So, due to shitty economy, I’m diversifying. First it was at Hush and now I’m at Brand New School working on a commercial (maybe I’m not allowed to say for whom or post my drawings?) I have been drawing cars and double decker buses, bedroom and bathroom furnishings, buildings and bridges, patterns (plaids, delicate florals, kooky textiles) and creating a whole hand drawn world that will soon be populated with cute girls.

Tonight I’m teaching myself how to mask things out and make crazy patterns with overlays. Pretty bananas that I’ve been using Photoshop for years but never really used the mask tool. I fail. But not for long! I expect to be an After Effects and CS4 wizard in the coming weeks.

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James took some photos of my place this afternoon. His photographs really put my previous attempts to shame, so even though this is a tad redundant, I’m posting them. Plus, we finally bought some plants and a rug for the bedroom. Looks much more… healthy with some green.

I used some old rope to tie back my curtains. I like how they play against my straw hat.

In my last apartment all the picture frames were painted to match my bedroom’s super graphic stripe and filled with sixties photographs and advertisements. I am not sure if it’s laziness, but I like them “open.” You can call it “After Hang Up” by Eva Hesse.

The print is by Igor Pantuhoff. The little bowl I saved from Morocco.

The chalk portrait of the boy matches his sister. I found both upstate for a song. They remind me of Don and Betty’s kids in Mad Men. I have that show on the brain lately. Did you see Hamm on 30 Rock? “I want to go to there.” Best. Moment. Ever.

Oh, and this little owl is a 60’s transistor Radio. Very Clash of The Titans, no?

The pastel portrait we also found upstate. I wouldn’t have put him there, but he hides an ugly converter box. Theodore’s quite a patriot; enjoys staring at our flag all day.

My wall of necklaces. Having them displayed encourages me to change them up.
The dream catcher I don’t wear, but he’s cute.

My kitchen’s floors are all distressed, but I like that.
We use the magnetic letters to create impromptu menus when we have friends over.

Metal Peacock feathers, James’ copy of Nirvana’s Bleach

I never sit here and read, because mostly I just internet. 2009 goal: books.

more photos of my place on le blog de james.

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I own a lot of sixties teen and fashion magazines, but until tonight I never knew any model names beyond the obvious: Twiggy, Peggy Moffitt, Jean Shrimpton, Penelope Tree. I just stumbled upon Mini Mad Mod 60’s: an online archive filled with images of some of my favorite mystery muses. Several girls, like Lucy Angle or Jean White, I had clipped out and framed over the years.

Jean White, with her big eyes, Shirley Temple ringlets, and a Betty Boop styled expression is often styled in Great Gatsby themed outfits; perfect for the sixties-twenties moment that happened around ‘68 or ‘70.

Then there’s Lucy Angle who rocks one of the cutest bowl cuts I’ve seen. I used to bring her photo to hairdressers back when I attempted one. She appeared on some of my favorite Seventeen covers. For some reason she reminds me of Mia Farrow. No surprise, loooovvvveeeee her.

oh, and by the way, there are some epic sixties fashion images on this live journal entry: ana-lee

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I rarely have a chance to hand write much of anything these days. No more in-class note taking, no real letter writing. Maybe that’s why, when I do write in my daily planner, it appears in all caps. I take my time to make each letter look nice. Like Aaron Cometbus or David Shrigley, I like how words in all capital letters look on the page.

Today while reading the Times, I came across the work of Leanne Shapton. She’s a multitasking artist/illustrator/writer from Toronto now living in New York. And she is very fond of handlettered capitals.

Did you know she did the Kicking and Screaming Criterion Collection cover? Very nice.

image from: design related.

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Ok. I redid my website. Check it out here

I’ll probably add a newer logo, hand letter the categories, cluster the art differently, and create an “archive” category. We’ll see, still ironing out the kinks.

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I’ve been slacking on the blog because I’m trying to redo my website with indexhibit.

Carbonmade is a great template-based website and I like that I can host my video there, but I can’t customize it enough. I want to be able to cluster some of the work together in ways that are currently impossible.

So, I’m trying my luck elsewhere. Unfortunately, I’m horrible at coding and struggling to personalize their template. Plus, I am not sure which images to include. But! when it’s done it will look very professsh so it’s worth it. I think.

Here are some portfolios that use indexhibit:

+ Justin Gabbard
+ Steven Burke
+ Cristobal Schmal

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Here are two of my t-shirt designs for the next Blood is the New Black collection. All are black and white, and except this “lil sneak” graphic tee, they’re graphic in… other ways. Lots of x-rated loving going on courtesy of seventies porno stills reworked and redrawn.

Of course, if we don’t get orders, they’ll never be produced. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be taking photos of them on actual tees.

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Sorry, didn’t find time to write the past few days.

I’ve been working in the art department on a commercial for Sony Ericsson. I’m working for Hush. A design, direction, and production studio based in Dumbo. I’d never been on commercial or music video set, never built models, painted 3-dimensional objects, done production, nor been part of a team (that wasn’t somehow virtual). It was a satisfying and eye opening experience with long days and lots of work.

The photos of the 13 hour shoot (6 am call time. ouch) that wrapped today look fucking awesome. But I can’t post them until after it comes out. Sucks. I want to show how good what we made looks and how cool it came out… but I guess I’ll have to wait. Trust. It is rad.

I hope I can do more projects like this, we’ll see what’s next.

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My most worn items in my wardrobe are, unsurprisingly, black. If it’s an “I really shouldn’t…” moment, and it’s black, there’s my excuse. Last year my favorite purchase was Gryson’s “Hannah” bag in black leather with brass hardware. I found it for half off and with free shipping. Oh yeah, I’m sneaky.

