Julia Saner - Top Newcomers Spring 2011

Hello Hello!
Good morning and afternoon to some of you out there! ;)
How is your day going?
Today's painting i think is my favorite out of the Top Newcomers Spring 2011 Series i did for Models.com.
It's of a Julia Saner, who was the winner of Elite Model Look Switzerland 2009.
Julia has a great wholesome look.
When i was looking through pictures of her,
there was this one profile photo of her that really inspired me.
There was something so pensive about her expression it made me instantly know that was what i was going to paint.
All and all I really like how it turned out.
What about you? Whatcha think?
Well i hope you all are having a great day! :)

I'm back! Sorry for the delay!

Hey Friends!
I'm back! Sorry about the couple weeks absence from blogging.
I got back from Fashion Week and it was non-stop picture sorting,
and then my really good friend Tim Brooks A.K.A Tim Frost (the guy who wrote the song for the Forever 21 Alice Painting Video) flew in from Texas.
We hung out all week and wrote songs,
trying to finish up an album.
We are almost there.... ;)

And i have so so so so many pictures and videos from my trip that i can't wait to show you!
It is coming soon, don't worry!
The Painting today is based off of a sketch i did in a Starbucks during FW of the Fashion Week Daily cover.
I like how the overall mood of the painting turned out.
It has this warm contemplative feel to it...
Well, i really hope you like it!
and i can't wait to get all the paintings, photos, and videos up!
Hope you're having a great day!

The Runaway Forest Concept Sketch

Well Good morning!
How's the day treating you?
Well T Minus 8 days till my brother and i leave for NYC.
There is still so So much to do... C'est la Vie ;)
So my best friend since like i was in 3rd grade, Benje, arrived here last night.
He has been living in Kenya for the last year or so.
It's been amazing catching up with him.

So growing up, my brother David, Benje, my friend Sean, Ryan, and i have been best friends.
And since we all have moved to different places and we are all doing different things now,
we started a yearly tradition of doing a week (or weekend) vacation to catch up and relax.
So tomorrow i will be leaving for that. Should be so much fun!
I should have tons of pictures from the trip for yea ;)

Ok Now for this sketch...
You know how i've been saying i write music & write stories?
Well i've finally officially started writing my first story book!
My brother and i had a road trip this last weekend and we got rolling on the first book in the series.
The sketch above is one of the first study/concept sketches i've done for the story.
I really hope you like it!

P.S. I'm thinking of posting some excerpts of the story as it is written...
Is that something you would be interested in?

EDIT: Just Realized i left out the newest member to the friends get away, Alice! This is the first trip since Ryan and Alice have been married! woot woot!

The Great Aubrey Beardsley

Hello friends!
how are you?
Are you all getting excited for Christmas?!
I sure am, this is by far my favorite time of year.
Oh thank you all for you kind words and kind wish for me to feel better.
I'm Starting to feel a bit better. :)
I think i'm about ready for a vacation.
I realized i haven't taken a Vacation in 2 or 3 years,
so i think it's about time to take some time off...
been so run down lately.

Today i wanted to post a portrait i drew of one of my all time Favorite Artist, Aubrey Beardsley.
Aubrey Beardsley was born 21 August 1872, and he died at the young age of 25.
It's amazing to me his skill and the amount of art he produced in such a short period of time.
The Line work and detail in all his pieces are incredible.
I hope you like this tribute,
and hope you are having wonderful day!

P.s. RIP Brittany Murphy you where incredible. Your role of Luanne on King of the Hill is one of my favorite characters ever...

Oh Yea... Did Yawl See McQueen?

First off, i have to say, i was completely touched by all your warm and encouraging comments on the last post!
Seriously, means alot! So thank you, thank you :)
Ok. So, did yawl see the Alexander McQueen Show??
How insane was that!?
In my life, I want to...

A) Attend an Alexander McQueen show
B) Collaborate with him on a project!

Basically, i was blown away by this collection!
So, when picking out which collections to paint for Paris Fashion Week coverage for Sundance Channel,
i had to paint something from this collection.
I really like how it turned out and crazy enough,
a week after i finished this piece, Bryan Boy twitted a link to a picture of a beautiful girl named Camilla Belle.
Oh, and guess which dress she was sporting???
Yep, this one!
It was fun seeing her wearing it.
I hope you like it!

Oh, also, my friends have been trying to get me on Facebook for a while... and i always fought it,
and my friend Ryan has been fighting getting a Twitter account,
and yesterday, he got a twitter account....
So, i broke down today and created a Facebook account.
If you want to add me as a friend, Click Here!

