Illustration Friday: Snow

Snow Deer, graphite & watercolor on Rives BFK, 2012.

It's been a while since I've done an Illustration Friday... this week's inspired my design for the Christmas cards I'll be sending friends and family.

It feels funny to be thinking of snow when it's 60 degrees in Philadelphia!

Sketchbook Project: Gondolas & Gelato

Gondolas,  pen, watercolor & acrylic ink on Rives BFK, 7 x 10", 2012.

Gelato, pen, watercolor & acrylic ink on Rives BFK, 7 x 10", 2012.

I have been a horrible blogger lately! Here's a loooooong overdue post.

I'm continuing my Venice sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project. Whenever anyone thinks of Venice they probably think about gondolas. I've been to Venice twice, but never ridden in a gondola. Why? Because they cost way too much! It's more fun to just walk around and explore yourself anyway.

I love gelato. I ate gelato at least once a day in Venice.... sometimes more! The best stuff is in a little shop in Campo San Margherita. My favorite flavor is "crema de doge". Mine is being scooped in the picture below..mmmmmmm! It's cold in Philly today, but I still could go for some gelato.

PS: Go vote!

Fall Runway Trends

1.Marchesa 2. Corrine Bailey Rae in Louis Vuitton 3. Tavi Gevinson

Yikes... I've been SUPER bad at keeping up with the blog lately, and keeping up with everyone else's. I have a lot of feed reading to do!

Anyway, I thought I'd share some fashion illustrations I drew for Rob Jelinski and Corin Wright's  wonderful Runway event at Style Haven that took place yesterday. All of the illustrations for this event were inspired by fall trends. The illustration above shows three trends: brocade fabric, floral crowns, and embellished collars. I knew I had to draw the Louis Vuitton collar when I saw this photo of Corrine Bailey Rae.

1. Burberry 2. Hermes 

I focused on two men's trends, chunky knits and fall hats.

1. Michael Kors 2. Gwen Stefani in Stella McCartney

There are a lot of head to toe prints in this year's fall clothing; I was inspired by this photo of Gwen Stefani. Wine colored coats are also everywhere... it's a nice change from black or camel.

1. Dolce & Gabbana 2. Miu Miu

My last illustration focused on lace and statement earrings.

All of my illustrations were created with gouache and graphite on Rives BFK. They were blown up and printed on 23x36" PVC board for the Runway event, and are available for purchase at Style Haven.

Runway Flyer

Recently, Rob Jelinski asked me to work on an illustration for a flyer for a fashion event. The end result is above, all design work is done by Rob Jelinski. I will also have other fashion illustrations on display during this event. Here's the event description:

Runway will be the showroom of fashion, style, trends, and the arts all on one red carpet! This collaborative, hosted by trend-setting curator Rob Jelinski and fashion guru Corin Wright, will feature glamorous gallery illustrations, new and vintage fashions, artistic accessories, make up and hair design, and one-of-a-kind garments celebrating fall fashion from seasoned veterans and emerging artists.

Join us at Style Haven on September 8th from 7-9pm for opening night with cocktail hour, live music, and a glamorous fashion show! 

If you are interested in attending there are more details on this facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/512342795449635/

Here's a look at some of my preliminary drawings:

 Hope to see you there!

Firenze

Firenze, acrylic ink & graphite on watercolor paper, 20 x 24", 2012.

On Sunday I went to the Capo D'Opera art gala in Montclair, NJ. This was my illustration of Florence for the gala. All of the art was Italian themed, and the food was delicious. Thank you to Rob Jelinski for curating the event. If you'd like to see photos of the gala visit Edward Chan Photography's blog; the photo below is courtesy Edward Chan Photography.

Edward Chan Photography

If you are interested in purchasing the original artwork, please contact Trattoria Rustica.

Preview: Capo D'Opera

Oops! I haven't posted for over a month!!! I have been working on all sorts of things; I'll try to post most of them up this month for you.

This is a little peek at my drawing for the Capo D'Opera Art Gala at Trattoria Rustica. This photo was taken when it was still a work in progress; if you'd like to be one of the first people to see the whole finished drawing, come out on Sunday night. The whole event is put together by Rob Jelinski, and there will be wonderful Italian food, art, and music. Click on the picture below for more info:

designed by Rob Jelinski

Sketchbook Project: Inside Cover & 1st Page

Inside Cover, acrylic ink, micron pen & gold marker on cardboard, 7 x 10", 2012.

It was sooo hot in Philadelphia today, so I just stayed inside and worked on my Sketchbook Project. My 2013 sketchbook will be a travelogue about Venice.

The horses on the inside cover are the four bronze horse statues on the roof of Basilica San Marco.

 

I really like the way the gold paint picks up light. I went over the whole cover with a gloss varnish to protect it.

Inside Cover & First Page

 I rebound the sketchbook with a cream colored Rives BFK, so the pages would be strong enough to hold paint. The first page is a drawing of an entrance way into Piazza San Marco. My boyfriend, Zack is saying "andiamo" which means "let's go!" in Italian. He's been to Venice twice with me, and he's a great travel companion/ tour guide.

Andiamo, watercolor, acrylic ink & micron pen on Rives BFK, 5 x 7", 2012.

 Here's a close-up of the first page.

And, here's a look at the front cover with the cut-out speech bubble.

I have LOTS more pages to fill, but it definitely fells good to get the first page done. Did you sign up for the 2013 Sketchbook Project? What is your theme? If you didn't, you really should!