The Brides are Coming

The weather here in NYC this past week has been absolutely gorgeous. With spring coming and many emails popping up asking about my custom bridal drawings (here) I know wedding season is just around the corner. So I've decided while I have a little free time to illustrate a fresh batch of brides and design a print for the shop with all of them. These three ladies are a little sneak preview.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend and don't forget to enter my giveaway by leaving a comment in the post below for your chance to win one of 3 Project360 bracelets.

Retail Therapy: Project 360 Heart Hoodie

This happens to be one of the softest and coziest garments I've ever owed and its cute to boot. Although I've been a long time fan of Team Project360 (a close friend of mine is the CEO and I always support my girls!) it wasn't until two weeks ago while out in LA, that I actually bought my first piece from the collection and have barely taken it off since! (In my Oscars post, you can spot me wearing it will prepping my illustrations.)

My limited edition hoodie (originally made for Valentines day) is made of organic cotton and recycled leather. Each item in the earth-friendly collection is made with the goal of generating awareness of global issues. The philosophy behind the company is that "even the smallest act can make the biggest difference to a person in need." So you can have this chic and cozy staple that you won't want to take off while helping to better the planet. Since purchasing my heart hoodie and falling in love with it I've had to place a second order. (My "LOVE" hoodie is on its way.) If you would like one too they are available at upscale retailers Henri Bendel, Fred Segal, and Charlotte Ronsen or online here.

And now, drum roll please. . .I'm pleased to announce that you can enter here to win a Project360 leather bracelet! I mentioned to my friend that I was posting about my fabulous hoodie and she offered up 3 bracelets for my first ever giveaway! You can chose from six different words that benefit six different charities. Simply comment below with your name, email address, and the bracelet you would want; Love, Empower, Truth, Hope, Peace or Dream. You can also follow Team Project 360 on Twitter (here) or become a facebook fan (here) then let me know you did so by commenting again. Meaning you can enter up to three times! Three winners will be chosen. You can enter until midnight March 23rd. Good luck everyone! I wish I could win, these babies are worth $68 each!

Tuesday Tip: Lips

This week I want to get specific with you and focus on one feature, the mouth. There are many different ways to draw a mouth; smiling, smirking or even frowning. I'm going to show you my standard go-to perfect pout. Once you master this it's easy to play around and try variations.

1-Start by drawing a circle. Then draw one line through then center horizontally and another vertically.

2-Mark the sides and center with slightly darker "dashes" and begin drawing the contour of the mouth.

3-Lightly erase all the lines. (Once you add marker you cannot erase, the marker sets it into the paper.) Just leave the faint pencil lines so you can still see where to apply color.

4-Add a second coat of marker to the entire top lip and very bottom edge of the bottom lip. Then with your dark pencil lightly outline and add shadows in the center middle, center bottom, and sides.

Something important to keep in mind when drawing the mouth is the top lip is ALWAYS darker because its in shadow. Look in the mirror or some photos and blur your eyes and you'll instantly see it. Above is an example of the "perfect pout" on Audrey from my etsy shop. (Dylan, Vogue and Mystie all sport a variation of this mouth as well.)

For now this is the last tuesday tip. It was only set up as a four week series, but I do promise to resume it again sometime in the future. Thank you though for all the positive feedback! Happy sketching!

Blog it Forward: Inspired by...

Today's post is all about what inspires me. This post is part of Blog it Forward. I'd first like to send a big thank you to Victoria of SFgirlbybay for arranging this, it's been so fantastic to read through what inspires people and discover new blogs in the process. Yesterday was Every Little Wonder's turn and tomorrow will be Fashion Foir Gras, so be sure to check them out as well. Now without further ado, here is what inspires me and many of my fashion illustrations:

First up, New York. I love my city, there's simply no other place like it. In the city that never sleeps there is inspiration around every corner. From the people walking the streets to the museums and exhibits that you stumble upon, to the city itself, New York is one of a kind. New Yorkers too for that matter! (Every trip I've taken abroad people have called me and/or my friends out as being New Yorkers!)

My Fabulous Friends. I have an amazing group of friends that are my little secret tribe of muses. I'm constantly inspired by them, from outfits they show up to dinner in to photo's they post on facebook to their latest hair styles! Elements of my friends show up in almost every illustration I create.

Traveling. I absolutely love to travel and explore new places. The two activities that I think are vital when traveling are people watching and shopping. One of the biggest perks of traveling is the being exposed to new things and new people. It's so interesting to observe women of other cultures and see how they style themselves. (Dylan is an illustration I made after visiting Iceland. With the exception of the brown hair, because almost every woman there was platinum blond, her entire look was inspired by the Reykjavik locals.) It's also essential to shop while traveling. Local markets are great, but a little secret of mine when shopping abroad is to head to the dollar store! I've gotten the most interesting little housewares, art supplies, and fun finds in foreign dollar stores.

Shopping. It shouldn't only be done while traveling! I love to see what's out there, I don't even have to buy. (Although I do have to say, there's nothing like the high of a fabulous new purchase.) Shops are such a great resource for inspiration. From the products, to the merchandising, to the store decor, windows and sales people. Shown above are two of my favorite purchases I've photographed and written about here before (the glass dish and studded flats) and some fabulous lanterns I spotted, but passed up, in a market in Egypt.

Hope you enjoyed reading about and seeing my photo's of what inspires me. :) Definitely try to check out some of the other ladies participating in Blog it Forward.

Costume Design: The Red Queen

I found these kooky illustrations of Helen Bonham Carter's character in the new Alice in Wonderland, in last weeks People Magazine. The first is the concept drawing, and the second (on right) is the illustration that costume designer, Colleen Atwood, sketched and then created.

The drawings have so much personality and character! I remember really struggling with this back in college, in costume design classes. Trying to make the characters realistic and flawed was difficult for me. I tend to draw everyone very thin and pretty. Clearly this was not a problem here!

I may have to check out the costume in action. Today was the second time I was told I "had to see Alice in Wonderland" due to the amazing costumes. I'm a movie girl but this movie wasn't really calling me. Have you seen it? Is it worth my $12.75? (Yes, that is the cost of an adult movie ticket in Manhattan. Crazy right! And that's before the 3D charges, if I were to see it in 3D)

(Images: People Magazine March 15, 2010)

Cherry Picked

A new website and daily newsletter has just launched called Cherry Picked. A few months ago Felicity, the sites creator, contacted me about her concept and a possible collaboration. Felicity was moving from San Francisco back home to Australia. She felt there was a void in the online arena for daily fabulousness in and about her hometown Sydney, Australia and thought my illustrations fit in perfectly with her vision.

She was planning a trip to New York and asked me if I'd like to get together. It was a thrill, as I rarely ever get to meet my clients. We met on the upper west side, at Magnolia, dined on tea and cupcakes, and hit it off right from the start. (I'm thinking if all meetings took place in cupcake shops the world would be a better place!)

After meeting in person we had many late night emails and g-chats resulting in me illustrating the logo, website and newsletter headers, and a bunch of icons and "head shots" of the team.

If you are a native Aussie or simply planning to vacation there soon, you have to check out Cherry Picked. (And all of my illustrations!)