Jane Aldridge for Urban Outfitters!

Hello, hello, my friends~
How are you doing today?
Well, thank you for your support!
I packed and shipped out all of your prints today!
Thank you, thank you again.

Well, i'm sure you have heard that the lovely Texan blogger Jane Aldridge has designed a line for Urban Outfitters!
Basically, now she has done two Capsule collections for Urban consisting of 3 shoes per collection.
So a total of six shoes! :)
When i heard about this, i had to paint her with her line!
It's amazing the opportunities that are opening up to the Blogger Community. :)
Jane was my 25th Blogger Portrait.
Please check out her blog, Sea of Shoes, you won't be disappointed!
If you are interested in checking out the shoe line and getting a pair Click Here!
Or go to the UO stores, even though not every shoe style is in every store.

Also, thinking of doing a little drawing lesson for you all tomorrow! ;)
Hope you're having a wonderful night!

I Heart Tanya Dziahileva :)

Well, Happy Friday!
Gen Art was amazing!
I had so much fun!
It was in an automotive museum.
I've never been much for cars, but this place was a treasure!
I mean i saw the Mock 5!! Yep, i said it, I SAW THE MOCK 5.
Also, it was really great seeing the start of new designers' careers.
I'm going to try to post some pictures up really soon! :)

So, not sure how many people know who Tanya Dziahileva is,
but she basically has my all time favorite eyes!
She is so amazing looking.
While my brother and I were sitting in Bryant Park during NYFW,
Tanya came and sat at a bench across from us.
I wanted to ask her if i could sit and draw her, but i was too timid.. haha
Oh well, it would have been incredible, she seemed really nice.

I'm going to have to get ready for a Halloween party tonight...
Looks like i'm going to be "Tom Ripley" from the movie "The Talented Mr. Ripley"... haha
I hope you all are having a wonderful day!

p.s. Click here if you want to see more Model Portraits :)

Mina Cvetkovic

Hello, hello my friends!
How's your Monday going?
Mine has been a crazy one, but a good one.
I'm pleased to announce that i'm going to be on a panel for the Independent Fashion Blogger's
second Dress Up Soireé at New York Fashion Week.
Should be a fun event! :)

Hope you like this sketch I did tonight.
It's of model Mina Cvetkovic. :)
i hope you all are doing wonderfully!

Lydia Hearst on the Cover of Vogue

Hey Friends, how are you all doing?
How was your weekend?
This week is going to be busy;
i'm getting ready for an art show in a few weeks.
I'm pretty excited for it.
Today, i ended up painting this amazing Vogue cover of model Lydia Hearst.
I really like how it turned out.
The whole mood and tone was exactly what i was picturing.
i hope you like it! ;)


p.s. New photo up on my image diary of me as a kid. click here to see it.

P.s.s. Looks like i'm going to NY Fashion Week with my brother David who contributes to The Dream Walking Society. So far, looks like i will be going to Donna Karan and Marc Jacobs shows, so be expecting some fashion week drawings!

Gone With the Wind

Well my friends how is your weekend going>?
Mine is moving a long.
did this painting, and just got done with a little night swimming!
What is it about night swimming that is so wonderful?
well i hope you all are doing wonderful.
I think i will be solidifying my plans for Fashion week this week,
so keep your fingers crossed ;)

The Doe & Her Fawn

Hello friends.
Well, i'm sitting with my fam watching the animated Peter Pan for the second time in three days.
You have no idea how much i love this movie.
Every element, especially Miss Wendy!
She is wonderful! ;)
If only i could figure out how to climb into the tv and live in Neverland.... hmm.. next invention...

Well, i painted this picture today.
It's my own version of Bambi, i guess.
i saw this picture today, and couldn't help but draw it!
i really like how it turned out. Hope you like it!! :)

Runway Zombie Day

Hello my Friends,
how are you doing today?
I'm currently living as a Zombie!
Wait a sec, that might be an oxymoron...
i guess Zombies can't be living....
i guess I'm currently existing as a Zombie... haha

Well, last night, my really good friends
flew in and we picked them up at 1am at LAX,
and by the time we were settled down to sleep, it was far too late.
So basically, today I'm running on way too much coffee! ahhaah

The painting today is one from way way, way back.
It's just a basic water color and pen painting i did back when i was in school.
It is of Gemma Ward walking on Chloe's Spring 2007 runway Show.
I have to say, this was my favorite collection Chloé has put together.
It has such simple and complementary style.
I hope you like the painting,
and how's your Friday going???
;)

The Altamira Interview

Hello Hello Friends!
how was your day?
I'm excited for tomorrow got a fun day of Painting ahead of me.
A Few months ago i did an interview with Altamira Magazine Indonesia online magazine.
I Hope you enjoy the interview. if you can't read it let me know and i can post the plain text below.
:) have a wonderful night!

