For fun. Remedies Towards Dark Season.

In Finland in this moment Autumn days get shorter and darker towards the end of the year. Outside there is cold, rain, snow. At this point of the year it is great to have some inspiring sources of light and green energy indoors. Aquarium – cube of light and house plants make the perfect surrounding. When you add a pot of tea and a good book you are alright whatever is the weather outside.

This is my submission for Doodlers Addicts meet Adobe Stock challenge. This time the topic is Home Sweet Home. Do you share my love and remedies towards dark season?

If you like to see what other illustrators have in mind on Home Sweet Home in Doodlers Addicts, go for it.
https://www.doodleaddicts.com/drawing-challenges/home-sweet-home-drawing-challenge/ >>
You can also pick your favorites and vote!

For Fun. On the Streets of Helsinki.

For a change, let’s have a look around Helsinki, the place where all the characters of this Helsinki Street style Blog hang around. This image is my response to the latest drawing challenge in Doodlers Addicts. The drawing task was Urban Explorer. As determined: For the Urban Explorer Drawing Challenge, we'll focus on illustrating cityscapes, houses, architecture, or other urban settings that are too perfect to pass up.

That suits to me, I live in Helsinki that has many faces and lovely places. I wanted to show different aspects of Helsinki in same image.

Probably everyone who visits Helsinki passes the Helsinki Cathedral at some point. If you look around there is lovely selection of colours and details in buildings in Center. And of course, in a developing city there is always some construction work going on. But I am glad that there is also some old parts of the town, where wooden houses have been in the place for decades.

Helsinki is just big enough to give surprises and small enough that it is easy to explore it by foot or bicycle. Helsinki green tram is an option and it offers a great way to look the street life and different parts near City Center. Helsinki is surrounded by sea and it gives a special character to the town. In summertime there is lovely happenings around the city in parks.

 If you are interested, go and check other submissions in Doodlers Addicts https://www.doodleaddicts.com/drawing-challenges/urban-explorer-drawing-challenge/

For Fun. Taking Care of Houseplants.

I know, I know. Lately, it’s been quite silent here in Flash For Zonzon. Let me explain.

Too much everything in life. One thing of this bundle of everything is houseplants. I have hopelessly lost my mind and soul to houseplants. The increasing amount of plant pots causes the increasing need of care of these green friends. The number of species is growing and the size of my darlings is getting bigger. It is a chain reaction that causes the need to repot plants to bigger pots. All this hassle takes time from other free time activities, like drawing.

I joined a Finnish Facebook group of House Plants. Boom, the amount of knowledge in the group thrilled my brain. I have learned about the different types of breeding grounds. Before it was just a regular sac of soil carried from grocery store. Well, nowadays my plants have different mixtures of coconut fiber, perlite, vermiculite, pine bark, rough sand, leca substrate, moler clay. Every plant type has its own typical need for ground and light.

I have realized that there is point on finding out the care instructions of different plant types. Plants thank you by growing beautifully. And that is the magic!

Also, how it’s said, knowledge increases pain. Before I was totally ignorant of the enemies of houseplants. Species of insects like harmful mites are many who love to consume the wonderful greenery. Just in a concrete way. Now and then there is need to use some power against pests. Anyway, I like to use natural methods.

This image is made for Doodlers Addicts drawing challenge. The topic was Mother Nature. As much as I love to wander in woods I decided to illustrate my plant friends. We in Finland has this long dark period called winter. Especially in those dark days it is precious to have the green vital plants at home and workplace. It really gives energy.

The effect of living plants at home is sure more effective when you live in the weather zone where half of the year there is no leaves on trees. When I visited Spain, I felt myself become fools seeing all the plants we care so tenderly indoors, growing wild and happy outdoors. A ten-meter-high ficus compared to my meter-high-ficus elastica.

All the plants in this image live with me. But these are just part of them. Maybe I’ll illustrate them all later… Good idea!?

Many of the plants has been years with me, like twenty or more. We grow together. This money tree is one of them. And Euphorbia leuconeura, Madagascar jewel, has lived with me as long as I can remember. This or the children of the original plant. I keep on growing new little Madagascar jewels and give them forward to human friends.

On the Pier. Summer Fun, Angling.

Greetings from the Summer Holiday. It’s been a while when I last posted anything here. Spring was so hectic in work I didn’t have any time for this poor blog. Too bad.

