Tonight's Best

Tonight's Best Gouache, Ink, Photoshop 2014

Last night I got a chance to attend the Society of Illustrators sketch night presented by my former professor Bil Donovan. One of my living heroes of fashion illustration,  and a fine artist himself, I appreciate a good abstract approach to painting the fashionable. 

Breathtaking looks one after the other and emotional gazes given by these models brought me back to sitting in his Concepts of Fashion Illustration class that he instructed while I was at FIT. I couldn't help but think of positive vibes and thinking about how we can put our best foot forward after getting knocked down or going through a really hard time. I had to tell myself, confidence, confidence and only positive energy allowed. Here is what I felt was my best that night, done in ink and gouache on paper with digital finish of a photoshop brush.

Here are some originals from the session.

WIDE STYLE

Lately I've been admiring flowy and oversized garments which are definetly on trend this season.

To speak for myself, my favorite looks have been incorporating 90s style earrings with gold embellishments, easy wide leg pants and bold lips I recently picked up Lady Danger by Mac as well as purchased some harem pants from Urban Outfitters, both of which have inspired these posts.

I was inspired by one of my favorite minimalist fashion bloggers Natalie Live, see her blog post on, The Tiny Closet for the reference of my illustration above. I'm so gravitated toward the styles of old fashion photography from the 90's featuring Beverly Peele, and the styling of those shoots, where to me, the avante-garde over the top looks used to make statements in contrast to today's very much more simplified editorials, catch my attention. 

                                                  What inspires your summer style?

What's in my Bag?

On my downtime, when I had a moment to evaluate, I went through all of my cosmetics that I use on a daily basis and wanted to do a fun  "What's in my bag?" post. Currently, my bag of choice is I designed by streetlevelbags. 

I've been getting through experimenting with Nars Exhibit A blush, Mac lipsticks shades Rebel and Cyber, eyeliner, blush my makeup brush, my staple fragrance, Stella by Tocca. This is one of definitely my favorite bags that I own and it was sold out within 4 days of being stocked at Urban Outfitters.

To my suprise, I was regrammed by the brand's instagram account on the cropped picture that I shared. 

Turbans | Sugar on Top

I attended sketch night from the Society of Illustrators this past Thursday. Models were dressed in costume that really reminded me of traditional african attire. The folds of the garments and the shapes of exxageration and bold colors really got my creative juices flowing that night. It's been a while since I got to attend one of those sketch nights so I was really in the zone.

I had been thinking of concepts of turbans as I myself really loved wearing them a few years back.

I envisioned a scene in a carnival, or in one of the Caribbean islands were they were, maybe strangers to the island but embracing the customs of the fashion of that event.

"Turbans" & "Sweet on Top"

INTERNATIONAL FLAME

What I admire about the way Lupita carries herself to the media is her freshness and reserved energy,  Yet, she is so in your face with her style. This woman is bringing such versatility and confidence on platforms and I love seeing many different angles to play with when I refer to her as a muse for pieces in tribute of her momentum. After seeing photos of her look at the MTV Movie Awards, I kept going back how exciting her choices are whether it be hair or clothing. As someone who wears short natural hair (at the moment) as it grows, seeing her switch up her style so quickly has become so iconic in my opinion and I think most magazine and bloggers agree. Constantly referring to her for creative inspiration proves how evolving she is. Starting in watercolor and ink, I just allowed my digital embellishments to lead me to the what the end result of this peace would look like. Working in a spontaneous style is most rewarding when I initially have somewhat of an idea of a concept. 

 

VALIDATION

 

I've been captivated by Lupita Nyongo's burst onto the scene as an actress, who played Patsy in

12 Years A Slave which earned her many awards including the most sought after, Oscar for Best Actress in a  Supporting Role. The film based on Solomon 's  Northrup's real life has already placed itself into the city high school curriculum beginning in the fall of 2014 as apart of history. That's a game changer and one of the reasons why I really appreciate this film in this time.

 Lupita's humbling speech upon her acceptance really moved me. I was almost tearing up watching it and feel her moment is something special to really unfold right before my own eyes.  She has it going on and really nails diversity in so many ways. I love that!

Once I saw the trailer back in October, I did my research on Lupita's experience as an actress and got a feel for her through doses of her perspective toward the film and her craft. Her style stands alone in itself, which I light up and can't wait to see what she wears every time she makes an appearance. She does colored girls PROUD!

"No matter where you're from, your dreams are valid" was just one of the standout heart wrenching phrases Lupita said while accepting her academy award this year.

She is the first African woman to win an Academy Award and this was her debut film role, following a record of doing many other projects before this big break into Hollywood history.

Camelia Is Calling

If you can't buy 'em, draw 'em. 

I came across the Chanel Camellia sneakers and boots. If this was a few years ago, would have found the right time to physically find myself at the Chanel store in NYC just to look at them, but in this quickly speeding world of cyberspace, I got enough inspiration from looking at enough pictures of them online.

After sketching my camellia flowers and the boots with legs up, I had a retro outlook on the shoe even though the appearance is out of this world modern. Taking it to PSD, adding colors and a line or two completely changed by vision and I was humming Beyonce's Partition and seeing strobe lights. I decided to design my view of what a promo ad would look like if the song had been used for the campaign--- or even better, if these Camellia boots (seen below) were featured in Beyonce's Partition video.

Final graphic after my journey of this ride.

vvv ---- INSPIRATION ---- vvv

Nib Chanel Camellia Embelished Leather Boots FW 2013 14

Stock reference shot

BEYONCE - PARTITION (video still)