My New Illustrated Books are Now Available

I am so excited to share with you the new book series I illustrated, Chloe by Design, is now available! The books come either as one bound hardcover copy Chloe by Design: Making the Cut or as four individual parts (as shown above) Design Diva, The First Cut, Unraveling and Design Destiny. They tell the story of a 16-year-old fashion loving girl Chloe, who auditions for the teen version of her favorite fashion design reality competition show. My illustrations, thumbnail sketches, handwritten notes and photos throughout the books act as her sketchbook and designs throughout the rigorous competition.

To kick off the book release Capstone is offering Fabulous Doodles readers 30% off Chloe by Design: Making the Cut, with promo code HAGEL30. For a little more about what awaits inside Chloe by Design watch amazing book trailer! (I'm still loving this and it came out over 6 months ago!)

Working with the team from Capstone Publishing again was wonderful, especially the designer of the books, Alison Thiele and of course author Margaret Gurevich. I'm really proud of how these books turned out, and confident they would've been right up my alley back in Jr. High. I'm also thrilled to announce that I'm about to start sketching more Chloe designs because the series has been extended and we now have 4 more books in the works!

For more on these books as well as the other books I've illustrated and/or contributed to check out my Amazon shop.

Inspired by Gray Gardens

Today I'm sharing another fun floral fashion illustration on craft paper. This one was inspired by gray gardens, not the movie of course or the eccentric Beales but by the beautiful monochromatic floral patterns that are popping up throughout both fashion and home in various shades of gray, as shown in the examples above:

1. Gray floral printed dress by Styul.

2. Printed floral tote with leather handles by Gap.

3. Lauren Ralph Lauren Cocktail Dress dinnerware. (Side note; a few years ago I had the pleasure of the visiting the Ralph Lauren Home design studio and offices and was blown away by their extensive trend boards and how meticulous they are about translating fashion to home decor. Which this intricate "Cocktail Dress" dinnerware pattern is a perfect example of.)

4. Duvet set by H&M Home.

I hope you enjoy seeing how I take a trend and interpret it into fashion illustration. This illustration was actually drawn/painted with gouache the same day as the one from my last inspiration post, Blue and White. The dramatically draped skirt is based on this photo from my She's a Sketch Pin board and I adorned it with a loose organic gray floral print. For more snapshots of my daily inspirations and things I'm working on you can follow me on Instagram @brooklit.

Sketching for Vogue and Clinique {NYC & Seattle}

I'm excited to share I'll be sketching with Vogue Magazine and Clinique in two more cities in the next week and once again you're invited! Last weeks California and Florida events went so well and garnered such great feedback that it looks like my original plan of sketching in 6 cities is now extend to 9! Coming up this week, New York City and Seattle:

New York

Thursday, August 7th 2014, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Macy's Herald Square 

151 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001

RSVP: 212.494.5266

Thursday, August 21, 2014, 12:00-2:00 PM
Lord & Taylor
424 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10028
RSVP: 212.391.3648

Seattle 

Saturday August 23th 20014, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Nordstrom Bellevue

100 Bellevue Square, Bellevue WA 98004

RSVP: 425.455.5800

Guests who purchase the new Clinique Smart Serum do not only receive a custom fashion illustration of themselves by yours truly but they can also have the custom sketch printed onto a cell phone cover. Shown above are some of the pre-printed covers I designed for the events that are gifts with purchase. Since the first event in San Francisco, I've been switching mine over daily!

Hope to see you (and sketch you!) there but if you can't make it be sure and follow along on instagram to see what I'm sketching up for guests of Vogue and Clinique. And check back soon for even more cities and dates!