Then came the blessed summer holiday and the cottage life in Finland countryside. The countryside life is surrounded by nature. That includes angling and fishing, eating the fish caught from the lake and blueberries from the woods. This year we had a lot of sunshine and it was a pleasure to jump into the lake swimming several times in a day. Rare delicacy in these levels as Finland.

I haven’t seen much interesting street style lately. Therefor I’m sharing some images from summer sketchbooks. In the image above is my daughter angling. Dressed in all time classic Nokia Kontio -rubber boots (first pair made in year 1973), jeans, striped shirt and to the top yellow fisherman’s hat. The color of the hat fits perfectly with the yellow waterlily.

Simple life barefoot, sleeping in a tent to avoid mosquitos. In the evening it was a great pleasure to fall asleep listening the sounds on nature, wind, insects, birds, bees. This is the best way to reduce stress levels in life.

For Fun. Modigliani Exhibition in Ateneum Art Museum.

Folks it is Friday and we have weekend ahead. Many ideas rolling in the head what fun things to do. For a lazy Sunday a visit to a tranquil museum is a good alternative.

We just had a marvelous Amadeo Modigliani exhibition in Helsinki Ateneum Art Museum. Wow I was amazed to realize Modigliani had painted my portrait some ninety years ago. Look at above… I am just kidding. Truth is I felt a need to paint a Modigliani style selfie after the visit to the exhibition.

There seemed to be a formula and style that makes Modigliani's the way they are known for. Long neck, narrow long nose, slightly tilted head, eyes without details, some African influence from sculptures and consistent color palette.

I have heard an advice given to young people that are studying illustration. “Try to find a style of your own. When you find it stick to it and never change.” In Modigliani exhibition I had the feeling he had heard the same advice. Well, success it was.

Modigliani was not strongest guy in the means of health and therefor he passed away in his thirties. His time as active artist lasted only ten years. I wonder if his painting style would have evolved in time. As sample his time buddy Picasso's art was in constant change until his death. Or would Modigliani have been the guy who exaggerates the longitude of necks and noses for the decades in the same manner.

Now we can only guess. The show is over in Ateneum but if you’d like to read the biography and other background stories about Modigliani you can visit Ateneum Amadeo Modigliani in web.

For Fun. InkTober in Instagram.

I noticed it is Inktober time. Ok, I love ink so I try to put some black spots to paper every day.

It is time for InkTober in Instagram. 31 days 31 drawings. The point is to draw something with ink every day in October. And post it in Instagram. There is a list of topics to be drawn but it is okay to draw whatever you like.

I like people and fashion so that is what it's gonna be in My case. Or that’s what I thought in the beginning, but from day 5 I started to follow the given prompt list. It is fun and challenging to find an angle to the given word.

Check The Official 2016 Inktober Prompt List >>

Here are the first nine days inky illustrations. The first one is up above.

Inktober day 2.
I spotted this photogenic guy today in Paul Smith IG. Made a quick sketch of him.

Inktober day 3.
This is something about Mark Jacobs FW2016 fashion collection. Well, this time this girl seems to be a boy. But who cares. Very inspiring collection it is.

Inktober day 4. 
Yesterday I visited an art supply store. The lady behind the cashier gave me an impulse to this character.

Inktober day 5, SAD.

Sad about the situation that women in Poland have. Polish lawmakers push on with near-total ban on abortion. Women should have right to self-determination including abortion.

Inktober day 6, HIDDEN.

Hidden in to the woods.

Inktober day 7, LOST.

Lost in a city of patterns.

Inktober day 8, ROCK.

Thinking about word rock the first image that comes in mind is Iggy Pop.

Inktober day 9, BROKEN
.
What a bad luck, broken heel!

Follow @sanna_pyykko in IG and join me in the journey.

On the Street. Mickey Mouse Beanie, Ruttopuisto, Helsinki.

6-10th January was time for Lux Helsinki Festival. It’s the happening where light artwork is arranged along the route in city center. For this year the happening is past and gone, but you can still make it through Lux Helsinki -website. Thousands of people wandered along the route in crisp frost weather, when I attended on last day. All age groups together enjoying of the light visions.

