Kittys Drawings

Hi All!

The Drawing Salon this week was all about legs and learning how to use paint markers – or whatever they’re called – those Copic pens.  I bought 5 off eBay which arrived just in time. A grey, a skin tone, a colourless blender and two more contrasting shades, a pink and a green.

Legs are really fun to draw because you can make them so shapely. We practiced first on some bleed-proof paper.

Then onto the main drawing – A fairly tricky pose, especially with the sneaky addition of those hands. And the way the leg twists is an awkward one to capture.

I really got into it though, and I’m loving using natural media again. The pens are interesting – they behaved very differently on the two papers. The blender will take a bit of learning too. I also used Derwent watercolour pencils, which when mixed with the pens can give a lot of flexibility with colour mixing and textures. Lots to explore there!
Some detail…

Annnnd thats all for now. On the weekend I will be heading to the Love Vintage fair – most likely on Sunday so if you see me – say Hi! Other plans are a secret for now but I may have some cool pics for you next week. And if I get a chance, I will photograph the latest dress I finished. The coat is being worked on – I’ve underlined it now with my silk organza. When I start putting some seams together, I might even be able to show you.

Anyways, time to go!
Ciao!

Hi Everyone

Oh look – another post so soon! Yep – I went to my fashion illustration class yesterday night and I’m here to show you the results.

This week we did faces. The tasks we were set were the face in profile, three quarter and front on view. The profile drawing is homework – I better get cracking!

Angie taught us the easy way of lining up the features of the face and tips on what is aesthetically pleasing and what isn’t.

I liked drawing on the coloured paper and using white pencil to add highlights.

Other news: Thanks for all your responses on my last post! I will work on the belt tutorial this weekend and get that up for you then. The lovely Cation Designs requested some pics of the sleeve construction so I will add those to the post too. I haven’t forgotten your Blogging With Cats award either and I am gathering evidence of the fuzz-bum’s’ ways of “assisting” my projects. If only I could capture Boofy chewing on the hanging threads of my coat muslin. Yes – you read that right.

We also took a trip to Ballarat on the weekend (about 1.5 hours by train outside of Melbourne for my international visitors). Much treasure was found! I bought a 60′s girdle for a mere $15….4 pairs of amazing vintage seamed stockings, brand new in their box for $4 a pair, and 4 pieces of fabric for $20! The Mr found some decorative pieces to go on our future dining table – some old glass jars, a set of nesting dolls (weird looking they are) and an old fire extinguisher! Hehe…THAT won’t be going on the table but it looks nice by our antique meat safe.
The interior of our house is coming along nicely. We’re slowly working our way upstairs.  Dad is making us an amazing 2.7m solid Jarrah dining table that will comfortably seat 10. We plan on getting some Eames replica chairs to go with (can’t afford the real ones unfortunately) and then moving all the sofas and TV upstairs. That will then become the living room….Not sure what we’ll do about my current desk which is upstairs – and then it’s onto the bedroom on the third floor. And somewhere amongst all that I’ll have to sort out a proper sewing space….

Oh and back to Ballarat (that was a tangent sorry!) – while we were leaving our accommodation on Sunday, a couple pulled up their car next to us on the footpath and the lady jumped out….I thought she might want directions or something (We’d seen the pair at one of the antique stores the day before)…But instead she hands me a leaflet explaining that they were meant to be going to High Tea at the Craigs Royal that afternoon, but their flight back to Sydney was to leave soon and they weren’t going to make it so would we like to take the booking instead?? WOW – How nice of them!! How could I refuse? Hehehe. I ought to pay it forward for someone else I think. And the High Tea was great – the perfect end to the trip. After that we picked up our goodies and caught the train back home. I did a bit of Googling too and discovered who the couple were….A bit stalkerish?? I will be calling them to thank them very soon.

Anyways, enough rambling, I better get to bed.
See you all on the weekend!

Hi All

So finally I have a creation for you. This is Suzy Pattern’s Antoinette Dress I tested a few weeks back. Took some proper photos today at last.

I probably shouldn’t have left it so long to post about this..cos I’ve forgotten some things about making it!

I did make a muslin of the bodice for this and it was good that I did because I needed to add room in the waist. And looking back on it now, there’s still quite a few tweaks I could make to the fitting. The shoulders could widen a skosh even though I didn’t think they need to at the time. And the skirt could be longer because I like a bit more length there. Plus the ‘backside’ area isn’t perfect.

