Fabulous Doodles Fashion Illustration blog by Brooke Hagel: gift

Showing posts with label gift. Show all posts

Prom Princess

This sketch of Rebecca was commissioned by her mom Catherine, as a birthday surprise. You probably know by now, that I am frequently commissioned for custom wedding gown illustrations. Well I also draw beauty pageant queens, sweet sixteens, bat-mitzvah and prom girls like Rebecca here.

Rebecca loves the illustration so much that there's been talk of doing some more; one of her senior prom dress and one of her graduation dress to make a fun triptych.

Since prom and graduation are just around the corner I thought it was a good time to share this illustration with you. Maybe you know a girl who would like a custom illustration from prom as a special graduation gift?

The Best Gifts Come in Small Packages

I guess it’s like “they” say, maybe the best gifts do come in small packages. At last weeks Oscar's gifting suite I offered a wide variety of products from my shop including 8”x10” and 5”x7” prints of my fashion illustrations, poster prints, notebooks, bookmarks, magnets, and some gift certificates for custom illustrations.

To my surprise the most popular items were the bookmarks and magnets. The celeb’s were loving them and they went fast. If you’d like to have one too you can purchase them from my shop. The bookmarks can be found by clicking here and the magnets here.

Do I sound like an infomercial? I’m sorry, but they really were the fave’s of the day so I thought I’d share!

Oscar’s Gifting Suite

This week I had the opportunity to participate in an Oscar’s Gifting Suite! Within just a few days I made 100+ samples to “gift”, hopped a flight from NY to LA, and shared my work at a Beverly Hill’s invite only pre-Oscar’s Gifting Suite.

There was a lot of last minute prep involved, since I was notified about this event pretty late in the game. But being that I’m no stranger to all-nighters or some hard work, and had help from good friends, everything came together without a hitch.

I met some fantastic people, including representatives from the other 15 companies participating, Oscar nominees, television and film stars, musicians, and pro athletes. Everyone seemed to really love my work. I got fantastic feedback from the guests as well as gave three filmed interviews! (I’ll see if I can find them online and share them with you here soon.)

In addition to gifting prints, posters, and bookmarks, I also gave some gift certificates for a custom illustrations which can be used towards a custom bridal illustration or to capture their favorite red carpet look.

The gift certificates are also being included in gift bags being sent to the ladies of One Tree Hill; Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Galeotti, Jana Kramer, Lisa Goldstein, and Shantel Van Senten. As well as Maria Shriver, and Jamie Lynn Sigler. It was a great event and what is hopefully the first of many.

(If you want to see all the photo's I'm going to post them all in album on my facebook fan page, so if your not a fan already there's no time like the present!)

Orthodox Bride

Meet my beautiful friend Sarah. Sarah commissioned me to do a custom illustration of her in her wedding gown. (I didn't know her at the time of her wedding otherwise I would have offered one as my wedding gift, as I do for all my friends who are about to head down the aisle!) Sarah is an Orthodox Jew and therefore her wedding gown was modest, with a high neckline and long sleeves. This was out of my "bridal drawing comfort zone".

Drawing a bride is hard because they wear intricately detailed white gowns that I have to draw on white paper. Usually all the skin shown with a strapless gown helps to give the illustration depth and a frame of sorts around the dress, so this one obviously didn't have that. Also, knowing Sarah, she is such a beautiful girl, both inside and out and one of the most kind hearted people I've ever met. I wanted to really capture her in my illustration. (cheesy I know, but its true!) But I'm really pleased with the outcome and so was Sarah.

Holiday Shops

If your in the NYC area I highly recommend checking out these two fantastic shops I'll be heading to this weekend. The first one is a booth that my uber talented friend Aaron has set up within The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park. Aaron is an incredible illustrator and fashion designer (with a jaw dropping resume.) He will be in Bryant Park selling greeting cards featuring his fabulous ladies everyday till Dec. 24th. It's booth #F01 on the corner of 42nd St and 6th Ave.

The other must hit sale is the Martha Stewart Holiday Craft Sale. It's the first time this sale is open to the public and will only be open tomorrow, December 5th. (Click here for more info) I personally am a huge fan of all that is Martha. (Little secret: Martha and I share the same birthday, and when I was 13 I met her and told her so. She definitely did not share in my excitement, but I love her and her amazing company none the less!) I'm really looking forward to seeing the unique crafts and handmade goodies that her staffers have come up with.

Handmade Holidays

The holiday shopping season is upon us and with that comes mailboxes full of catalogues, mass emails with discount codes, and big box store promotions. I wanted to write this little post to urge you to buy handmade. Not only will you be supporting artists and your community, but you will also be getting and giving something special, made with heart.

I've scoured Etsy and put together my own little gift guide of handmade treasures. Some of the sellers are personal favorites of mine that I've purchased from before and others are simply on my wish list...To my friends and family, I'd be trilled to receive any of these handcrafted pieces! ;)