New Blo Girls

Last friday I took a little day trip to Connecticut to see my latest custom fashion illustrations blown up on canvas' at the grand opening of Blo Dry Bar West Hartford. It was so exciting to finally see them so large scale in person!

I was commissioned to illustrate two girls for the new Blo salon. The first (shown above) a trendy-chic girl mid "blo" greets clients near the front, her I had printed on a 4 foot tall canvas. For the second (shown below) I illustrated a traditional preppy Connecticut girl on to go, ala Charlotte York with a cable knit sweater, blo-pink Birkin and shopping bags in tow. She was printed on a whopping 6 foot tall canvas and makes quite an impact on the back washing station wall.

Even though I've worked with the Blo crew for a while now, illustrating their hair menu and their NYFW Barbie menu, the grand opening of Blo West Hartford was actually my first time in a Blo salon. Although Blo Dry Bar is the largest blowout chain in North American, there's still no Blo here in NY! (I was planning on sharing before and after shots but my curly-frizzed out before shot is just too embarrassing to publish.)

In addition to seeing my artwork adorning the walls, the grand opening of Blo West Hartford was a great event all around. There was lots of mingling between blowouts, sipping pink champage, munching on Blo cupcakes, diving into gift bags of goodies, and seeing my two favorite Blo girls, Hilary and Lizzie who flew in from Blo headquarters in Canada.

If you're in the West Harford Connecticut area definitely stop into Blo, check out my sketches and treat yourself to a fabulous blowout.

Colleen Atwood Costume Design {Snow White & the Huntsman}

This weekend I headed to the movies to see Snow White & the Huntsman. The film was ok, but the costumes, they were spectacular. Three-time Oscar winning costume designer Colleen Atwood truly transformed Charlize Theron into evil Queen Ravenna through the most avant-garde and medieval-haute-couture wardrobe I've ever seen. Shown above is Ravenna's caged collared wedding dress built from fabrics and findings from Paris and Italy and embroidered with leather to give it an edge. The costume design sketch of her rooster feathered gown and cloak cost an estimated $32,000 and two of them had to be made since one would be covered in oil. This was the very first piece Atwood designed for the film, to be used in teaser trailers where through the help of visual effects transformed into a flock of crows. The intricate detailing and beautifully rendered fabric make for quite an impressive costume sketch.

For more about Atwoods costume designs for Snow White & the Huntsman you can check out this Vanity Fair article and I highly recommend seeing the costumes in action. The queen's crowns and chainmail and spiked leather gowns are a sight to see. 

(Images: Universal Pictures, via Vanity Fair)

Rue Magazine Blogger Side-by-Side

About a year ago I was thrilled to be contacted by the Rue crew to sketch fashion illustrations for the Rue Magazine blogger side-by-side column. I was sent a bunch of photo's of the two lovely bloggers they were featuring that month and I created these fashion illustrations, reflecting them and their style. Sarah Klassen of Haute Design (shown above) was a fun one with her bright red hair and chic accessorie styling (don't you love those shoes!) and blogger Daniella Marie (shown below) of Dress Design Decor and Daniella Marie Blog was a lovely and more girl-next-door look.

Unfortunately the sketches were pulled at the very last minute and never ran in Rue, but in going through some old project files I found them and thought would share.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel)

Happy 3rd Birthday Fabulous Doodles

Today marks the 3 year anniversary of Fabulous Doodles, this little fashion illustration blog I started to share my projects, sketches and fashion illustrations that inspire me. Its been an exciting 3rd year of career highs so for this "blogiversary" I thought I'd take a look back and spotlight some of the 3rd years best moments:

• Being commissioned by Barbie to create sketches for New York Fashion Week was certainly a dream project! Attending a slew of Fashion Week shows and events for the Fall 2012 collections was pretty great as well.
• In April my sketches appeared as giant wall decals on VH1's latest fashion focused reality show, House of Consignment. The illustrations continued to make cameo's on every single episode of the season.
• Months after sketching Kate Middleton wedding dress predictions for the Nate Berkus Show, I added a Kate Middleton bridal illustration to my bridal print shop, Brooklit Bride and she quickly became the most popular print in the shop.
• This year I met lots of VIPS and added them to my photo album. It was a thrill to see which illustration(s) of mine they chose to snap a pic with. (VIP post 1 & VIP post 2)
• Working on custom bridal illustrations is something I really enjoy, especially when I get to sketch gowns as stunning as this and ladies as pretty as these beautiful brides. 
• Attending a "Talk with Tom Ford" was something I will not soon forget. 
• And last but not least, this year I brought back two of Fabulous Doodles most popular series, Secret Weapons and Tuesday Tips. 

I drew the sketch shown above especially for this 3 year blogiversary post and since I like how she turned I think I'll print up some birthday cards featuring her and add them to my Brooklit Shop. Thank you Fabulous Doodles readers for following me, commenting and encouraging me and my work. 

Head Scarf Sketches for Remington at Target

A little while back I was commissioned by Remington Products for this fun little project sketching hair styles that showed the five different ways to style their newest hair accessory, a sequined head scarf. They requested the sketches be simple line drawings with only the product drawn in color, so it would stand out. I was also asked to keep the face consistent on each illustration, so the focus was only on the different hair styles.

Once the tags were in production they said I'd get samples for my portfolio but nothing ever came and I almost forgot about it. Then a few weeks ago while on a trip down in Florida I decided to swing down the hair accessory aisle of a Target just to check out the Remington line and see what was there. To my pleasant surprise I found my sketches right there, in store, on hang tags in Target! Needless to say I bought one and am excited to share the illustrations here with you.

(Illustrations by Brooke Hagel for Remington Products)

Mad Men Fashion Illustration Portraits

How stunning are these David Downton illustrations inspired by Mad Men characters? I'm so in love with them that even though they're not my own I had to share them and their fabulousness here on Fabulous Doodles. Mad Men has been one of my favorite television shows since its premiere episode. In addition to the allure of the main characters, such as Don Draper, Joan Harris and Roger Sterling, the costumes are always a sight to see and in my opinion costume designer Janie Bryant is a genius. (Who also happens to have one of my dream jobs!)

It always amazes me when an artist, like Downton who works in a very stylized way can really a capture a person, feeling or mood without being overly literal. His illustration of Roger Sterling played by John Slattery (whom I actually spent a day working with when I was a wardrobe intern for Sex and the City!) in particular is so dead on in looks and attitude, it truly amazes me.

In the not so distant future I'm hoping to feature some more Mad Men illustrations, both by costume designer Janie Bryant (fingers crossed) and myself. (I'm thinking a "Women of Mad Men" series could be a fabulous addition to my print shop. What do you think?) In the mean time I'll certainly enjoy these three fabulous Downton Mad Men sketches.

(Illustrations by David Downton)