Suffice to say, I don’t need another bag. But browsing through some online shops I was struck by several really tempting numbers (on sale I might add) by Martine Sitbon, Mayle, Sissi Rossi, Linea Pelle, and Jerome Dreyfuss (in that order). Someone else buy them and save me from myself!

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Recently, I somehow managed to damage my second external hard drive and in the process lost all my mp3s. I blame it on the move to the new studio. Over 80 gigs of music instantly gone. Sorta devastating. Anyone want to put some music on my server? Wink wink

In the process of rebuilding my library I’ve been thinking about “essential” songs that went missing. All the old disco and post punk that I listened to on permanent repeat years ago still holds up. Here are a few tracks I played for friends the other night. They came in between some Chicago House, Soft Circle, and lots of fancy Belgian Ale.

Paul Mccartney - Temporary Secretary
Aural Exciters - Spooks in Space

La Bionda - I Wanna Be Your Lover

Bumblebee Unlimited - Ladybug
Captain Sensible - Wot

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This is a drawing of Gala Gonzalez.
I love her whole attitude. And particularly her leather jacket and Mulberry bag.
The original photograph can be found on her blog Inside Am-Lul’s Closet.

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Maria, from Copenhagen Street Style.

I love how she rolled her long knit sweater’s cuffs over her trench’s sleeves. In the photograph, her monochrome outfit has great texture and the folds of the fabric fall beautifully. It’s been several years but I am still a huge fan of pixie, lace-up, and granny boots. Unfortunately, accurately rendering hers would have killed all the detail in the laces.

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I am starting a new series of drawings and paintings based on people from my favorite street style blogs. The whole process has been a bit confusing because I am not sure if I should devote a whole blog to this series and get a new url or just include it here.

I also haven’t decided:
1. Which medium to use (pen or pencil)
2. Should the people should be drawn realistically or as cartoons?
3. Should my drawings be wearing the exact same colors as the photograph or do I take artistic license?
4. Should I color them in digitally or with watercolor or vary it?

What do you think?

This cute girl I’ve had saved on my computer for months. I love her lil romper and long long legs. I drew her with pencil and colored it in with gouache. Based on this photograph from facehunter

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I think I have a new project that, if I complete in a timely fashion, will find its way into my bedroom. Since my apartment walls lack flair (I so wish I had wainscoting, chair rails, or molding like a Fort Green brownstone) I have to come up with ways to decorate and add to the space.

My bedroom is the most boring of all the rooms in the apartment. It doesn’t have wood floors, but instead low pile gray carpet out of a dull office building. Eventually I’ll find a threadbare Oriental or Navajo rug to hide it. For now… I am thinking it might be nice to hang something from the ceiling. Perhaps white linen scraps or fabric streamers or something like these triangle banners (in pale colors and faded fabrics).

the selby
door sixteen
christine
dédé au château

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elizabeth weinberg
cotton candy
?
yokoo
hello christy claire

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I wouldn’t think shows like The City and The Hills would have any bearing on my music taste. I am not fifteen. I find out music by going to shows, digging around blogs, websites like last.fm, the hype machine, and record stores.

First I discovered musician Yelle in between an episode of The Hills. She danced around in a smiley faced Jeremy Scott number while rapping a French does MIA dirty dance number. I got to see her energetic live performance the next week and then Rebecca gave her some signature clothing and sat during her Venus shoot a month or two later. Um. Jealous!

And now, I find myself listening to Australian band Empire of the Sun whom I discovered during Monday’s episode of The City. I’m surprised I even heard them (as Whitney and Olivia “worked” on the DVF shoot) given the gleeful screaming and commentary that is had when eight people are over eating snacks.

Anyway! I am really feeling their single “Walking on a Dream.” MGMT and Prince tunes with Adam Ant styling sounds perfect for a summer jam. Of course it *is* summer in Australia right now. Here is the youtube video

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My apartment projects never feel “done.” After all, I am still in need of a rug to cover the ugly gray carpet, a coat rack, curtains in the kitchen, and to wire the school house pendant lamp that hangs over the dining room table. My bed is on the floor all bohemian style. I like it but a headboard is probably in order.

You can’t tell what’s missing in these photos because I’m only showing you bits and pieces. And maybe you wouldn’t notice anyway.

What you can see however is the great plank floors, my metal peacock feathers, some of my CT and PA flea market finds, and the cheap couch I cleaned and repainted. Enjoy!

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In recent weeks I’ve been way into attempting arts and crafts projects that were the staple of nine years of Girl Scout camp or bored suburban afternoons circa high school. Except tweaked for someone now much older.

Covering a cashmere scarf, a black leather purse, and a coat entirely in pyramid studs. Dying lace blouses to look antique with herbal tea. Buying embroidery floss for six friends to make friendship bracelets while watching two back to back episodes of The City. It’s like a meeting of the BSC over here. Next up, lanyards? Maybe I’ll make a zine? Hand tooled leather belts stamped with initals and weird teepee symbols? Perhaps take up… scrapbooking!?? Who knows, but I’m having so much fun.

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I am grabbing a gaggle of ladies and we are going to have a tv party tonight. Whitney Port lives next door to my sister and I’m hoping her apartment, and perhaps Alisa, makes a cameo. OOooOOoOo!!!

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I’m feeling the song “Ani Kuni” by French Canadian singer Madeleine Chartrand. It’s from a Freakbeat compilation I don’t yet have my hands on. A cursory google lead me to to this bare bones video. Check it out for a mean electric sitar, tambourins, and a cute girl dressed up like a 1973 version of Poccahontas!

Here’s the Mp3: Ani Kuni

Youtube link

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