Fantasy Shoe...

Inspired by the many amazing sketches of Manolo Blahnik from my previous post, here's my own fantasy shoe. Sparkly and feathered and sky high... oh my! I hope you like...

Today, the BF was sitting at his nice desk/computer area while I was on the couch trying to draw on a not so flat surface in my lap when it occurred to me: this is not working. I've been thinking about rearranging the apartment to accommodate a little studio. In NYC it's a crime not to utilize every inch of space in your apartment and there's an unused corner in the living room I've had my eye on for awhile.

If I'm going to take myself seriously, I should at least allow myself a sturdy drawing surface and some decent light. Perhaps I'll tackle this little project next weekend. Until then... more couch drawings for me! Where do you create your fabulous artwork? Do you have a studio space? I'd love to know where everyone creates their masterpieces, do tell!

Happy creating!

Manolo's Sketchbook...

It's always interesting to discover designer illustrations, whether they be working sketches or works of art. A friend recently bequeathed this fabulous book to me (one less thing for her to move to a new apartment). Lucky me! It is full of Manolo Blahnik's most imaginative shoe drawings paired with insightful commentary from Anna Wintour, Kate Moss, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Needless to say, I'm eager to get drawing... stay tuned!

Closet Envy...

There are so many fashionable bloggers out there with seemingly infinite wardrobes. I'm amazed by the 'costumes' created daily by Kelly and Denni. It must be so fun to get dressed in the morning when you have all those fancy things hanging in your closet!

To be honest, I've been having a bit of artist's block these days. I could really use a good assignment. It was so nice to have that framework in school to build from. I'm trying to keep up with my drawing in the hopes of getting better at it but I keep hitting a wall. What should I be drawing? How should I be drawing? Who am I drawing for?

I've always been the one with a plan, checking off the steps to get to my goal. But what happens when your goals change? Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself and I should just be patient. After all, I've only been steadily blogging for six weeks.

Until I find some answers for myself, I know I have to keep drawing... anything. I think it's time to open that big book of inspiration! Have a good week...

Chic Shorts...

How cute are these shorts? It's been so hot in NYC lately, which makes dressing work appropriate a tad tricky. You know it's hot when the streets are literally melting and you're dodging tacky tar spots in your wedges! Luckily our office building is subzero inside and we're always wearing last season's sweater samples to keep warm.

This weekend I'm blocking out time to sketch all tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it as I haven't really drawn much of anything this week. The days seem to go by so quickly and before I know it, the weekend is here and I realize I haven't updated my blog. Yikes! Time to play catch up... have a relaxing Saturday!

Inspiration Organization...

I'm a huge fan of fashion magazines. I love them for their glossy pages, beautiful editorials, colorful advertisements, and of course reference images for my illustrations. In design school, we were taught to collect magazine tears religiously, which I thought was great because I already had a massive collection of fashion magazines I had been hanging onto since high school. But magazines are heavy and take up a lot of room (especially 5 years worth of them) so now I go through collective purging when they start to take up too much space in our little NYC apartment. I've been meaning to take all those tears and organize them somehow but the task seemed so daunting. Over the past four weekends, I've been working on this project a little at a time. Over 300 cellophane sleeves later, I have my book and I am so thrilled at how easy and wonderful it is to flip through and get inspired. Here's how to make your own:

Step 1: Gather a collection of your favorite magazines.
Step 2: Flip through and pull tears of your favorite images, products, clothes, editorials-- anything that catches your fancy and makes you happy
Step 3: Trim the edges so that each page will fit nicely in a cellophane plastic sleeve
Step 4: Slide your tears into a protective sleeve and organize them in a binder however best suits your creative method. I like to arrange my images in two page spreads that relate to one another by color, theme, mood, etc.

Once you're finished, you've not only organized that messy notebook/folder/pile of loose pages that's been hanging around, you've created the best magazine ever, curated by you! Now if you're ever feeling uninspired, lost, confused, and unable to find your voice, open this book and it will be full of everything that you find to be beautiful. Think of it as a bible of your personal aesthetic. Enjoy!

p.s. Doesn't Emma Watson look beautiful on Vogue's July cover? I may just have to draw that...
p.p.s. Please feel free to follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Needing Some Neon...

I have a new obsession. It all started on my lunch break about a week ago. I saw a bag that was impossible not to notice. It was highlighter yellow on the arm of a girl leaving my office building. I'm way too shy to approach a complete stranger so instead I went home and Googled. Little did I know, the blogosphere was already on it! The Cambridge Satchel company based in Great Britain makes these fabulously colorful leather classics. I want one. Until I save enough money to buy my own, here's a sketch of my coveted bag. Right now I'm pining after the orange one...