i'm back!

I'm a nice girl, I promise, but if there was one way to get back at people for upsetting me I think the nicest way I'd go about it is to be this girl and scare them to death. :P....just for fun!

2016, like most would say, was definitely not my favorite year.. A lotta bitterness. There was one bad thing after the other where every area in my life was affected, and it was all happening fast. I was not my best self either. It definitely set me and my passions back because my health was more of a concern and priority that year. I'm so lucky and am so grateful to have had my friends and family to support me through all the chaos that's finally calmed down. I'm slowly trying to pick up where I left off, where I used to find myself constantly sketching. But lately I'm thinking my work sucks right now... so I've been reteaching myself basic techniques again. It's been about a month now, and not much improvement, ugh! But! The Pup and I are actually in talks of another show! I know we said we'd plan for one more last year, but 2016 got lamer until the very end. But we definitely need to make this happen.. and it will!

Also, I'm trying to 

xx ss

moody and romantic themed

Muse this weekend was Lily Rose Depp <3

xx ss

notes from this weekend

Doing collages, I've found, alleviates artist's block.

xx ss

requiescence

Trying to learn how to draw on a small scale size again, or actually, learning how to draw again altogether. I lost my touch! My mind's been occupied with other work.. {boo} :(. It's crazy how you can forget how to do something that's become second nature to you after doing it for so long. And as soon as you stop for just like a week or two, or three, you come back to it as if you were a beginner almost. I've been doing rough sketches to find my flow again and I almost have it down. What's good is that it doesn't take long to get back into the groove. 

xx ss

chaotic month

Phew! This month was overwhelming. Best friend's bridal shower, bachelorette, and beautiful wedding. Wedding dress shopping for my sister and running into a fellow Alopecian from Instagram {#blessing} <3. My grandpa's death and celebration on his return to home. New job. And now preparing for the Pup's birthday tomorrow. This was a lot. And with that, a lot of hairloss from my disease. I've hardly had time to sit down and sketch whatever I want, let alone have some quiet time to myself. It's been chaotic but very fun. I've been pushing myself to squeeze in some quick sketching before work to keep the passion going. Right now I'm just focusing on gestures and exploring body movements. This sketch above is what I came up with this morning.

xx ss

my first exhibition

It's finally up! After months of planning, the pup and I finally installed my illustrations at this laundromat in Downtown LA. The theme is not so much focused on fashion illustrations which is typically my area my expertise. Instead I wanted to surround it on the idea of being inside a laundromat... so you still have some of the sensual feel I usually give in my work with partial nudity, but in this collection I'm introducing a sense of wonder!

I feel like a laundromat is one of the places where people have the most access to receiving inspiration. A person's imagination is definitely activated in such a place where distance is so limited, and people can only do so much to kill time. They can only distract themselves with their phones for so long until they have to find the next thing to do to stay out of boredom. In my collection, I wanted to illustrate the process of stepping out of your head and into your own world.

xx ss

baroque influence

Dice Kayek's Spring Couture 16 collection is one of my favorites by far. Here's a quick sketch I snuck in during work.

spontaneous composition

Here's a mini sketch warm up of Danielle from We Wore What. I'm currently playing with spontaneous composition rather than sticking to my usual single row layout. Hmm, don't know if I love it yet?

non new year's resolution goals

I don't do New Year's resolutions, because I like to work with less pressure on myself. I move forward by just taking the next step to whatever goal or desire it is I am trying to fulfill. And with that, I'm just gonna list:

• I would love a like-minded travel buddy. A person who would just think to include you because there's no one else who he/she would love to travel to new places with. To go exploring, to retreat, do art, work on fun projects, and go away with.
• That ^ said, I would love to travel more.. I just don't do solo trips. Let me find my buddy first.
• I want to know how I can leverage my passion into more money.

...to be continued.

marie antoinette and mermaids

During the last Mercury Retrograde {May 19 - June 11} I was in a creative block yet again. It was the longest delay I've been through so far this year. I needed a subject to feed off of. If you've been following me on my Instagram, you probably noticed what they were..

