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

collaborations make me hungry

Last week a whole case of Health-ade kombucha bottles was delivered to my door. I was a pretty excited girl. I'm currently collaborating with this brand - which, let me say, I LOVE! It's pretty amazing. After a good hike I usually stop by Whole Foods just to grab some of this bubbly and I instantly feel rejuvenated and accomplished. Now having a whole week's worth of it is just insane! And guess what? I'll be receiving another case of these next week! :D

Follow their IG to see the work I'll be doing for them!

I'm also working on another collaboration and it's with the artist, Charlene Villena. She's got amazing talent and her style stands out from the rest. I'm excited and can't wait to share what we have planned! I've been pretty swamped trying to work on two of these collaborations at once while spending a lot of time with family at the hospital. I've had very little sleep and my mind has been cluttered which has given me a pretty big appetite...

So there's a sale this month at Marie Callender's.. just sayin. This is my all time favorite pie from that place. This is the Chocolate Satin Pie. That is all. 

Perfect way to end the week. Vegan organic wine and food at The Springs for lunch in downtown LA with my girl Jasmine. Also, I'm glad Mercury Retrograde is officially ending this week. There definitely has been a shift in the energy around people and places and I've just been super sensitive during this crazy time! But I will say, last week I was able to get inspired better than I could the week before. I was tired and hungry, but inspiration was for sure downloading into my brain. Stay tuned for the revelation of my collaborations! 

xx ss

bare & painted

Here's a new way to button up a dress shirt! It's a tad risque, but it can be done. It's a brand new trend so it'll be a while until this look is played out. And the painted denim continues.. it's a work of art!
 

Instagram photo cred: @yara_michels / @rialtojeanproject / @vivalamanika / @sundaysuppers / @_foodstories_ / @denimdoinggood

xx ss

silhouettes & details

Denim trends continued! Boyfriend jeans are very much the hype these days. It's the most comfortable fit and it's making its way into the new sexy versus the skinny jean. While there's many variations of the boyfriend - wrecked, distressed, baggy, skinny, relaxed, bleached, I feel that the "tailored" boyfriend will soon make its introduction. I can't predict that it will become a fad, but rather just an extension of the boyfriend jean which I feel the life span of its popularity will last a few more years. This doesn't only apply in the denim department but also the wovens as well. It's becoming a classic look. I actually don't even own a pair... ugh! I haven't found my perfect match just yet!

The boxy denim crop top is a new silhouette I've found that will probably emerge as a contemporary occasional look rather than a casual every day look. Not everyone can pull this look off however because it's denim, it's cropped, and it's a boxy fit. But who knows! I'd love to see how people style this up! It's super chic.. I can definitely see bloggers like Fashion Toast, Le Blog de Betty, A Fashion Nerd, and The Haute Pursuit pulling this off. I probably can.. maybe, not sure.. lol. Stay tuned for more trends I've discovered!
 

xx ss

color explosion

{ Splattered paint applications are returning once again on denim. In my illustration I incorporated it as a block piece (inner legs and jacket sleeves) denim contrast.. change it up ya know? } ---

I jumped back into work after a week long {andmuch needed} vacay and to my surprise for my first big project at work I was asked to do trend research for a meeting on Monday. Heck yes! This is only what I've been wanting to get back into since I started working in the fashion industry! Omg I was excited, so excited. Boss lady asked me to incorporate my fashion illustrations as well which made me the happiest girl in the world that day. I was born for this! In case you all didn't know, I began my career as a trend forecaster where I was sketching garments and fashion illustrations all day every day. Not to mention the endless shopping I did that was part of the job which turned into an addiction earlier in life. It was my dream job. I got to work in Tokyo and Hong Kong.. and shop! It was an amazing experience that ended so soon. But at the same time I'm so very grateful for that experience and also the other experiences that followed after. Understanding the fashion industry, the way garments are made, constructed, processed, and most of all learning the balance of design has brought me here. Everything I've learned I can now pull together and fine tune and hone my talent. :) #nevergiveup
 

So for the long weekend this 4th of July, I've been working my heart and soul into this project and definitely wanted to share it with everyone.. I'm going to continue where I left off when I began this blog. It's a place for trend forecasting alongside my illustrations. So here's a looksy into Fall/Holiday 15 for denim...! There are 9 more fashion dolls next in line, so stay tuned for the next trending group!
 

