summer shoes. My eyebrows are sparse. My legs are hairy. My eyes look tired and veiny. But I don’t really care, do you? (I bet you zoomed in)

wow this is surreal, this took me by surprise, i didn’t expect to create like this today. but i allowed it and i embraced it and i can feel my world altering, like the stars. .

This morning I laid in bed, tossing and turning (suffering with a bad back from all the editing) trying to come up with an idea for today’s image. I then hopped (*walked slowly with a hunched back) to the shower to cook up some ideas in there. When I’m struggling to channel my ideas, a shower usually does the trick!

I was thinking about the trip we took to Scotland (& the diamond shaped rock I found on the cairngorms), when I remembered this teeeeny little house we found in a park near Loch Lomond. I raced out of the shower and pulled up the stock images from my hard drive, and came across the cutest little *tree* house I ever did see! So I made it today’s mission to create with it, and here’s what I made!

Can I live here please?!

When all you wanted to do was to create hair out of a new (h)air plant you got, but you actually morph into Beetlejuice!? hahaha! This just happened and I have no explanation as to why I created this other than the fact that when I bought this air plant in the garden centre a couple of weeks ago, it reminded me of hair and I thought to myself ‘one day i’ll photoshop this onto my head’ (because that’s just the way my brain works) and here we are… 1 air plant, 1 stripe t-shirt and an hour of photoshopping later = accidental/unintentional beetle juice costume! (or Krusty the clown perhaps?)

P.s I’ve never actually watched Beetlejuice, so I’m going to watch it tonight!

I’m sat here writing this with leaky eyes, a runny nose and sneezes a plenty. Today felt like an odd day to create, but we made it out eventually! (Even if both Jack & I are suffering with our colds now!) We headed over to Haysden this morning to shoot this, the weather was beautiful (to say we are in October?!) but the conditions were wrong and my brain was foggy.

Although this project is never a walk in the park, I’m happy, let’s see what tomorrow brings, ay! .

I brought this cute little bat home (from the the Sainsbury’s halloween isle) last week, and he only bloody went and attacked me when I picked him up to shoot with him today, the cheek! (lol). I couldn’t do a self portrait challenge in October with out getting a little spooky! .
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& with that, my 7 Day Self Portrait Challenge is finished!! That’s it for another 6 months!!!!!

Wow, this week has been a real test for me, both mentally and physically (hey bad back and disgusting cold, nice to meet you) but I made it! I’ve chosen not to post a video today, I spent the morning wallowing and then I went out with Jack to shoot this, which took 10 minutes, and I got dizzy from moving my head too much, so now all I want to do is be horizontal again. I’ll be posting a round up video and some clips from today in a video this week!

I just want to say thank you to all those who have left lovely comments and supported me through this week, and also to those who have joined in on socials with #7dayswithholly, you rock! Although I do this project to learn and evolve my style, I also do it to encourage those of you who listen, to embrace your creativity (& weirdness!!!!) to become the person/artist you wish to be!

YEY! The project begins! I began my day by gluing on the remaining flowers to an outfit I've been making for weeks. I planned to shoot it for day one but when I woke up this morning, the land was covered with fog and although it looked absolutely amazing, it wasn't going to suit my original idea. (Crossing my fingers for brighter weather in the next few days! )

I found this little guy in Home Sense a few weeks ago, the first thing I did was put my finger into his little hand, I felt a little spark and an idea popped into my mind. I put him under my arm and waltzed straight to the counter to buy him. It was a super fun morning shooting in such a beautiful atmosphere. He was pretty good companion - my mate Astronaut. 🚀

In today's image I wanted to represent the feeling I get when I receive bad news. That instant anxiety and shock I get from a few spoken words that cut in so deeply, and the paralysing effect it has on me when something has leaped out of my control.

The day began with lots of rain and wind and so my first idea had to take a back seat to make room for my trusty back up plan. Luckily by the time I had decided to shoot, the rain let up and I ran outside to shoot my image as quick as I could. I think I shot around 10 images in total, most of which I ended up using for the final image (Yey!). I'm super relieved that it came out the way I envisioned it, because I was freezing my bum off whilst shooting!

Today I weighed up the pros and cons of running around barefoot in the freezing cold versus staying inside in the warmth. I chose to do both but the sound of the kettle boiling forced me to do the latter for a lot longer.