Yet despite these small things, I do like the dress. It all somehow works and I like the lace pieces. And the vintage 30′s glass buttons at the neck.

Sooooo I don’t really have much else to say. It’s Easter and time for lazy-supreme. I spent Friday making a corset (will show you that soon!) and yesterday finishing it…and faffing. Now I’m gonna faff some more. Cos it’s holidays. And tomorrow I might start sewing the dress I cut out the other day.

Oh hey, I also bought some coloured mechanical pencils….I might even do some sketching soon. I’m super rusty though so nothing I’ve been doing lately is worth showing.

More comprehensive posts when my brain is working properly!

Anyways!

Ciao!

Hi Everyone!
Another dress is complete – another one I am super happy about. LOVE this dress!

It’s Mccall’s 4864 from 1942 I think. I bought it from Patterns From The Past. How quirky is it!? I just love Mccall’s patterns from this era – they have heaps of nifty little details and this dress in particular has more than most. Here are some of those features:

• 4 darts on the sleeves to give them a square shape. This would be more highlighted if I’d put in shoulder pads.
• Low V-neck with contrast bands (also at sleeves)
• BUTTONS on the neckline! I omitted this because it would just be a bit too much with this print
• External darts!
• Top-stitched pleats at the skirt
• Tucks on the back to give a blouse effect.
• Shoulder/neck darts for subtle shaping
• Gored skirt – totally swing style!

Ha! And I chose to make this in busy polka-dot. Typical ;-P I think it’s some kind of rayon-y thing again. That said, I seriously doubt my fabric identifying skills. It drapes nice and was an appropriate choice for this style. Its really really comfortable and will be good for winter and summer.

I hemmed it with some red stretch lace hem tape which I had in my stash.

The edges are trimmed in red cotton voile I bought from Lincraft. I wasn’t going to add it originally but it really makes the dress a bit more special having it there. The red stitched trim is from some rayon thread I found at half price at Clegs. It took me ages to do and it’s a *little* wonky – don’t look too closely (haha!) Yes, I did that by hand.

I made no serious alterations to the pattern at all – Just took about 2 inches out of the length of the skirt.
The side opening closes with a hook & eye and some snaps. Still my favourite method for dresses you can only get into this way
The inside is just as neat as the outside and I’m glad I took my time with this one. My new year’s resolution is kicking along nicely. I’ve been proud of everything I’ve made this year so far.

A couple of silly photos in this shoot ;-P The kitties were hanging around and being adorable.

(In the photo of me below I was squee-ing over how Boofy was so intent on turning himself inside out with sheer adoration, that he nearly fell off the couch!)

Other news – It’s raining outside! Autumn is finally on it’s way. Yay! I much prefer the cooler weather. I’ve already started making plans for winter. Bought a small new supply of vintage seamed stockings. Have grand plans for a fit’n'flare princess coat. It’s going to be a huge project and I should really start it very soon. Ideally I want it made of hunter green silk faille but I’d need over 5 yards, at $65USD a yard, that’s a serious investment – so it will stay in pipe-dream territory for a while yet. Definitely have to think of something more accessible and easier to sew. See if I can find some nice wool without breaking the bank.

I’m also waiting on payday so I can finally pick up the Lady Valet dress-form I put on layby. It’s crazy that I’ve gone so long without one. And I could have gone for a cheaper option but I wanted something that would last the distance. Besides, its RED. And comes with a hem marker…..Handy.

My current project is testing out Suzy’s new pattern. I bought some brilliantly coloured chartreuse linen for the main parts of the dress – and the sleeves and neckline will be out of black lace.

If you’re wondering what’s happened to all the drawing…I’ve had some serious urges to get into it lately. All the best intentions huh! But when it comes down to it, I’m really pressed for time these days and sewing wins out. I’ve got my sketch pad beside my desk which is frequently getting scribbled in – and a couple of projects on the go…but I’d need a ‘holiday’ at home to get into it all. And maybe turn off the internet while I’m at it. Kinda hard to avoid the temptation when I’m on the computer already!  Sometimes I wish I could just shut myself off from EVERYTHING to allow all the ideas I know are lurking in my subconscious to float to the surface…somewhere that’s not in the city! So many temptations here and distractions. We can all dream can’t we. *le sigh*!
And yet on the other hand, I love the city – THIS city. Especially with winter coming up. Melbourne is so much nicer when it’s cold and wet outside. I’m sure a lot of people disagree with me there!