xx ss

new layout in the works

For stephaniesurtida.com's 2-year birthday I'm doing a little make-over for my website! As you can see, my site is currently under construction, in case you're visiting for the first time or just checking back! :) Lots of updates and fun stuff going on. It's taking a little longer than usual to complete this because I am pretty booked these days with the current freelance position. But I'm still dancing around, yoga-ing, making mini videos, and sketching most of all! I need my playtime.. So check back by the end of this week! :) I'll be playing around with this site a lot!

xx ss

chunky necklace

Wee I'm excited! After falling in love with my first tribal chunky necklace I had to have another! I did a sketch of my first one last year when I was planning out my costumes for Burning Man but it didn't make it on the trip :(. But good thing I didn't have it with me because the desert sand would've ruined it! Anyway I got in contact with the owner, Nao, who makes these amazing pieces of art and ended up doing this collaborative illustration for her and her product. She sent me the necklace I illustrated for her and I'm so happy and excited to show it off! I just looove it! I'm excited to wear this now that Spring is coming up! Yay, more colors!!

If you want in on the fun, check out her shop here!

xx ss

1 free illustration

If you've seen my crazy promo on Instagram, here are my first victims! I mean, takers! Muahahaha.. So I decided to do something crazy, something illustrators wouldn't normally do. I'm allowing my followers a chance for them to be illustrated by moi for the rest of November, for free. I'm allowing only one look so that I don't go crazy with all the requests that will pile up! The reason why I'm doing this is because I only have a few pages left in my to-go design sketchbook, so I'm celebrating. And I decided to fill the rest of my book up with illustrations of my followers. I've also been contacted a few times by fashion bloggers requesting to be illustrated but they just didn't want to pay the amount I was charging. So, as a special one-time offer only, I won't charge for this month! Even though I didn't realize until after I posted the promo that e-mail requests will pile up like crazy for the next few weeks {oops lol}. It'll definitely keep me busy. But, then again I see this as an opportunity to connect with others annnd especially use this as practice for me.

So check it out! And take advantage of this offer! Don't wait up! :)

e-mail me: stephanie.surtida@gmail.com

xx,

ss

Nasty Gal + SS Collabo

..and it's FINALLY here! I was contacted by the Nasty Gal team & asked to illustrate their new Fall 13 Collection to showcase their new line featuring my work! I am so grateful for having this opportunity.. I didn't think I would get this far only after posting a sketch {below} of my muse, Sophia Amoruso on my IG account. This was a dream come true! And guess what, this is only the beginning! Read about my interview HERE!

I'd like to thank my friends for their ongoing love & support. Each and every one of us is struggling to make our dreams come true in the fashion world. And without our support system we wouldn't get so far with our passion.

Jessica, Sara, Brenda, Alyssa, Maggie.

xx,

SS

&thankyou Jed for always encouraging me to fulfill my creative side. <3

Burning Man Illustrations Revealed

Costumes packed - DONE & DONE!

I am so relieved this huge part was out of the way. It was actually more work for me to lay out each outfit on my bed and put them all together according to all the illustrations I drew for myself. To be honest, none of the outfits are exactly what I sketched. Okay, maybe two, but everything else has been changed, altered, simplified, and whatnot. I wore each outfit to see if it worked or not and switched out pieces here and there. That's the beauty of fashion - nothing ever goes as planned!

I sketched this in my to-go design sketchbook to lay out other ideas and accessories to wear for the playa.

I especially wanted the tribal chic necklace by Nao which I ordered last week! I've never seen anything like it and I definitely want to buy more from her! ...I hope I get it in time to use for BM!

Below are all the outfit sketches I did from my little Fashionary Neon Light Mini sketchbook {it's so handy...!} I had to do a lot of improvising for each look. I had a lot of DIY involved and a ton of arts & crafts days while making these costumes. If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen what I've been up to...!

{but sadly, not included in my final costume...!} :(

*switched out the top in this outfit! this will be a yoga look!