I saw this young lady In Ruttopuisto along the route. Bobble hat with two pom poms made her beanie look like Mickey Mouse headpiece. This piece would be nice knitting DIY-project. Alternatively you can pimp a random black beanie with two handmade black bobbles.

For Fun. Flash For Zonzon in Instagram.

Hooray. Flash For Zonzon has at long last started in Instagram. You can find your way to these illustrations and more using nickname @sanna_pyykko. I decided to use my own name because that’s going to be display window for all creative stuff what is going on in my life. But Flash For Zonzon is well represented in there, for sure. Welcome to follow.

I’m a late bloomer with Instagram. It really surprised me how easy it was to follow fashion weeks though it. Little film clips give just enough information to be aware about the latest fashion news.

It seems that blogging has partly moved to Instagram. Few years ago on sites like the Sartorialist there was huge amounts of comments after each blog post. Now there is some 10 to 30 comments. In Instagram same photo has 150 comments and over 5000 likes. Speed seems to be the word of the day. Speed liking.

Another thing is that in Instagram illustrators are presented in useful way. All famous and not so famous (me) illustrators seem to be there. It’s handy to do some comparison, like where do they sell their art, do they have own shop or are they in etsy, spoonflower, society6, paom, or what. And what could I learn of all this.

One oddity is that in Instagram there is a lot of tempting to pay to get thousands of followers and likes. I ask, but what’s the point! To get robots love and affection?

Plus, there seems to be multiple hashtags for competitions illustration daily, weekly or monthly. Like #drawadot for fashion illustration. Possibility to speed temporarily fame.

That's all for first impression. If you like to speed consume Flash For Zonzon in Instagram follow @sanna_pyykko

On the Street. Shangri-La Girls, Lauttasaari, Helsinki.

These girls I met in Studio Shangri-La opening party. I'm sorry, but this will be a little Helsinki-centric post.

I am happy to say that the new players have appeared in my neighbourhood. Just to mention few, yoga studios, culture center Sähinä and at the end of summer Studio Shangri-La opened doors. It is the homeland of Burlesque Culture in Helsinki. There you can take part in their dance classes like Burlesque dance and Shimmy n’Shake. There is weekend Dance Workshops with guest stars like Miss Chrissy Kiss. They also offer Seasonal Yoga, pilates and body care. Nice package indeed.

In addition they have a performing group The Shangri-La School of Showgirls. Maybe you’d like to hire them to perform in your Pre Christmas party?

What I’m dreaming of is that the studio would be a perfect place to organize live drawing class. Croquis drawing and the models would be the burlesque-people. At least at the opening party the people looked fabulous. Feminine tattooed ladies in high heels. I wanted to draw every second person in the party.

If you feel like your inner cabaret queen has never had place to flourish, this might be your place.

It seems that there are several Shangri-Las around the globe. So I better give a direct link to their Shangri-La Facebook-page. So you can act if you feel like it.

By the way, I have no connection with Shangri-La, I'm just spreading the good news.

The Best Travel Accessories: Black Square Scarf 5 Different Ways.

There has been a little blog silence around here Flash For Zonzon because of summer vacation. This time I took a total break of electronic devices and even the Internet. Quite relaxing experience, by the way. The method was an old school round trip with car in my home country Finland (and a bit in Norway too). Starting from Helsinki to the shores of arctic Ocean and back again along the west coast.

I was curious and ready to see if there was anything to see in the field of street style in the rest of the country than Helsinki. But believe me, the fells of Lapland didn't have much to offer in this respect. The reindeer looks like reindeer. Only on the road you could see some tribal dress codes like motorcyclists in their black leather uniforms.

What do you pack for a trip like this? The answer is as little as possible. Besides toothbrush and sunhat the next most important thing was a black square scarf. And now I will tell you how handy piece of accessory it is.

This scarf of mine is a fair-sized (100 cm x 100 cm) made of lightweight black cotton. When traveling by car in summer there is always air condition on. And in T-shirt there is a good possibility to get cold despite the fact that the outside is 25 degrees hot. The cool wind blowing like that. Ooh la-la, the scarf wrapped around the neck will save from this misery.

In northern Finland there is one minus in summertime. And that is the armies of mosquitoes and other biting little insects that are attacking once you put your head outside. They can be very annoying when trying to set up a tent at the end of the day. But with the square scarf there is no trouble. Just wrap the scarf around your head and you are safe. 

