The Ivory Cherry

Sauropods, carbonate ions, and designer sweaters.

2009-11-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a nice long post about carbonate ion concentration in the ocean and how its decline after the K-T Chicxulub impact may have caused the shells of certain marine invertebrates to become less robust (and how this may be evidence against the idea that turtles with perforate shells found at this same time reduced their shells because of reduced predation after the vast majority of predators became extinct at the K-T boundary), BUT my browser decided to poop out, so...

Ah well. There was also something about how I don't feel half as knowledgeable as my peers here. (I have doubts that one more year + studying for quals is going to make me super grad student girl.) Anyway, it doesn't matter. The point is this: sauropods are awesome.

And so is the Stella McCartney for Gap Kids collection. I finally got my hands on the leopard intarsia silk-cashmere tunic sweater dress (whew!) and it is divine.

Some stuff.

2009-11-06T11:25:00.001-08:00

Speaking of Anna Sui, I'm kind of in love with this dress. Could do without the lace, but in any case. Love.

Also, I'm kind of pissed that the Stella McCartney for Gap Kids collection is only being sold in one store in all of frickin' Connecticut. Yes I fit in and buy clothes from Gap Kids. NO SHAME.

In other news, I need photoshop on the compy. Sad pie.

Image lifted wholesale from Nordstrom.

Rompers!

2009-11-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

So today we'll talk briefly about rompers.

I recently bought the romper above. Because a) I loved the print (the picture doesn't do it justice; it's covered in stars and planets and galaxies and constellations), b) I love Anna Sui, and c) it popped back up in my size (on sale!) mere days after I became infatuated with it, and I took this as a sign. Rompers have been kind of a contentious topic in the fashion world recently, what with most bloggers decrying them as infantile and unflattering, while designers send more and more down the runway. And they seem to sell pretty briskly, too. What's the deal?

Frankly I don't think they're all that infantilizing. It depends on the cut and style, of course. But in general I think they're pretty cute:

Adorable, no? Then again, I also love socks with heels. Hmm. This may also be a boy-pretty vs. girl-pretty issue, but I couldn't care less about boy-pretty anyway.

Also, they're light years better than jumpsuits. Just sayin'.

(Yeah, that's the end of this post. Not too insightful. I'm tired.)

Edit: Images from Net-a-Porter and Style Arena.

Raspberry Turtle

2009-10-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

The cutest turtle I ever did see.

Random Updates

2009-10-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

It's going to be a busy two weeks: two concerts, NSF grant due, presentations, tests, etc.

In the meantime I'm thinking of stuff to post. Some sort of outfit-of-the-day drawing thing. Fashion reviews. I recently bought a "romper", of all things. More on that at some later date.

I've been painting, doing commissions, and reading stuff on patternmaking and draping. Also I started reading Yotsubato! over again (excellent stuff, really stellar comicking) and watching Lucky Star, which seems to be the only anime I can stand these days.

Anyway I doubt I'll post much in the next two weeks but I will when I can. (That reminds me, I've been listening to "All You Need is Love" over and over. It's the most tautological song in the world. I love it. HA!)

The End. Until next time!

Chuggin' Along

2009-10-22T17:29:00.000-07:00

Painting in progress. Linseed oil in old medicine bottle, turpenoid in empty bôite de pickled radish. So bohemian!

Oyako Donburi

2009-10-21T17:19:00.000-07:00

Tonight for dinner we made Oyako Don!

Of course we used good ole Google to find a recipe, but we ended up kind of using a mish-mash of three recipes and adding our own touches, so here it is for those of you curious:

Half a large yellow onion
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1 tsp Hon-Dashi + 2 cups water (for dashi stock)
4 tbp mirin
5 tbp brown sugar
7 tbp soy sauce
3 eggs
Sesame oil
Chopped scallions (to taste)
Dried seaweed (to taste)

Super easy: make the dashi stock, heat over medium heat while adding the sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. Let the soup mixture simmer while you sauté the chicken pieces with sesame oil. Once done, place the chicken on some paper towels to soak up the grease. Fry up the onions in the same pan (don't add any oil) until lightly browned, and then pour the soup into the pan. Bring to a boil and add the chicken, letting the chicken boil for 1-2 minutes. Pour the excess soup into a separate pan/bowl/whatever. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then pour on top of the chicken and onions. Let cook to whatever consistency you like, then scoop it all up and put it on top of some white rice. Ladle some of the soup you had poured off over the chicken and rice, top with dried seaweed (cut into strips) and scallions. Voilà!