In the end, I managed to have a total of 11 outfits bagged and labeled. I was advised to separate them in large ziplock bags for easy access on the playa and to keep the alkaline sand off of them. I'm super excited {and relieved}. Can't wait for this experience!

xx,

SS

#energydolls

I seriously wish this idea came to me sooner because this only popped up in my head last week - a week before the long awaited trip to Burning Man. Okay wait, I lied, I've been planning on doing something like this for over a month and a half ago for Burning Man because I wanted to contribute to the community somehow with a playa gift to barter with while I'm there. But I just couldn't figure out exactly what I could do. For the last month and a half I've been pinning on my Pinterest under a secret board I created for dolls that I could take inspiration from. I've pinned so many ideas, but it wasn't enough to inspire me to get started on them. So I put the idea in the back of my mind thinking I shouldn't even do this anymore. Until one Monday morning {with Burning Man just a week a away} I had the urge to get into it again. The urge came with an idea attached to it - to make dolls in the order of the chakra colors! ...Wow, I instantly fell in love with it... It was definitely one of those "AHA!" moments... {thank you!} so that pretty much sold me. I immediately went shopping for supplies that day and pulled out my sewing machine and went straight to work for the entire week.

I literally free hand drafted a doll pattern and from scratch. As you can see, there was a lot of trial and error. I don't have any manila pattern paper handy, so I used my Whole Foods shopping bag as doll patterns.

..finally got the final pattern down! Now for cutting and sewing!

I used an old bed sheet to make my dolls out of because I don't have muslin fabric handy either :(. The only thing I bought really was the felt colors for the hearts. I didn't want to buy a whole bag of poly fil {doll stuffing} so I cut open an old teddy bear and used his instead!

Teddy doesn't mind sharing...!

Each heart is hand-sewn on to every single doll... with love :)

My army of Burning Men <3.

{p.s. the original idea was to make flammable dolls to personalize & then burn...! make your own burning man! maybe next time...}

I got myself a muslin bag to decorate and attach pieces of art from people and things I come across at Burning Man. And in exchange I'll have them choose what color they want or feel from the dolls I have; and attached to it will have a description of the chakra color meaning for a little added fun ;]

As you can see, I did a ton of revising, proofreading, and writing.. And yes, all hand-written... However, what's cool is that all this construction paper came from a box of art supplies that someone threw out as trash in the building! This couldn't have shown up at a better time. This was right when I was worried that I'd have to go back to the store and buy a whole pack of construction paper...! {thank you!} 

I hand-wrote every description for each color of all the 7 chakras. I know I could've easily made photocopies, but, my printer doesn't work quick enough. And I think hand writing makes these homemade dolls even more organic in its design.

I did my best to include as much info as I could referencing the book, The Book of Psychic Symbols. Although initially, the way this works, is when your subconscious mind chooses a color you're supposed to determine what this color feels like or means to you first before referencing it from an outside source. These descriptions are really just an aid to the definition of each color meaning. It may not even relate to your situation at all or you as a person. These are commonly known descriptive meanings for these colors. But everyone has their own unique way of interpreting what colors feel like, which makes it even more fun. There are no rules in this. Just go with what you feel :)

This literally took me a whole day to write this all out... my hand is soooo sore... x( but I'm happy with the way it turned out!

Lastly, I had to somehow attach my information to have these dolls track back to me.. so I also added a hashtag so I can see what new friends I've made when they share their dolls on their social networks!

This was literally a week long project, and I wish I can make more energy dolls, but with the time left, I hardly have any energy to make more...! I also have friends and family to make a batch for when I get back, lol. These dolls are slowly becoming a hit. Maybe I'll plan ahead and sell them for next year? Anyways, I still have to close down the supply list with my camp this weekend, and then I'm off! I'm super nervous and excited.. I plan to take a ton of awesome pictures to bring back with me.

Stay tuned for the next post! I will reveal all my costume sketches and layout for Burning Man! :)

xx,

SS

Work Mode

I've been building up a long list of muses of people to illustrate and it's about time I get to them! I don't profit much from my account on Society6, but I still want to keep that going because I love all the produce you can develop out of your artwork :) I'm trying to decide if I should get on the Etsy wagon...why not? I also decided I needed to revamp my illustrations each time I sketch. I'm taking this week off to do as much as I can and hopefully have a shop opened soon {gotta come up with a deadline!}

Hope you like what I have so far...! The first one is a series of one of my favorite style muses, Sophia Amoruso of Nasty Gal. She's such a doll.. I admire her so much especially after watching her interview about her success story! Watch it here! The second illustration is from a photograph I pulled from my Pinterest. A lot of the pictures I pin of dance, ballet, tribal looks, and yoga will most likely be included in my illustrations.