When wardrobe consists of T-shirts only it is possible to alter a look with the help of the scarf. Fold a square scarf looking like belt. Like this you can get a nice waistline for a change.

Then again in a trip like this the shower is not always right next to you. So it is nice to be able to forget the hair totally. The method is to fold the scarf to turban-like thing. Hide your hair in a turban. This way you get a nice bow tie on the top.

The nights are very luminous in summertime in Finland. When sleeping in a tent it can be a bit difficult to get sleep in the evening. In that point you can count on your black lightweight scarf again. Just cover your eyes lightly with the black scarf and you are already sleeping. First I did the trick to kids and then myself. Good nighty-night.

 

Disclaimer. I bought this multi-function black scarf from Varusteleka for 4 euros or so and it is worth every cent.

For Fun. Visiting Pet Expo.

Two weeks ago I visited Pet Expo with my family. From street style point of view there was little to be expected. You know, pet people are a bit of their own tribe. I have summarized one sample of typical pet-person style features above. A goth-like tasted with grunge, pink or turquoise hairdo, animal-tattoos, neon color high-lights. Characteristics vary according a pet. For example cat- and guinea pig -persons are usually bit more feminine and conventional.

Previous I have worked as a costume designer. The point there is to find the typical features of a character role. I can't help it that I still classify people by appearances. Clothes carry a strong message to tell other people who we are.

In general having pets is a important way  to express oneself. Stand out from the ordinary. There was a department where the rat was running agility. They took time for each rat-participant. The lady, whose rat was in turn to do the agility, told me that she had altogether 26 rats at home. 10 boys and 16 girls. And she let them run freely in her home from time to time. Not so typical for a middle aged woman, we might say. And what is the effect when you tell about your hobby in a coffee table...

This young man walked in the middle of the heavily crowded expo dressed in green one piece jumpsuit. He looked miserable. We can just guess the reason. (Maybe dressing up green jumpsuit would have been reason enough.) His face was strong contrast to his joyful outfit with giant white baseball cap.

And as we are in pet expo I simply must present all the animals that live at our house. Because of allergy no hairy species are possible. So we have 200-liter aquarium with some 60 fishes and a bunch of Red sherry shrimps. It is so relaxing to stare an aquarium full of life.

Then we have a 80-liter paludarium with three Newts and one African Dwarf Frog accompanied with Red Sherry Shrimps as well. In this sketch you can see a series of croquis of the Newts.

This lovely Leopard Gecko has lived with us few months now. In advance I would not have believed how enchanting a gecko can be. These are sketches of the fellow in different positions. We don't have a name for it so far, as the gender is not clear yet. But if it is a girl it will be Luna and if it is a boy it will be Vili.

For Fun. Three-Year Birthday Cake.

I just realized that I started this blog – Flash For Zonzon – three years ago. Boy how time flies! So I decided to bake a cake for you and me to celebrate this Sunday. Mmmmm, how good is virtual cake.

And were have I come in three years of blogging?
This blog isn't actually a highway measured in blog traffic. This is more like a winding little road in countryside. You never know exactly what will come after next curve. So it's certainly not boring. It's fun that I have had visitors from all over the world. It's fun that I have this channel to do what kind of illustrations I wish.

And what will come next?
I bet I'll keep on blogging.

I hope that the cake tasted good. I'm not actually famous of my baking skills. But it doesn't matter. I'll keep on baking anyway. Have a nice Sunday.

For Fun. Coffee Poem.

We have had three weeks in a row less than 10 degrees below zero measurements in Helsinki. Luckily it seems that heavy frost is over for a while. I'm able to write a little piece of poetry. To me frost feels like someone would be hammering constantly my forehead. Pleats between the eyes distract thinking. Coffee is a good friend in this point.

I have a contradictory relationship with coffee. I know I would be much more stable, calm and tolerant without coffee, but still I'm flirting with it. Sometimes there is periods that I don't drink it at all.

But then I'm missing in all my calmness the extra muscles that comes with coffee. After a cup of coffee I can focus on things better, ideas flow, I believe in myself (even an unnecessary amount). An unpleasant task is just one-two-three and it's already done and no boundaries found.

Ping-pong between the coffee-yes-please and happy-with-tea periods will alternate in the future too. Because sometimes I'm missing that tranquil not so bustling person that comes along without coffee drinking.