We're thinking of mixing this up a bit because our egg didn't end up, well, together, but it's delicious either way :)

TURTLE PANCAKE

2009-10-16T18:14:00.001-07:00

He was delicious.

Field Trip!

2009-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

So a friend asked me to start posting again, and I am nothing if not at the mercy of my friends.

I was going to start over with a new blog on Wordpress because I have to reboot my blogs every once in a while out of sheer embarrassment and mind-crippling shame but it turns out Wordpress doesn't let you post videos without charging you up the whazoo (srsly wtf?) so that was that.

Today was the Geology department field trip. Basically we drove around Connecticut and looked at rocks. AWESOME! Actually it turned out okay, but pretty much only because of this little guy here:

Just crawling around the forest like some super sweet salamander dude. There were two more salamanders on the trip but they were a little camera shy, so crazy orange guy it is.

Don't you love the way they glop their little limbs around? (This guy was about an inch and a half long.)

The End.

COMICS

2009-05-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

I absolutely adore looking at a comic page before the word bubbles get filled. Something about the way bubbles break up a page and the potential of those bubbles really appeals to me. I like lettered pages too but there's just something wonderful about the unlettered version.

I really enjoyed drawing the latest page for All Stories Are True! This comic business if spectacular. Spectacularly fun. Panel four with Haleigh's head sticking into Derek's word bubble is my favorite.

It certainly takes a long time, though. The breakdown for this page is roughly:

Pencils: 3 hours
Inks: 2 hours
Shading: 1.5 hours
Lettering & Editing: 1 hour

All Told: 7.5 hours (!!!)

I assume this to be an upper bound, though, since the art for this one was rather complex for me (so many people, panels so small!). Here's hoping the total bill will go down!

I'm thinking the update schedule for now will be Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We'll seeeeee.

Underwater

2009-05-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Really beautiful underwater photography by Elena Kalis. Ethereal and fragile and at times fantastical. Some of my favorites...

Little House on the Prairie/Jackie O

2009-05-11T18:22:00.000-07:00

EDIT: Pictures removed.

So I finished this dress... two? three? weeks ago but never got around to posting this because... I'm lazy? Yeah, that seems right.

I used a 1970s McCall's pattern. The plaid fabric is a thick polyester-y cotton – not my favorite texture in the world, but it was the only decent cheap fabric at the store and my friend Jon said it reminded him of Jackie O. Plus the thickness meant no need for lining. The bodice went remarkably smoothly (attaching sleeves is fun!) but ruffling the skirt was amazingly frustrating (you try getting 100+ inches of fabric down to 25"... it's hard!). My strings kept breaking and in the end I had to draw the ruffle on only one string since I didn't feel like redoing the second string after three or four failures :)

The zipper was also death incarnate, but eventually I think it turned out okay, and I even added some bias tape detail:

But everything would have been dandy if it hadn't been for... the collar. As you can probably tell from the pictures it's really poufy and doesn't stay down and ironing doesn't seem to help. Also the notches are uneven, ha!

All-in-all it was a fun experience, though! I learned a whole lot but really it's all about practice practice practice. Now for the next pattern!

Week in Review

2009-05-02T14:45:00.000-07:00

My affection for J.Crew finds its grounding not just in their clothes, but in their styling, photography, and graphic design. I love this font they've been using recently.

Henry Darger's watercolors are amazing. Delicate, epic, eerie, innocent. And such lovely use of color. I love the thin lines, the ornateness. To think he did all this by tracing commercial drawings! Repurposing at its best.

The Chloé Classic Paddington Bag in Pink Berry. L'amour.

Mika Kato is amazing...

...and so is Trish Grantham.