The Rat Race

Well, it Monday, Monday, Monday!
How was your weekend?
Like i said in the last post, i started a Twitter account.
Still not sure how it works and all...
so i just keep posting a blow by blow of my day... haha

i wanted to post the third drawing i did a few days ago from my Character Sketchbook.
It's weird to think i'm in the two hundreds already in the book. Kinda fun.
i think it will be a fun book to publish in the near future to show my drawing evolution. :)
Well friend, i hope you're doing wonderful.
Happy day!

If you want to buy a Print of this Character sketchbook Drawing Click Here

Day 2

Hey everyone!
How's this Saturday going for yawl?
i woke up to rain today (which i love),
and then decided to lay down the backround layer and some skin tone on the painting today.
i'm shooting a little documentary--ish/time-lapse thing of this painting.
Can't wait to show you it.
Well, thanks for all the comments on the last post. Really glad you are liking the picture. :)

The Cherry Blossom Girl + Pandora

Merry Christmas Eve!!
Wowow! i can't believe it's here!
I'm going to spend the first part of it cleaning my destroyed studio.
Right now, i'm typing surrounded by multiple empty coffee cups, drawing references, candy, inks, colored pencils.
You name it.... i need to clean.

Well, i finished up my first magazine cover yesterday.
i'm really excited for you all to see it!
it's for a February issue of the magazine,
so of course the cover theme is my favorite art subject matter, "Love",
but instead of doing something ultra lovey dovey,
i decided to shoot for a feeling a little more abstract and harder to capture on paper...
i wanted to capture the feeling of "Intimacy".
i wanted the viewer to look at the picture and feel first of all that they were the only person in the world that mattered to the cover girl, and second, that you had known her your whole life...
whether or not i accomplished that remains to be seen. haha

Now, for the main subject matter of the post.
(sorry about the rambling; i slept in and now feel wired. hah)
The drawing today is a sketch i did of two great French bloggers Alix of Cherry Blossom Girl, and Louise of Pandora.
Alix's blog is named after one of my favorite Air Songs, and i've been meaning to draw her for a while now.
They did a photoshoot called "Les Nymphes" which you know with a title like that you can't go wrong,
but there was a picture of both Alix and Louise i had to draw.
Tried something a little different out on the sketch.
Hope you like it. Merry Eve of Christmas!

A Little More

Well, there is definitely a learning curve with this oil painting thing...
i sure hope i can fine tune it and pull it off..

Too Big?

hahah Well, say hello to my first attempt at oil painting...
i hope it comes out. It's going to be of a queen riding through a forest.
She's being chased by an unknown character,
but she has an expression like she is in control....
i'll keep you posted on it.
It's 5 ft by 4.4 ft on wood.

Joey

Hey there friends.
The drawing up there is a early concept sketch i did for Sophie Ward's kids book.
She had the idea of basing the cat character of this boy i coach named Joey.
This was me trying to figure out how to do that.... hahah
Don't worry, Joey makes an appearance a few pages into the book... :)

Eco Citizen Window Display

Back in October 2007, i was asked to do a window display for this Boutique called Eco Citizen, in San Fransico. This was an amazingly perfect opportunity because i was working on building large layered Art Piece. The theme was "People and Places of the world" and Joslin, the ower of Eco Citizen, gave me a few images of Chagall's "Flying Lovers" as inspiration. Also since the store is Eco-Friendly store i built the whole display out of recycled cardboard. This being my first project that was double sided it took me a little while to figure it out. I hand cut over 120 layers of cardboard to shape the hills. My concept for it was from the out side of the store, the viewer, is on the other side of the world, and as you come into the store you are in the heart of San Fransico. The Monuments start at the Great wall of China, then to Saint Basil's Cathedral, over the hill is Eiffel tower, and lastly on the other side of the display is The Golden Gate Bridge. The final display sizes is H: 6ft W: 9ft and 3ft deep. enjoy.
this is my concept sketch for the display.




Below are some Close up of the monuments in the display.




Below are pictures from in side the store.