I'll update you guys as soon as a decision is made for an upcoming Etsy shop! <3

xx,

SS

Burning Man - DIY Day

I've done a ton of illustrating lately for costumes to wear for Burning Man all last week. And as much as I love to sketch, I had to stop and actually get to making the pieces.. which means, a DIY DAY!

I made a little intimate reversible piece out of a 3XL muumuu {i think it was 3XL?} I bought for $1 at JetRag in Hollywood! {NOTE: I did this without any pattern paper, without measuring, no tracing, proper cutting or correct sewing construction!} I'll remind you, I am a designer and I know how this works, but I didn't want to put so much effort into this piece and care so much about execution because I know this piece will not be usable again! {kinda like Forever21 lol}.

So I just literally pinned and cut around the shape of a sample I was wearing and - VOILA!

Here is a preview of my Burning Man sketches in both my mini Fashionary Neon Light sketchbook and my To-go sketchbook.. I'll post all of them soon! My new Fashionary Neon Light sketchbook was so handy while I was shopping for accessories in Santee Alley last week! Love that little book.. :)

So my dog Kobe {baloney} thinks he can just plop himself anywhere.. especially after I just layed out all my costumes on the floor.. RUDE.

..expect lots of Bohemian looks! I'm adding a little twist because I think the "boho" look is expected.. because it's so trendy. So stay tuned for my illustration ideas for Burning Man! I have less than a month to prepare!!! EXXXXCITEDDD.

P.S.

After I kicked him out, he went to the far left and plopped himself on one of my dresses... ughhh.

xx,

SS

My Book of Dolls

I'm trying to come up with a fun little paper book filled with my illustrations to print and sell! The idea sparked in my head two weeks ago and thought it would be a fun and addicting project to work on by the end of summer! I've started a couple of sketches below and decided to include some I've already done in my to-go design sketchbook.

I haven't decided if I wanted to add any words in them.. maybe a small description? Hm.. in all honesty every description for each illustration would have a story like this: "This girl I was inspired to sketch is the model so-and-so. As soon as I started to ink her in, I got a crick in my hand and my pen went that way and gave her a dark upper lip. Then when I started coloring with my awesome markers, it bled outside of the black lines into another color creating a nasty blob which ruined her hair. So I made her hair bigger to cover the blob. Oops and I gave her four fingers..." Hmm.. Maybe people like honesty? I don't know, we'll see!

This is going to be awesome-o once I'm done.. I'm excited, can't wait!

xx,

SS

SMS Doll Fashions

SMS Doll Fashions was a project started by me and my ex-boyfriend (high school sweetheart!) back in 2008. I was fresh out of college (20yrs old) graduating from FIDM, and was unemployed and uber bored because I was unable to find a stable job in the industry. This was also around the time when the economy started to collapse and everyone was losing their jobs.. (I know, perfect timing right?) So while I continued to patiently apply for jobs I decided I wanted to keep my brain fresh by designing my own clothes like my classmates were. I've never owned a dress form before because I couldn't afford it (and no job!), so I really couldn't make my own clothing unless I was awesome at patternmaking (and I'm not). So as practice I wanted to start small (literally!) before I ever decide to start sewing my own clothes.

Around that time I had an interest in Asian Ball Jointed Dolls. I call them the ultimate Barbie dolls. You can do anything with them! These dolls first started in Japan made for adult collectors and artists - you definitely can't play Babrbie and Ken with these! Their looks are influenced by anime, built with a height range of 16"-24" with movable joints and realistic customizable features. The popularity of these dolls eventually inspired Korea and China to design their own brands of ABJDs. Another thing about them is that they are ridiculously insanely expensive.. I could never have been able to afford a true Japanese Asian Ball Jointed Doll back then.. So my sweet boyfriend at the time bought me an affordable one from China instead, and I loved it. I worked on her and customized this gal to my liking: eyeballs, eyelashes, cheeks and lip stain.

