Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Today I love

                           
                              
The lovely and adorable Drew Barrymore in Oct. Harper's Bazaar.

"He's the cat's pajamas.  I couldn't love, respect, admire, and enjoy that individual more than I do.  It would be physically impossible for me to have any more giggly joy at this person"
-DB,on her bf. Aw.
The heart shadow on my car's seat.
Artist Hans Stofer. "Sweetheart"

xoxo,
-C



Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Life imitating art

Cake Window {Seven Cakes} WT

Wayne Thiebaud has created beauty from the ordinary, something many great artists have in common.  The whimsical color choices and unique qualities of his work always inspire me.  For a recent drawing class assignment we were asked to set up a few man-made objects of interest next to a lamp and make record of shifts in value (shade).  I am very green when it comes to both working with charcoal, and attempting to make something look three-dimensional on a 2D surface so I can see hours of practice in my future.  For my first attempt, however, I was inspired by this

{eight lipsticks}

And ended up with this



In comparison to the rest of my class I have a lot to learn in terms of value scale since I somehow completely eliminated anything upwards of 50% saturation (all gray no black) but I kind of prefer a softer look to my drawings anyway.  Oh yeah, I know what everyone else's homework looks like because each week we are forced to display them on the wall for a group critique session. 
 It's exactly what it sounds like.
xoxo,
-C
  
p.s. A lot of the group commentary is actually positive, mostly because people don't want to risk not being bffs by slamming your crappy art.  I really try to learn from the classmate critiques though.  For example, "this drawing doesn't have any space for me to move around in".  Noted sir, noted.  I'll work on that...

Monday, September 27, 2010

BB


I was looking for photos from a Brigitte Bardot-esque spread for LOVE magazine but came across the following images instead.  I'll keep looking. (above, the real Brigitte)

Harper's Bazaar 2006

Vogue Germany 2010


Friday, September 24, 2010

AA

I was walking downtown the other day and passed the wide-open doors of American Apparel.  Sadly, I had a destination and couldn't put my best efforts into window shopping but I couldn't help but notice the muted tones that always catch my eye: pale pink, gray, nude etc. With a little (very little) online research I found an entire page dedicated to lace.


What? I guess they do carry more than just metallic leggings, unisex pullovers, neon wristbands and stretchy bodysuits.
Very interesting
-C 

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Art lessons

The other night in art class my teacher said to us,

"you have to draw a little bit of everything before you can draw a lot of anything".

He was talking about graphite and paper of course.  He meant you have to pay attention to placement or else your final product, the drawing, will be a mash-up of ill proportioned figures.  He meant you should carefully mark up areas ahead of time, plan your composition.  Don't take your still life assignments one vase at a time.

I, however, started thinking about this simple statement since it made so much sense to me in terms of drawing.  It also made sense in terms of life.  Usually if I'm feeling a little blue or overwhelmed I can trace it back to this tendency to focus on what's immediately in front of me while somehow ignoring every other thing in the world.  If I tried to draw a basket of fruit without observing it's relationship to surrounding objects, it would likely end up much too large, taking up too much space.  I think this can also be summed up by saying "keep the big picture in mind", don't lose sight of the desired result, and wait to make any permanent marks until you're sure they're in the right place.
xo
-C 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Fashion week #2

More favorites from New York. For whatever reason I want to see the collections of every single designer now that I've started clicking through them. My curiosity has made this process surprisingly time consuming.
 

Derek Lam

Elise Overland (all 3. love)

Emilio de la Morena

Erin Fetherston

Felder Felder

That would be D-F, very much narrowed down.
xo,
-C

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Underneath it all



I am a sucker for all things pretty.  Sheer, flouncy, lacey, bow-adorned things especially.  I am able to control impulses to buy most of the time because I have a very practical side that comes in handy but I just love how it looks.  Especially some of the vintage inspired underthings that are popping up more and more.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Treasure hunts

A little Sunday morning trip to the flea market with my mama last weekend.  I love to scavenge*.

I was told this is a silverware holder. I have a drawer for that so...paintbrush keeper/dryer it is.

Colorful clutch since mine are mostly black

Powder case. Made in England, it still had the original papers and blotter in it

fancy clip mirror.  Maybe I'll start wearing lipstick.

The boxes filled with misc. jewelry and broken parts are a favorite.

Neglected napkin rings that will soon be very functional, upcoming project involving scarf organization (it's getting cold!)

Grand total $11.50

xoxo,
-C



*World English Dictionary: SCAVENGE
 1. to search for (anything usable) among discarded material

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Book report #6

Images from The Wedding Dress


Copyright 1993, so you know there are some great 80's dresses featured.  It's a fun look back at wedding dress history.  Very educational although this time I mostly just looked at the pictures.
xo,
-C

Friday, September 17, 2010

Project management


More jewelry organization.  I've been very inspired lately since I see these beautiful displays everywhere, yet my necklaces hang sadly from thumbtacks in my closet.

yes thumbtacks.
white paint, white nails, crochet trim + fabric glue, little round hooks, string

Now pretty on the wall. Good.


And then there's this drawer...
and this hideous thing...
+ white paint (silver upholstery tacks for fun)
=
 

Much more better.
love
-C