For Fun. mbar in Helsinki is the Best.

I have a friend I meet occasionally, maybe once every two moths. We often go out to eat and then we may lose ourselves wandering between clothes racks in department store. Then again it's nice to stop somewhere to chill out. The place to go is always self-evident. We head to mbar. The atmosphere never fails. Smooth sounds are guaranteed.

DJ last Thursday was Jimi, thank you for the music! I started liking their Facebook-page "Better Things to Do" in hopes to get noticed if this group is playing their vinyls some place you could dance too. Besides drawing, dancing is definitely on the good side in to-do lists.

Follow Flash For Zonzon, Good Idea!

Hooray, at long last I have had the spirit to build a bunch of ways to follow Flash For Zonzon. If you like the content of this blog, why not pick up the way that best suits for you.

Now there is a brand new Facebook-page. You can find there links to the new posts and sometimes there is some pick-ups from previous content too. And the hostess is already waiting you there. Off you go to Flash For Zonzon Facebook-page.

If you hang around Twitter a lot, maybe you start following @FFZonzon. You'll be alerted of the new posts there.

Google+ -page is another option. Flash For Zonzon has a page of it's own there. Flash For Zonzon Google+ -page.

Maybe the most convenient way to follow Flash For Zonzon would be the good old email. You can order this blog delivered right to your inbox. Like a post from a friend.

On Pinterest I have gathered boards that interest me in the point of view graphic designer, illustrator, street style lover, circus fan, Helsinki citizen, etc. There is also a nice board of Fashion Illustration. Check my Pinerest-account if you need some inspiration. At least these pins work in such way to me.

And the list doesn't stop here. Oh no. Yeah, we have Flash For Zonzon in Bloglovin and Blogilista for my Finnish friends.

If you have found a new favorite RSS-reader after they buried the Google Reader, go for it!

Then there is this community in web, IFB, International Fashion Bloggers. I'm posting my links there too, if I remember…

Boy, now this blog is everywhere!
It will be fun to see what kind of interaction with readers there is going to be using these tools. I'm curious to see it. And finally, thank you my readers for being there with me.

On the Street. Running to Catch the Bus, Center, Helsinki.

 

One of the free everyday fun is to watch people running to catch the bus on time. I'm never too busy to stop and take a look at how the running thriller is ending. And I'm feeling like a winner when they make it! 

On the Street. Sunday Walk, Lauttasaari, Helsinki.

Best thing you can do on Sundays is to go for a walk. Time to be outdoors and sink into own thoughts. Walking is the best method in solving problems or getting new ideas. I wonder what this dark character was pondering. At least he made a nice graphic silhouette against the green bushes.

For Fun. New pages. Labels and Link Love.

 

 Hi Everybody! May I present some new pages on Flash For Zonzon. You can find a new Labels-page on the navigation bar on top of the page. In Labels I'm opening a little the tags or labels used in this blog. Labels are a handy way to get you the specific type of posts you are interested in.

Link Love is the new page where I'm sharing some sources of inspiration with you.  Here you can find some inspiring things divided in categories. At least I like them. Maybe you can find some new favorite things from these links too.

For Fun. Polkadot Swimsuit, Kumpula Oudoor Pool, Helsinki.

A week ago we went to Kumpula outdoor pool with my family to enjoy the last day of sweet warm summer. Kumpula is a marvelous place to be with kids. Besides pools for kids and adults, there is a diving tower and playground. To my joy there was also an outdoor gym. It is rare that you can lift the weights outdoors these latitudes dressed just in bikinis. Fun it was.

Well, now we need to wait for next summer to renew the experience. Just when schools begun this week begun also the rainy days that predict autumn.

For Fun. Reading Jules Verne.

 

 I have spent my Summer Holiday part two in countryside in Finland. The aim has been to load batteries by not doing anything special. There isn't much happening on the streets around here. Only cows walk the back yard in the meadow.

In the evenings I have read Jules Verne wonderful book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea to my daughters. For the first time in my life I'm really getting to know the adventurous story of submarine Nautilus.

In the book they constantly describe the beauty of Marine blossom. When they are sailing the Red Sea, it is described how the red color has come to the water from tiny red colored Infusoria. Thousands in one square centimeter. What would that be if you look at it under a microscope? My wild guess is above.