Yes, these dolls also get their own set-in eyelash packages that are worth just as much or more than the kind we use.. unbelievable.

This doll came to me naked.. how rude! But that's the point of the doll; you spend $$$$ on one completely naked and maybe even one without eyeballs, so that you can spend more $$$ on accessories and sh*T. Ughh.. what an investment! Just like the American Girl doll today, which is even more ridiculous because I think those dolls are so ugly.

So, being broke, using my leftover pattern paper and muslin from school, I draped and drafted patterns right off the doll. I would then buy cheap fabric from school or tear pieces off of old clothing to use to design pieces of her outfit. My first and proud design was the Strawberry Babydoll Dress. After designing that cute old thang, my boyfriend came up with the idea of having a small business for designing Asian Ball Jointed Doll clothing. It was such a cute idea at the time and I loved it. It was definitely a motivator for me to design and be creative. It was also a great way to keep my skills fresh from school. So I designed as many pieces as I could while my boyfriend designed my website and store for me (how cute!). He decided to name the store by the first initials of my name, Stephanie Marie Surtida. And that's when SMS Doll Fashions came to life.

Eventually I got myself a doll-sized dress form to work off of so I didn't have to keep marking on my doll's expensive skin. My interest then grew more and found myself working non-stop all night every night.

This is a sweater dress with a lined hoodie I made out of my old fleece pants. I bought some heat transfer skulls and hearts prints and thought I'd try em out for this hoodie! She wears a heart on her sleeve :) !

This is another hoodie I made out of my Playgirl fleece pants. I cut out the area with the logo to use as the front body piece of this hoodie. I also have a grey version of the hoodie as well. I was pretty impressed with myself making a hoodie! Now if only I could just make me one... Below are all the other outfits I've made.. Unfortunately none of them have ever been sold. My relationship with the dude ended before this little business could ever get started. We were still kids too with no money.. The only small production I made was from one style and it was the Strawberry Babydoll Dress. Since that time, I've learned that being business partners with your lover, friend, or family never works out. But anyway, I'm proud of my work. I think I take more interest in making doll clothes than human clothes. It's less of a risk taker and the market is less demanding. What I also loved about doing this was that I could freely make anything I wanted without having to meet the needs of the current market or trends :)

[gallery link="file" ids="3638,3639,3640,3641,3642,3645,3646,3643,3644,3650,3720,3648,3653,3651,3652"]

WL? Summer 2013

I had the pleasure of working with one of my closest friends, Sara Caterinicchia of Who's Little? once again! She is launching her summer collection in June (next month!) and had asked me to come up with some fun illustrations for her line! I was flattered that she thought of me and uber excited to get started.. But, (on the real..) in the start of the process I stressed a bit here and there because it wasn't something I could just sketch up and not worry about perfecting like my other illustrations.. This was an official illustration project and I had to get it done with lots of perfecting..  

So I ran into lots of creative blocks here and there. I've wasted a day or two just staring at a blank sheet of paper not knowing where to start and where to catch my inspiration. So I sat.. and sat. Eventually I found myself browsing through children's magazines which finally got me started!

I was also doing a lot of instagramming too while my mind wasn't thinking for me.. (I love instagram!) but that's where I ended up taking the rest of my inspirations from! I follow this Japanese artist on instagram @MIZUTAMAHANCO. I love her cute and animated illustrations, and it was perfect for the look of this collection!

All in all I wanted to keep it simple.. way more simple than my usual illustrations and with less distractions. I can't tell you how many times I had to look at each detail and obsess over the littlest things. It was like proofreading, but with pictures not words. I even had my older sister proofread my stuff.. is it me being a perfectionist? Or is that just what artists do? Hm..

Overall, I'm pretty impressed with myself.. I really put my heart into this and enjoyed doing it. When I accepted this project, I thought this was gonna be on "easy mode" for me.. But no, it wasn't. It was on "medium mode" actually. It was a good challenge though, and I made it to the end! Weeeee...

Do the work you love, and your love will show in your work.

(woohoo, totally just made that up) ;D

xx,

SS