Bag Love

2009-04-30T19:30:00.001-07:00

If you harbor no especial fondness for handbags, or you don't know the difference between a clutch and a satchel and a tote, you don't want to read this post, trust me. Come back later. The rest of you, read on:

I have a new love, and it is this bag.

It came in the mail today courtesy of Gilt (which is amazing, by the way – definitely my favorite of all these online sample sale sites – let me know if any of you want invites :). It is the Stella McCartney for LeSportSac Canteen Bag in Bark, made of 100% recycled polyester and mesh, and it is a dream. I know it doesn't look like much in the picture, but (and pardon me for the forthcoming gush) it is SO sumptuous and SO soft and SO pretty and the colors and materials are SO well-coordinated and the gold hardware is SO shiny and it is SO well-designed and it has magnetic closures. I don't know why, but I am exceedingly partial towards magnetic closures. It's just one of those innate preferences, I suppose!

Plus it comes with this adorably awesome metal and wood deer charm:

I've liked LeSportSac ever since I my mom bought me one of their Tokidoki bags (side note: Tokidoki really needs to stick with collaborations with solid companies like LeSportSac. I can't speak for their now-independently-produced bags, but if their clothing is any indication, their quality control department needs a swift kick in the rear). The Artist in Residence line is lovely (I have one from the current Fifi Lapin line. So cute!) and the quality is top-notch. For some reason I never really paid much attention to the Stella McCartney line, but a fantastic deal at Gilt (combined with their always-flawness product photography) showed me the way. You can still get the Canteen Bag here for 50% off, so if you happen to be looking for a cute casual carryall (at least, it's a carryall for me, but I don't carry around that much stuff – and mostly I just wanted to finish the alliteration), I highly recommend this one :)

Now I'm just waiting for a Rebecca Minkoff...

All pictures from the LeSportSac website.

Some thoughts, and some drawings.

2009-04-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

EDIT: Moved this to the top so you aren't immediately scared away by the text :)

It's been awhile, eh?

I've been feeling kind of stuck, lately. I have about three and half months left before I find myself in graduate school, and as I look back on the nine months I've been out of school, it occurs to me that I haven't really accomplished anything. I've drawn, yes, but not as much as I should have. And I haven't created any complete works yet (remember that aviator-technonecromatic-falcon picture from way back when? Haven't touched it since), which is, without question, tragic. Yesterday I picked up an old (we're talking 1999) binder chock full of colored, finished pieces, and while they weren't technically very good (okay, any good), they made me wonder... where has all my motivation gone?

(Into Hershey's New Cookies 'n Cream!... sorry, I couldn't resist. That was for you, Kacey.)

To be honest, the vast majority of my time has been sucked into online shopping and reading blogs and comics. That's all well and good, because I love shopping, and blogs, and comics. But I think maybe it's time to stop spending so much time on what other people can do, and focus primarily on what I can do.

Mariela Marigold is still alive and well after almost a full month (tomorrow is the last day until that milestone, so unless I suddenly implode, consider it reached!), which is encouraging – and while nothing there is groundbreaking in the least, there are certainly plenty of drawings I've done for MM that I actually like, and these are at least the first baby steps towards the realization of my vision of cartooning and fashion combined (perhaps this is my crusade: to convince the world that these two aesthetic schools, though they are endlessly pilloried and disparaged, are unquestionably two forms of art, unequivocally and undeniably? I probably have more potential in this than in championing justice in global food distribution, anyway...). The goal is to continue that, actually draw that comic, submit some designs to Threadless, and paint, self-doubt be damned!

Let's see if I can do it.

There's another reason I decided to post again, besides penning this dingy slip of a manifesto, and it revolves around the simple desire to share some random thoughts, that germ of a yearning which has its hands in the birth of all blogs. (This is kind of emo, isn't it? But also kind of Victorian? Vemo?)

