Kittys Drawings

Hi Guys!
So I’ve finally got some piccies of the latest project. I used Butterick 2633 which is from the late 50′s/early 60′s. Here’s a pic of the pattern:

I’m much happier with this dress than anything I’ve made so far. There’s still a few niggling things I need to get the hang of, but overall everything worked out. The whole thing is lined and I actually tried it all on properly before sewing everything. I still needed to take a lot out of the bust area to make it fit. Also, I pinched a whole section out of the centre back as it was gaping. I must have narrow shoulders if all these dresses are gaping up there. Not sure how I will transfer that to the pattern when I trace it onto plastic.

The pleats are mega nifty and used a LOT of fabric! Woo! You wouldn’t believe how much is stuffed in that waistline

The biggest issue I had was the closures. I had originally planned to use all snap fasteners but the pattern instructions ended up being right in saying a zipper for the top half of the side opening would be best. It doesn’t bunch at all since the zip only goes to the waistline, and from the waist down it’s 4 snap fasteners. My issues are that I just can’t get them to look that tidy! The zip actually looks fine and is probably one of the neatest ones I’ve done – but the gap between the zip and the snaps where I’ve put a hook and eye thingy just looks blah. Lucky I can cover it with a belt.

It’s such a fun summer dress! Very comfy. Oh and the lining…. I didn’t want to use normal silky lining material (what is that stuff called?) cos I thought it would defeat the purpose of a breezy dress. Solution? A trip to the Salvos and a purchase of a queen size white bed sheet for $4! Perfect! It’s soft and cool and just what I wanted. Not to mention I’ve got tons left for other projects. The lining of the skirt is a really shoddy looking petticoat sorta thing. It doesn’t look that flash but it’s only there so my skirt isn’t see-through. I’m thinking of getting some tulle and stitching it to the bottom for a bit of extra puff.

The other day I popped into Savers just to have a look and found these few little things…since I’m missing a bit of green in my stash. The two on the left will become tops I think – there’s not too much of those but I could probably squeeze a dress out of the yellow one if I found the right pattern. It would work nicer as a top though don’t you think? They’re both amazingly soft.
The two green ones are bigger lengths, with quite a lot of the paler green one. I’m thinking quite a way into the future and considering possibly a crazy 50′s suit out of that one. How cool would that be!? All wasp-waisted with sharp angles and a slim fit skirt with killer kick-pleats up the back. Yeh!
The far right green one I just LOVE. Oh wow it’s so pretty. What a colour! Only enough to make a skirt out of that one I think. It’s a really heavy material too.

All this for $12.95. I love Savers.

Wow I’ve sure rambled! I’m almost finished my red button up dress. Should be done by the end of the weekend provided I can get my buttonholer making neat buttonholes.
Then what next!?

• A 40′s dress in the navy & white polka dot crepe

or

• 40′s shirt/blouse in cream?

Decisions decisions.

Til then!
Seeyas

(and yes I’m still workin on that drawing)

Hiii!

More life drawing for everyone Colour this time! I had heaps of fun with this lesson and it was good to dig out the pastels – haven’t used them since my uni days! Did LOTS of drawings – the majority of them dreadful – but I have to put the really shit ones up so the half decent ones look a bit better ehehehee.

The quality of photos is absolutely terrible and I apologise in advance – I can’t nuke the levels out of them like I would with a B&W. They look a bit more vibrant in real life – winter sun and all that, crappy camera – hard to take a good pic. But enough of the EXCUSES, time for drawings

The worst first – 1 min and 2 min warm ups:

Contours – the first was meant to be 7 mins one colour and 7 mins the next but I finished early (always going too fast!) and did the next one quickly. Then 10 mins doing a drawing based on shading and using 3 colours. My third was the background colour heh.

Then the final pose – two lots of 20mins. I did the first sketch and realised it was way too big for the page so I scrapped it and started again. Really pleased with the end result – using blue really grounded the whole thing I think. Shame the pics are so craaaaaaaap argh sorry!!

Some close ups

K, that’s enough nekkid man-bum for a day Until next time!

Hi Everyone!
Yep I like drawing hair don’t I? Tis fun. Not much to say today! My weekend was fun and busy.
This drawing took a bit longer than usual – about 3 hours including the sketch (which really was only about 10mins). But I got a bit carried away and I could’ve spent more time on it. Trying to keep it a bit more ‘free’ so I have to tell myself to STOP.

