Book Time {Part 3}

A few weeks ago while in my local bookshop I decided to stop by the crafting aisle and this book caught my eye; Blogging for Bliss. Being a fairly new Blogger I picked it up and started thumbing through it. I realized I was standing there reading entire chapters and I should just buy it and head home. While waiting in line I flipped the book over to discover a familiar face smiling back at me! The author of the book, Tara Frey, was one of my very first freelance illustration clients! Small world right!Besides the excitement of knowing the author, and reconnecting with her, Blogging for Bliss has been a fantastic resource. It's packed with great tips and how-to's, informational tools, and behind the scenes stories and inspiration from successful design bloggers, including my current teacher Ms. Holly Becker of Decor8!
It's a great book and since many of you, my readers, are bloggers yourselves, I thought I should share this fabulous find. I've added it to my Amazon Book Shop, which you can purchase by clicking here. (By the way I learned how to set up a Amazon "astore" from reading this book!)

Retail Therapy: Love Birds?

Today I'm off to a wedding, my dad is getting remarried! I found these bride and groom rubber duckies at Michael's and couldn't resist. I have a "real" gift in the works but since I couldn't arrive empty handed I bought these cuties. What's so ironic is I literally wrote an article (here) on giving the perfect "Wow Wedding Gift" and this is what I'm handing them on their wedding day?!?!

Tuesday Tips: Hair

This is the first post in a new series I'm starting for the next 4 weeks called Tuesday Tips. Every tuesday I'm going to post a little tip for you. Whether your an aspiring fashion illustrator or just dabbling and looking to try it out, I'm hoping my tips will come in handy. First up; Hair.

The most important thing to know when illustrating hair is to draw the hair as it grows and flows, as you'd brush it, roots to ends. Hair should not be colored as a solid mass of flat color. Also pay attention to the color variations and the shadows. Flip through a magazine or pick up some personal photos and look at the hair, there are deep dark shadows, the darkest of which are around the neck, and bright highlights on the top and sides where light hits.

I've drawn these three girls to clearly show you my process. First I draw a pencil sketch. Secondly I apply the main colors in marker. Then I polish her up and apply all shadows and highlights with colored pencils. Now if only styling my hair in real life was as easy as one two three. :)

You can also check out my Doodle Darlings to see line drawings of different hair styles, which you can look at as a base, before coloring, like the pencil steps shown here.

Fashion Walk of Fame

This is one of those random things that you probably wouldn't know about if you don't regularly walk through New York's Garment Center; there is a Fashion Walk of Fame. It's like Manhattan's version of the Hollywood Stars Walk of Fame, just not as well known or as old. (They started it only ten years ago.)

I wanted to post about it because in addition to designers names and bios, each floor plaque features an iconic sketch. (And you know how I love designer sketches!) So just for you I stood in the middle of the very busy sidewalks of 7th Avenue with my camera pointed to the floor! I was totally embarrassed mind you, and made my friend Jackie stay on the phone with me while I did it.

The "Fashion Walk of Fame celebrates excellence in American design by honoring the New York designers who have had a significant and lasting impact on the way the world dresses."

Portfolio Mood Board

Since I've been on a little mood board/inspiration kick this week I thought I'd share a mood board from my product design portfolio with you. For nearly four years I was the Designer of a Brand Development Department. One of my job responsibilities was to create seasonal trend boards for brand managers, editors, retailers, and licensees.

Ballet Dreams is a board I made to inspire a teen bedding collection. In person the board measured about 2' x 3' and was three dimensional, but it's hard to tell in the photo. Maybe this board will motivate you to pull some looks together and find fabrics, colors, and images that inspire you.

All the fabrics used on the boards were purchased at Mood Fabrics. Unfortunately I made this a while ago and do not have much credit information for the images, I am sorry. Top left: Michael Kors bathing suit, Top right: Balenciaga, Bottom right: Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker ad.

Courthouse Catherine

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of serving jury duty. I had to wake up super early, head down to Centre Street in lower Manhattan, then spend a day being questioned by lawyers and a second day sitting around waiting to be released. (<-Yay, no more jury duty for 6 years!) Although serving jury duty is not thrilling, it was exciting to walk into this Supreme Court landmark and feel like I was walking into a movie or the set of Law and Order.

Every time I pasted through these giant pillars I thought about the shading on my Catherine illustration. Is that strange? Probably, but then again, the classic columns of the courthouse and design of her gown do have the same Grecian inspiration source.