Random Thought #1: I always see people talking about their fashion inspiration celebrities. There's a term for these makeshift muses but I forget what it is. In any case it's always been kind of irrelevant for me because I don't follow celebrities. But I will try anything once so let's say my fashion muses, when forced to be encapsulated in a figure deemed celebratorial by our society, are Zooey Deschanel and Michelle Williams. Zooey is kind of quirky looking which is I think is what separates anonymous-looking starlets (regardless of their actual anonymity or non-anonymity – try saying that three-times-fast) from interesting-looking ones. Michelle with short hair is perfection.

Okay, really I just wanted to talk about girls that I think are super cute. I might dedicate a whole post to this topic later, helped by my obsessive internet image hoarding. In any case take all that drivel up there with a grain of salt because I have no idea what Ms. Deschanel and Ms. Williams have actually been in.

Random Thought #2: I forget what random thought #2 was supposed to be.

Random Thought #3: Somehow, while jumping around from blog-to-blog, I discovered the work of Henry Darger, and now I am mystified and enthralled. Okay. I don't know how famous he is, but in case you guys are as clueless as I am, Mr. Darger was a recluse who wrote and illustrated a 14,000-odd page epic called The Story of the Vivian Girls, in what is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion. It already sounds amazing, right? What else sounds amazing? Ranger girlscouts. Yeah. Check out the essay and some artwork here for a good explanation of what this is all about. I may post some of my favorite pieces later. The whole thing is... well... unreal.

And finally, some drawings. (You didn't think I was going to leave you empty-handed after so long, did you? Well... I was. But I changed my mind.)

These are colored pencil drawings (I looove my little box of Faber Castells) that I intended as under-drawings for oil studies, but who knows if that'll happen. They're both based on photos from Vogue that I'm too lazy to scan, better luck next time:

Sorry this entry wasn't more interesting. But, dude, you're reading a blog. What did you expect?

Comic Two!

2009-02-06T17:48:00.001-08:00

The impossible has occurred: I finished another comic.

Not really sure what I think about this. Doing greyscale with pens is infinitely faster than coloring, but I'm not sure what I think about the, hmm... unsmoothness? I could shade on the computer, but a) hand-shading is more fun and b) hand-shading is just a bit faster. I can't help but feel it looks a little less professional this way, however.

Anyway, current projects: 1) moar comics, 2) website for comics, and 3) art website.

Kosmos!

2009-01-30T21:52:00.000-08:00

I've been playing Xenosaga III: Also sprach Zarathustra with the boy lately, and that combined with a glance at my long-dead Deviantart page inspired me to draw Kosmos again:

Long, long ago, when I first played the original Xenosaga, I decided to make a series of drawings of all the main characters... but I never made it past Kosmos. I think I might try again. I predict it won't get very far, though, because dang, I just like drawing Kosmos:

These are all the Kosmoses I've found on my hard drive. (Man, I love these retrospective things.)

In other news, acceptance from UT Austin, interviews with Michigan and Yale. Yay :)

More skirting adventures

2009-01-30T21:46:00.000-08:00

Finished this several days ago, but never got a chance to take pictures and post... until now! Dun dun dunnnn.

EDIT: Picture removed, which pretty much makes this post pointless. Tough.

High-waisted straight skirt in 100% cotton. It even has a slip! I'm moving up in the tailoring world, awww yeah.

Skirting adventures will be on hold for now, though, because I broke my sewing machine needle trying to hem a pair of jeans. Oops. In the meantime, I'm planning to make some fashion drawings. Stay tuuuuuned!

I has maed a skirts!!

2009-01-23T22:57:00.000-08:00

Tada!

[EDIT: Picture removed due to suck.]

You can't see in the picture, but the seams and hems are terrible! Nevertheless, it was a great learning experience and lots of fun (and I probably would have messed up less if my brother hadn't taken it upon himself to pester me the entire time). I now know that it's very important to plan ahead and that I should use an iron to flatten out seams before I try to finish them. All in all this took about 3 hours.

Tomorrow I hope to pick up some more fabric and some pinking shears for more fun skirting times.

Tailoring: 5/375?

Oil Painting

2009-01-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

Slowly getting the hang of it. Much better than my first attempt, because 1) I like drawing people a lot more than drawing flowers, and 2) I had something to imitate, namely this painting by Aadi Salman:

(Although, now that I look at it, I'm pretty sure this was done on the computer, but uh... whatever!)