I'm currently undertaking this project from my childhood home/parents house in the north of England this week, which means I'm staying away from my home with Jack. I have my family around me for support but I could do with seeing him right now. Today began with a lull of low energy and I wasn't mentally prepared to solve any problems or failures, I just wanted everything to pan out as smoothly as possible. Jack is a great problem solver and emotional weight lifter and I seem to fall back on him when I'm feeling not so efficient. Anyway, I gave myself a little pep talk and grabbed a coffee for an energy boost and managed to stop the moon from falling over in the wind whilst I shot away.

I'm dedicating today's image to Jack, because we share the moon. 🌙

Overnight I felt a sense of vulnerability and weakness about creating this project, mainly because I'm putting so much of myself into it. I decided to release those negative thoughts in today's image and remind myself that I am my own limitation.

I've unintentionally created a series of images about weather and the universe this week, but I kinda like how everything has turned out! I've discovered my LOVE for creating life size/large props lately, so I'm definitely going to be doing more in the future. Although, the next thing I need to invest in is somewhere to store them all - my prop room is bursting at the seams already! 😂

I AM THRILLED TO FINALLY ANNOUNCE (to the online world!) THAT I'LL NOW BE HOSTING SELF PORTRAIT WORKSHOPS and my very first one will be held in Tunbridge Wells, UK on the 26th May 2018. The workshop is designed to help photographers gain more confidence in creating ideas, shooting and editing conceptual self portraits. If you want to know more information about the workshop and what it will entail, leave your email address below or send me a direct message and I will send you the information brochure!!! (I'm also now offering 1-to-1 workshops tooo - message me for more info! ♥️)

- I said in yesterday's video that I had a very exciting prop/outfit to use in today's image (I sneak peeked it in Mondays video if you want to see), but I woke up this morning absolutely exhausted and wasn't mentally prepared to shoot such a heavy concept. I'm a little disappointed but I have big plans for it and I will be shooting with it in the next few weeks! With that said, I decided to keep it simple today. ★

I will be filming a reflection video on the things I've learnt from this project in the next week, along with the prop making video that I mentioned yesterday in my instagram stories.

But for now, SLEEEEEEP!

“Never make the mistake of thinking you are alone — or inconsequential. Ignorance is voluntary and confusion is temporary. You see the world as-is, which is more than can be said for the vast populace.” RM

Something a little different for me today! When I started this challenge I knew I had to push myself and create images/ideas that could potentially be difficult to execute. & BOY was this a bloody work out, my abs are now in bits from balancing on the stool 😂 I was sweating from places I didn't know existed but I *think* it was all worth it!

This morning I frolicked through the forest with (gale force) wind in my hair and thorns in my feet. It always feels so liberating and freeing to strip back in the woods, there's no better feeling!

Thank you to Jack for helping me create this, and always supporting my visions!

I dreamt about my Nan & Grandad last night and knew, when I woke up from the dream, that today's image was going to represent them. Thank you for always encouraging me and listening to my whacky ideas without judgement, providing me with the wisdom and confidence to carry on! ♥️

The 'Star' is one of my favourite symbols. I used to find myself drawing stars at school every lesson, trying to perfect the 'one line' star (..not taking your pen off the page), never quite making it equal on all sides.

Ahhhhh a late one today because I've been spending my day with this guy. We had the most hilarious time trying to shoot this image, SO many funny misfired shots & ugly faces, but it was all worth it! 😂 I've not even started the edit for the video, but I'm determined to get it up before the end of the day as I have a super exciting day planned for my birthday tomorrow! (It may also involve a rather large balloon 😏) #7dayswithholly

The year I stop putting unnecessary pressure on myself and take the time I need to express my ideas (without the worry of letting people down)! Balance is the priority 🕯That’s it, I’ve finished!! 7 images and 7 videos in 7 days!! (Well almost, but my Birthday didn’t count 😜) I’ve just filmed the Q&A so it will be up in the final video later today!

Thank you so much for all the support over the past week, it’s been amazing!! It was a real challenge, but the most rewarding project I’ve ever undertaken. I highly recommend you do this project if you are feeling like you need to express yourself and practise new techniques. (& tag me in it if you dooo, I’d love to see!) ⭐️ #7dayswithholly