Hmm
Dilemmas!

Anyways!
Better stop dilly-dallying and get to my work ‘Til next time peeps!!

Hi Everyone!
A new drawing post so soon after the other one. Wow!! Haha.

I wanted this one to be really quick and easy. Took me maybe 6-8 hours all up.

The ref is Solange by Daniel Gurton for Vs. Magazine July 2011 < – I didn’t read the mag but the pics are kicking round the interwebz….Can’t resist cool hair and flowers. Of course it looks nothing like her as usual but that’s never really my aim

(WIPs)

Now I’ve set myself a new project which is a biggie. Starting it tomorrow I hope.

I got an email from my webhost the other day that I’ve used 80% of my bandwidth – this is the first time I’ve got that notice so I guess it means my blog is growing! I don’t get tons of hits – a bit over 100 page views a day sometimes spiking higher and most of the time it’s lower than that. But there are much more frequent spikes than there used to be a year ago so averaged out over the last year, there’s definitely been an increase. SO – if you’ve had trouble viewing my blog it might mean I’ve killed my bandwidth. I’ll be buying more shortly but that’s going to increase the cost of the site quite a bit. Not that I’ll be taking it out on YOU guys hahaha! Ad free blog allll the way

That’s all for now!!

Hi All

Oh dear christ it’s FINISHED!!!
(yes I blaspheme far too much for an atheist )

*phew*

So this drawing took me around 2 whole months to finish. I started mid-June and now it’s August and I’m finally done. That’s why I’ve been holding out on you guys for so long. I don’t think I have the capacity to work on more than one drawing at once otherwise one or more will get neglected. It’s quite possible I am the most inefficient ‘artist’ out there.

The ref was a fashion editorial I found via a blog…..NEXT TIME….I think I might try something original for a change….I have an idea, just need to execute it somehow. Yes – I am already thinking of the next thing.

Sooo….This took at least 20 hours. I lost count though. It’s been stared at for so long that I can’t tell if you can tell how long I spent on this.

Anyways…piccies….

Detail:

WIPs

What do you think? Should I put this on Etsy?

Other news: Lots of sewing is complete that I need to show you as per usual…..ummmm……that’s all for now really…ha exciting! Oh! It’s been quiet around here cos I was feeling pretty sick this week. Stupid colds. I’m meant to be bulletproof!! Hah! (I don’t get sick very often)…Thankfully I was over it in 2 days but still…it knocks you for six.
The boyfriend also bought himself a motorbike. Cool huh! It arrives this week. But he can’t take me for a ride yet cos he’s still on his Learners. I’ve been convinced that I need to get my scooter license…So I guess that will happen soon.

That’s all I guess!
Better run!

EDIT: Oh my GOD you won’t believe how relieved I am this is done. Geeez!

Hiiii!

Soooo I have a drawing for you. A very old drawing. One I started at the end of January to be exact. It’s been hanging around that long and I’m finally sick of it enough to call it done. But – its DONE. It could be a lot better yes…I could have added a whole bunch more pixels in there and got fiddly with the details…..

I’m still kinda hung up on the piece I’m working on now though – and this being unfinished was bothering me. So here it is.

Inadvertently you ask? Well I’d found the reference on Tumblr somewhere which had no text to explain who it was. I thought “It kinda looks like Cate Blanchett”. I wouldn’t make a good paparazzo would I? Haha Derp!

I do like these colours though. And I don’t know how I have my colour settings set up – but when I work in Corel Painter, the image is a lot lighter, so when it gets to Photoshop for my final touches (signature, that’s about all really), the colours become super saturated. Painter, I think is the odd one out in this chain but I like it this way.

(detail)

I’m still stressing about my creative “skillz” – too scared to set my own projects where I can really explore different methods of drawing and I dunno – just letting go. Maybe I should jump back into the ConceptArt.org challenges. They’ve set up a new section called Illustration of the Week (IOW) which looks promising.

(WIPs)

Anyways…I best be off.

Ciao!