Topshop Styled and Illustrated: Last day of summer

Tomorrow will be the first 'official' day of fall, and the air has been getting colder. Unless the weather randomly spikes up again in LA, it's time to pull out jackets and boots. Even though I like warm summer days, it's hard to beat sitting around with a warm cup of your favorite drink and a bowl of spicy soup. Plus I really like fall/winter clothes – I am totally not looking forward to new jackets, coats, and boots, what are you talking about?

Pink Scallop Texture Bikini top + bottom || GWENDA Pointed Courts || Drop Lens Round Sunglasses

09.10.13

A little window into something.

It has been really hot in the LA area?? And here I was looking forward to fall/winter clothes...

09.03.13

Welcome back from Labor Day weekend! I spent a majority of it playing around with some brushes I downloaded, and I think they make for nice effects. There are still some I haven't tried, but it's always nice to explore new options.

Since I've been kind of sucked into One Piece (yes, still), I drew some more. Semi-recently they released an album that features a character single for Trafalgar Law, and... it's regrettably catchy.

So here's a drawing of the character. Yay?

And a little Chopper animated gif, doing his "peeking" pose.

Out for a bit.

See you later~

Topshop Styled and Illustrated: Outfit Inspiration | One Shirt, Three Styles

When I'm shopping, I look at something based on how versatile it will be. So for this particular set, I put together three different styles with Topshop's Sleeveless Crop Dog Shirt.

Head-to-toe: Crepe Notch Neck Jacket || Rollup Skinny Trousers || GAMBIT Metal Detail Courts

This look could be good for the office, although I'm not sure if cropped trousers are appropriate for a formal office? I thought it was nice the metal tip on the shoes echoed the collar of the shirt.

Head-to-toe: Edge Paint Satchel || MOTO Ripped Indigo Jamie Jeans || GWENDA Pointed Courts

The in-between look, for when you want to look a little more polished on a day off.

Head-to-toe: Skater Rib Beanie || Clip Front Crossbody Bag || MOTO Black Skinny Leigh Jeans || ATLANTA Double Buckle Boots

Maybe my favorite, the super casual look. Good for running errands, grabbing a cup of coffee... get dressed and go, minimal fuss required.

I think the print on this top is so cute thanks to these dogs:

Dog Daze

04.30.13 { on the desk }

I posted these a couple weeks ago, but here's another peek. Slowly getting finished up.

It's already the end of the month! Time is seriously going fast.

☼ Bright ☼

Quick tests using colors I rarely use, which was kind of interesting – it was definitely a more vibrant set. Maybe the nice weather during the day is influencing me?

Besides the unusual colors for me, there were some things I wanted to try before continuing on with the Topshop illustrations. Now that I've figured that out, I can continue on... or it may be a different test, I'm wondering about some other things too  :p

04.16.13 { on the desk }

These ladies all have something in common...

Topshop Styled + Illustrated: Not Quite Your Grandma's Floral

Birds and flowers together is a pretty classic combination, but the sweetness is contrasted a little by the leather-look material of this top.

If you couldn't tell, I like florals so it's not much of a surprise that I gravitated to this shirt from Topshop. It seems like this shirt would be easy to wear and make a statement with minimum effort. The back is sheer though, so no bra. Or maybe with one, depending. Either way, this is a slightly tougher approach to floral.
I also liked these sunglasses, keeping with the round frames trend and little swallows flying together on the edge.

There is also a matching leather-look biker jacket with this floral print available here.
Featured: Flower Print Leather Look T-shirt || Swallow Trim Round Sunglasses || MOTO Black Joni Super High Waisted Jeans

03.26.13

This is still in the works, but here's a preview  :]

Take a Walk

Topshop Illustrated: Polka Dots

I came across these cute mushroom cups while online window/tab shopping on Topshop, and wanted to find a way to draw them. Everything else is from Topshop except the spotted mushrooms growing everywhere, obviously. You'll have to go exploring in the woods or something to find those.

Have a good weekend everyone~

One Piece

So here's a doodle that got unexpectedly serious... It started as a simple test to try out the brush pens I bought, which then transformed into a drawing of all of the members of the Straw Hat Crew from One Piece. I blame Zoro/Zolo wholeheartedly, it was an idle drawing of his face that started this mess. And the fact that I decided it would be a good idea to read the series again... after I hadn't since Volume... 10 or something. (One Piece is currently on Volume 68).

Here's the original. The rest of these are in roughly chronological order:

Sanji

Nami

Usopp

Robin

I really like Chopper, so I kind of held off on drawing him because I was worried I'd make him look possessed...

Brook

Luffy's face was a challenge to draw. There were times while I was drawing it that he looked um... frightening. I think bright, wide smiles confuse me.

... I ended up redrawing Zoro because the initial drawing looked pretty sad next to all of the following portraits.

Franky

The brush pen is lots of fun to use, and the best part is that it can create a dry brush effect if you use it right. Or am I using it wrong? Either way, I was hoping I'd be able to make that effect.

I used the Pentel Pocket Brush pen primarily, and a couple of brush pens that I do not know the brand of. The Pentel Pocket Brush is great for the more flowing lines and dry brush, the other two were less of a "brush" than a marker that had some flexibility. It allowed for greater control over the lines, but there weren't as many unexpected surprises and variation in line weight.

A Bloody Valentine

Somehow, this emerged while listening to Chet Baker's version of 'I Get Along Without You Very Well.' I don't know how it happened either.
The plant is a Jerusalem Cherry/Madeira Winter Cherry/Winter Cherry, which has bright red fruits that are poisonous.

So um... Happy Valentine's Day...?

(For some reason, this reminds me of Dilandau or Folken from Escaflowne. I think it's the hair.)

Tidy!

Things have been a bit hectic up until this week. I've been playing Ni no Kuni and it's been pretty fun! Have a picture of Drippy.

Now it's back to adventuring. I feel the Pokémon "Gotta catch 'em all" syndrome coming back thanks to the plethora of familiars.

Ombre

8 x 10" watercolor paper.

Love the subtle washes and fading of ombre/gradation  :]

01.12.13