Right now I'm just trying out techniques, it's fun – next I might tackle some landscapes (with my trusty Monet book as a guide).

And just for fun, a detail shot:

Eyes are hard.

Dressmaking

2009-01-17T21:00:00.001-08:00

I just bought this 1960s McCall's dress pattern from this Etsy store:

Lovely, no? I'm pretty excited. The plan is to tackle the poufy-skirted one. I'm not sure what fabric to use, but I'm thinking one of these two:

I'm kind of obsessed with fabric and tailoring now! You wouldn't think that seams and hems would be so interesting, and yet...

I'm going to make a skirt (from this book) first, though, because I'm still an absurd sewing n00b. Simple A-line with this Alexander Henry fabric:

All of these fabrics found at this Etsy store. Oh, Etsy, how I love thee.

Some drawings

2009-01-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

Last night was a drawing extravaganza. First a progress report on that picture:

Both girls are finished and the living part of the bird is done, but I'm kind of dreading the gears part.

And two photoshop doodles – detail of one I call "Frida" and some silly fashionmagic elf concoction:

(I'm not sure I like the entirety of "Frida" so that's why you only get a detail shot.)

Trying to do more interesting stuff but it's not really working. Oil painting is still at a standstill. But it does feel good to be drawing again.

Some Art and Some Art Quackery

2009-01-13T18:31:00.000-08:00

Some really neat photography by Steve Meisel for Vogue Italia's 'Patterns' editorial Spring 2007. Via Picdit. For all the editorial images (albeit with diminished picture quality), look here.

I get a Klimt vibe from the image of Meghan Collison that's featured in the limited edition jigsaw puzzle (what could be better?):

Mostly because of the face angle, I think. Reminds me of "Judith I." The pose of the model's left arm even matches! Although Judith was holding Holofernes' head, and not, uh, her boob. But hey, big black hair and everything. And "decorative" is pretty much synonymous with Klimt.

I was going to write some jibberish about Klimt's elevating/conflating of woman's sexuality and power and gender photography, but honesty that summary sounds pretentious enough.

P.S. If you have not yet experienced PETA's new "Sea Kitten" campaign, click this link, click on "Sea Kitten Stores," and prepare to laugh/lament the sordid state of your fellow man.

Besides, you can make your own tranvestite/down-on-his-luck-former-rock-star/Fu Manchu-bearing prostitute fish–er, sea kitten!

Awkward

2009-01-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

Long time no post. Here is a doodle of Haleigh and Hisa. I was commissioned by a choir friend to draw a picture for their wedding invitations, and I liked the proposed pose so much that I recycled it (but I replaced all the love with awkwardness):

Pertinent things from the last weeks: lovely Vogue photo spreads (next post), Grand Canyon and giant trees (pictures forthcoming), oil painting (it's hard), tailoring (lvl 0/375), Dear Catastrophe Waitress (excellent album), hand-me-downs from mom (so 80s), The Tain (epic), and Auditorium (really neat game concept).

Draw draw draw.

Shading!

2008-12-07T23:51:00.000-08:00

I bet you guys thought I gave up on this picture, didn't you? Well, so did I.

Shading is magical. Aviator girl is done, I guess precariously-hanging girl is next!

Talk to the Hand

2008-12-07T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hey! I found this in my Finished CG folder; I drew it over two years ago and never put it anywhere. Probably because looking at it filled me with an overwhelming sense of shame. Rectified!
The character's name is Ou, and she was one of the first characters I came up with. She could control birds or something. I dunno. I always liked her, though. Red hair!

Incroyable

2008-12-07T17:48:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's that time again: time to indulge in some good old shoe shopping. Anyone who is not totally awesome can check out now.

Irregular Choice is a British shoe company. They make... interesting shoes. Case in point:
Those are some shoes. I hope a few thousand years from now they'll be on exhibit in a museum exhibit about Alternative Visual Culture in the Pre-Apocalypse Western Civilizations of the Early 21st Century, next to print-outs of 4chan /b/ board threads and giant American Apparel adverts. I kind of want to own these just because they are so incredible, in the, uh, proper sense of the word. But, well, I don't think I can pull them off. If you think you can, though, you can find them here for £63.37.