Marie Antoinette's and mermaids! I'm suddenly inspired to experiment with color. And I thought Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette was a perfect subject to practice with.  

...Then the mermaids. My boyfriend suggested I sketch a mermaid one day which was the perfect exercise to get my brain rolling and fetching ideas. It was tough because mermaids are way more different than the fashion muses and dancers I'm used to sketching. Mermaids are so much more sensual, revealing, and colorful. After I started on my first sketch I quickly became addicted and then drew all this...

So I think I got it all out of my system..! I've learned to be a little more brave with color. Now that Paris Fashion Week is happening I've been applying these new color techniques to my fashion illustrations :) I'm pretty content with the results!

xx ss

easter sunday inspiration

Happy Easter! This past month I've been pretty busy jumping all over the place and going through the ebb and flow of things. I just did a little photoshoot with some friends and also participated in a Kickstarter Campaign {in my last post} that I'm really excited for. I also started to take fashion illustration classes again with one of my favorite teachers from back at FIDM. Just kinda wanted to brush up and refresh my mind with some basics!

So it's been hectic, but in a fun way! Staying focused on my work and having some {or maybe a lotta} fun in between! But I think I'm gonna need a spa day... soooon. 

I haven't done a little trend report in a while, but this one is on Courtney Trop of AlwaysJudging.  The best way I'd describe her style is "simply put".

xx ss

the dancer dances on

I've been a little down these past couple of days. I dreamt this up in my head while sitting with the feeling. I figured this best describes my emotion without giving away details. Lol.

xx ss

a pop of color

The catwalk trend from Milan Fashion Week. Pastels, color blocking, and all!

xx ss

twenty-seven

Had a blast celebrating my birthday. I had no major plans and didn't do anything wild like I did my 25th birthday which was an 80s themed dance party {pictured at the end!}. It was more of a family affair, but I also got spoiled by some of my girlfriends.. Above is a still shot from the little stop motion video I illustrated. It's posted on my Instagram to show my thanks to my friends and family for the awesome presents I got.

So I got a lot of art supplies! And more sketchbooks! I could definitely use more now that I'm close to finishing all the other ones I've hoarded in the past. 

Thank god I wasn't blocked out from Disneyland on my birthday... Since getting my annual pass last year, I've only gone to Disneyland like 4 times. I figured I should spend the day there and get drunk.

I spent my birthday dinner at Bottega Louie in downtown LA. Wish I could show you what my tiramisu cake really looked like. It was so good I think I finished it in like 1 minute. 

And here it is....! A major THROWBACK!!! My 25th 80s themed birthday party!

Thank to all my followers for the birthday praise and love! My phone was seriously blowing up all day and I'm surprised my phone didn't die on me. Your love and support is greatly appreciated! Thank you, thank you.

Here's to 27!

xx ss

the perfect gentleman

From the London Collections, Mens. Handsome and preppy, clean-cut college boy look. 

xx ss

cozy pastels

Dude this girl needs to do a fashion blog...! I discovered Monling Lee on Instagram where her feed displays a wide variety of pastels. Mixing color was always hard for me, that's why painting was always my weakest medium. But this girl can colorblock and mix and match like no other! Her feed is like a rainbow! It makes me smile...

xx ss

charcoal greys

Zoe'sInstagram feed caught my eye with her consistent colorstory of cool tones.

winter trends

Blair's timeless style throughout the winter season <3 

blacks

This is based on a trend report from WGSN on Seoul's Fashion Week on the streets. How do you like my fashion illustrations of men? It took me a while to find a style and look I like. And I'm pretty content with them now :).

xx ss

autumn winter inspiration

Here's a list of all my A/W 15 inspiration sketches so far posted from my IG. Oversized coats, baggy sweaters, and scarves. Wear little, and layer a lot! Eat a lot, and layer up this season!
 

xx ss