I like the bright colours – I wonder how these would print. Actually have been thinking about how to get some prints set up. I want to be able to sign each piece so submitting my art to an online portfolio site doesn’t look like an option. Also, I want to send them out framed as I feel that a framed piece is more a ‘real artwork’ than just a printed proof.
So while the printing I think I could sort out quite easily because we have an archival quality proofer at work, I would need to find a framer in Melbourne to do custom frames.

But the big question is – Would YOU buy my art??? And HOW would you like it sent to you??
I really appreciate your responses peeps Thanks!!

PS. Do you like the newer signature on the pic?? I think I will develop myself a little stamp of some sorts.

Ohmigod YAAaAAaaaY!!!

;-P

I got sick of the other one I posted two days ago. Wasn’t able to quite get the look I was after. So yesterday I referred to a sketch I did previously (the one in this post) and started from scratch…..

Much better!!
Can you see the similarities? It’s not quite the same.
I’d like to do a few more of these as a possible series to sell at some point.
What do you all think?

Technical details: Took me about 6 hours total using Painter IX.5 only.

And some little close ups…

Oh and news on the award nomination…I can relax for a little bit longer. Well not really. But the interviews are scheduled roughly around the end of June…So I’ve got a bit of time to get my folio together. Yay! And the award night will be in early July I do believe.
Now I really really have to think about how I want to present my work. I don’t want to use a standard black portfolio…I want to make something. Use some nice paper and present it in a unique way. Hmmm…..

And I don’t even have a portfolio online! I am getting increasingly frustrated at my lack of web design knowledge. I can fiddle with Fireworks and that’s about it. I don’t know any code and I don’t know if I should. And I’m too tight to pay someone to design anything. Also partly to do with the fact I feel I need to manage ALL creative aspects myself. Is that crazy talk?
Do other artists/designers feel this way? Is it justified? Thoughts?

Anyways. My boyfriend is hassling me to watch a movie. Signing off for the weekend!

I’ve located my Painter IX.5 disc!
Having a house inspection this week so had to do a bit of a tidy up…and you know what it’s like when you go through the stuff in your boxes labelled “STUFF” – you eventually find STUFF that you forgot existed! LOL
So tomorrow I shall be replacing my Painter Essentials at work with the full version. YAY for extra features and tools – many more natural media brushes to choose from including the example below. As well as being able to merge layers and also sample from layers underneath. Very geeky fun stuff I won’t go into.

Got a bit of a headache right now. Drank a few beers today which I haven’t done in quite some time. Saw Fast & Furious – not a bad movie, some typical blokey bits like boobs and BAD FASHION everywhere…but overall, not painful to watch.
The beers were had in the Little Creatures Dining Hall on Brunswick St and I had one of those moments where you see someone you swear you’ve met/seen before, but can’t place where. Don’t you hate those???

So…..below is a ‘painting’ I did some time ago in Painter trying to get used to the oil brushes. They’re very realistic don’t you think? You can also add texture to the ‘paper’ once you’re done for extra realism. If I had the cash, I think this kind of thing would be fun to print on canvas, just to spin people out a bit.
Though for abstracts, real oils are unbeatable. I love the feel of oil paint. Wish I had my easel out of storage!!

Now the kitty has colour! And a frame too, plus a bit of a shadow. I think I quite like this. Still nice and simple. I guess I will have to show SJ now – but I have become quite partial to this little kitty.

Other news – I am heading down to see my parents in Tassie for a WHOLE WEEK in May. Yay! I get to play with my letterpress. I can’t wait to take some photos as well as have a go at using it.

It’s gonna be interesting cos I really don’t have any firm idea of how to work it all. Thankfully, my Heidelberg is auto-feeding and there is little chance of me lopping some fingers off during it’s running. I’ll have Dad to supervise anyway and he’s good with machinery.

I am going to see if I can get some plates made here at work and find some other materials to see if I can do some tests on it. I’ll need some paper and some ink. Does anyone know where I can get some letterpress ink here in Australia? I only need one colour for now and only a very small amount.

Somehow I’ll scrounge together a little business with all this. I don’t have a press name yet or anything (been wracking my brain for ages now) or a solid timeline for when I will start for real…but I’ll get there. I know that my style is more suited to fine art prints and maybe business cards – wedding invites aren’t quite my forte. The line version of this cat is what I hope will be my first ever print. Can’t wait!