Here's something by Irregular Choice that's much more demure:
I really like these, but the smallest size that ASOS carries is UK 3, which they claim is a European 36 AND a US size 5, which, like cake, is a LIE. But check out the bottom of them!You can't go wrong with robots, especially red ones with eye beams. Fact.

If you have feet that are not elven-/munchkin-sized like mine, you can pay £73.41 at the link above (or if you happen to be a size 10, for $149.99 at Modcloth).

Current shoe dilemma: to Fluevog, or not to Fluevog?

COMIC?!

2008-12-05T22:27:00.001-08:00

What is this?!

This took a long time. I don't even really like how it turned out. But! I learned lots:

- Word bubbles need to be much, much bigger.
- Those four panels at the bottom are way too small.
- I need a real comic font. (Resolved!)
- 600 dpi is suicide.
- My hand wants to die now.

I'm not sure I even want these to be colored. Mostly because it takes forever. But it looks nice? Kind of?

Some annotations... the plushie is a space bunny (a demented creature of my own creation, naturally). Yes, that is a picture of my World of Warcraft character. I own that clock, it is one loud mutha-effer. And finally, Miffy is King.

Now, if I manage to make a second comic, I'll think about building the site (NOOOO).

EDIT: Better version with new font omg you have no idea how much better this is no rly omg.

Nerdery and... more nerdery.

2008-12-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

Two things:So true. From Wasted Talent, a cute little journal-style comic about an engineer girl.

Sweetest thing I've seen on Threadless in a while. Everyone vote for it so I can buy it ;)

Girlyman is Great

2008-12-02T03:21:00.000-08:00

The Google blurb for the Girlyman website reads: "Imagine the Indigo Girls got together with Paul Simon and created Peter, Paul and Mary - only sexier." First of all, that sounds amazing. Second, it IS amazing.

I first heard of Girlyman from a choir friend from college. This germ of an introduction tucked in the back of my head, I came across "Postcards from Mexico" on my boyfriend's computer (he's not sure how it got there, but I think a sister was involved). I gave it a listening-to and found it fun and pleasant, but nothing special. Now I've been listening to Girlyman's first album, "Remember Who I Am," practically non-stop since I got it three days ago. What happened in the interim? Two words: quality speakers.

Girlyman describes its music as "harmony-driven gender pop." The key word is "harmony." On my boyfriend's tiny Macbook speakers, "Postcards from Mexico" is okay. Nate's kind of goofy voice takes center stage (don't get me wrong – I like the goofy voice. The Decemberists is one of my favorite bands, for crying out loud. Waistrels in the storm gutter, bluh guh mlarrr). But once I played it on some better speakers, I was blown away by the harmonization of the three band members. Just listen to "Viola" and hear how Nate's solo voice gives way to three-part harmony in the second stanza. Incredible.

And it only gets better. Not only is the harmonization perfect, but the chord progressions are sleek, masterful, beautiful. (This is especially evident with "Even If," where minor chords melt into major chords and back again without so much as a seam.) This makes some of the songs on "Remember Who I Am" among the most moving, poignant expressions of love and futility I've ever heard. The chord changes at the end of the chorus of "Say Goodbye" – "either way you've already made up your mind" – tears me apart every time. Same with "Amaze Me;" I don't think I've heard anything as beautiful as the "save me from Armageddon/high road to heaven" couplet in popular music in a very long time.

There is a particular quality of music that I'm very sensitive to; it's a bit difficult to explain, and I don't know the technical term for it (if there even is one – the people I've mentioned this to don't know what I'm talking about). It is, vaguely, how well the lyrics fit the music. Sometimes, the wrong word at the wrong time just sounds awkward. But when the lyrics and the music mesh in some inexplicable way – which, as far as I can tell, involves rhyme, pronunciation, and meaning all rolled up in one – it's just about the most glorious thing in the world. (On another note, I feel that wordless music has to make up for this mysterious quality through complex vertical structure – sometime pretty much missing in all popular music). This album is full of such moments.

That's not to say that this album can do no wrong. "Fall Stories" has nice parts, but overall I don't really like it. Also I feel that some of the vocal styling sounds a little stilted – "Postcards from Mexico" is a relentless torrent, it flows. Not so for many of the other songs. "Maori" gets major points for rhyming "Aleutians," but the line about fish heads kind of kills it for me (there is a perfect example of a lack of that mystical quality mentioned above). I also kind of loathe "My Sweet Lord," which happens to be the only song on the album not written by at least one of the band members (it was written by one George Harrison, whom you may have heard of). Despite these hiccups, I can listen through the entire album without skipping anything and enjoy it. That's saying a lot. When was the last time you could do that with an album? (Your "Magical Moments mit Mozart" album does not count.)

My favorite song on the album is probably "Hey Rose," followed by "Amaze Me," "Montpelier," "Say Goodbye," and "Postcards," not necessarily in that order. They're all lovely.

In conclusion: FÜNF/CINQ. Awesomesauce.

Age and Love

2008-12-01T14:12:00.000-08:00

This series of photographs from Vogue Paris is pretty neat. Not sure if they pulled it off entirely. Not sure why the 30-year-old version looks so washed up. Not sure she would look that good as a 60-year-old if she was so washed up as a 30-year-old. But a neat concept, nevertheless. I think the 10-year-old one is pretty impressive. Originally from Picdit.

This is kinda neat, too, but a little depressing sometimes.

EDIT: Added a picture because goddammit a post without a picture just sucks.

In Progress: Flight (2)

2008-11-21T02:12:00.000-08:00

Back at the ranch, a little bit more progress:

But not much.

Random typography

2008-11-21T02:05:00.000-08:00

I was browsing yesterday when I came across this page at Net-a-Porter:

I'm a sucker for good typography. I really like what they did on the word "sale" – slightly eclectic, interesting to look at. I particularly like the way the serif on the "l" curls into the "e" and ever so slight tilt of the "l." The whole layout is elegant and sleek and easy-to-navigate, too. Important, for web design!

Most shopping sites have pretty bland web designs (Anthropologie is usually pretty nice, though), and often poor navigation too. Still waiting for someone to come up with a really intuitive and non-clunky web shopping interface...

Etsy Love

2008-11-21T01:36:00.000-08:00

I've been on an Etsy kick lately – browsing it is so much fun! For those of you who don't know, Etsy is a one humongous collection of individual stores where people sell handmade or vintage jewelry, clothing, dolls, paper goods, art prints, purses, ceramics... you name it. I thought I'd share a couple stores that I like:

Gorgeous handmade necklaces at alusciousthing's store. My favorite is this golden orange bird cameo one:

And cute little flower necklaces and earrings at mayidea's shop:

I can personally vouch for the service at mayideas :)

Color and Movement

2008-11-20T01:37:00.001-08:00

Some really amazing photography by Dirk Rees. From "Revenge," "Future Love," and "In Motion," respectively. The one above is my favorite.

In Progress: Flight

2008-11-19T21:53:00.001-08:00

Laying down base colors. This is pretty much all I finished today. Yeah, this picture is going to take a looong time to paint. Here's hoping I don't lose interest...

Product Review: Francesca's Collections "Autumn Motif Dress"

2008-11-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

So, what've we got here... fashion, check; art, check; awesome stuff, check... guess it's time for shopping! Oh yes. I've always found blog product reviews helpful, so let's do this thang.

This dress from Francesca's Collections arrived on my doorstep today. It's always so nice when things arrive at your doorstep: packages, pals, puppies, pizzas... I digress. This piece is called the Autumn Motif Dress and it goes for $44 (though I got it on sale, natch).

I like browsing Francesca's because their pieces are quirky (not Anthropologie quirky, but quirkier than, say... The Gap. I guess that's not saying very much, though), colorful, trendy, and fairly reasonably-priced (especially when they go on sale – then you can get a dress for $10, but their sizes seem to sell out quickly).

I rarely purchase anything there, though, because you get what you pay for – that is, Francesca's stockers seems to make rather liberal use of synthetic fabrics. I really liked the print of this particular dress, though, so I caved, despite it being 100% polyester.

So, the good:
1. This thing will never wrinkle, so it's good for travel. There are good things about synthetics, after all.
2. The kimono-style sleeves are flattering – especially good if you have thick upper arms!
3. The length is good (the size small comes to my knee; I'm 5'0", for reference) and the styling hides any tummeh you may happen to possess.

And the bad:
1. The colors aren't as bright as they are in the picture, and all the orange seems to have mysteriously disappeared into a bland tannish-yellow.
2. The inside hem of the bodice is raw. (It's hidden, luckily.)
3. Feels... well... synthetic.

It looks cute on, so I'm happy. Just keep in mind that if you ever shop at Francesca's, this isn't super high quality stuff you're getting. I've always thought of it as a boutique version of Forever 21.

Flight

2008-11-18T22:22:00.001-08:00

This is what I spent today doing. This will be edited/colored/etc. tomorrow or something.

I'm never drawing giant bionic steampunk techno-necromantic cyborg falcons again, man. Takes effin' forever.

EDIT: Specs for my good friend Joy! Drawn with a mechanical pencil (0.5 HB) on two pieces of ho-hum printer painter and edited together in Photoshop CS2 (yeah, I need to get some bigger paper).

And just for fun, a detail shot:

Elegante

2008-11-17T20:34:00.000-08:00

These beautiful watercolors are by Japanese artist Sayaka. I like how delicate the lines are, and how the colors look dreamy and light despite being vivid. And I've always liked vignettes on a white background.

I'm jealous.

In the beginning...

2008-11-17T18:32:00.000-08:00

I wanted to start off with a drawing or somesuch, but I just spent a greater part of the afternoon watching TV. I never watch TV, so this is something of an event. Luckily, I was watching fashion shows, so this is still somewhat topical. (I am aware there is no context to speak of. But still.)

Now, I enjoy fashion – one might even say I have more than a passing interest in it, given how much time I spend trawling the web for fashionable things. But while I enjoy looking at fashion shows sometimes (Alexander McQueen jumps to mind), in general I have a rather more vested interest in the everyday, casual appeal of fashion and beauty, because I am neither a model nor a designer. This is changing (the interest, not the model/designer-status). There is something deliciously sumptuous about the deepness and richness of the colors in a well-styled fashion spread or advertisement (Prada ads = YES PLZ), and there is something inexplicably wonderful and artful about the manipulation of fabrics, shapes, and textures to accent and change the human form. The fashion world has had an undeniably impact on my drawing, and if I were an art student, I'd be all up on that "erasing the boundary between art and fashion" shizznap on my midterm exam.

That reminds me: I've had several conversations with naysayers about whether or not fashion is art. It is. But like all other forms of art, it requires vision, expression, and above all, good direction. Those atrocious Guess ads are, well, atrocious – specimens of banality, empty sex appeal, and poor execution. I won't say they aren't art, but, well, they're just not very good. I can imagine why you might look at something like that and be skeptical.

Somewhere in there I was going to talk about my first experience watching Project Runway. But all I can think of at the moment is... dang, them peeps is catty.

EDIT: An illustrated guide. First, the good:

I have a very real weakness for subtle blushes of color.

What's brilliant about this image:
1. The clean, crisp lines of contrast between the top and the model's skin.
2. The juxtaposition of the face in the painting against that of the model, and the line of movement the placement of both creates.
3. The way the pattern of the top complements the background sketch.
4. The colors, man, the colooorrrssss.
5. The bag is super-cute. YES, FRIVOLITY.

Alexander McQueen. My friends, you will come to realize this in the coming months: I really, really, really like shoes. It's an issue. A female issue.

Anyway, these remind me of Chinese junks.

And now the bad. Only one!

Barring the fact that they are trying to use Paris Hilton as a fashion icon, this is just garish. I shouldn't have to say why.

The end!