Of fairy tales and fashion
September 30th, 2009 § 6 Comments
I admit it, I am a dreamer. I have a huge soft spot for fairy tales and all things fantastical. So naturally the fifties and sixties are my fashion nivarna. It was also my Nana’s heyday. A time when war-weary women craved a little glamour. They wanted to be as elegant and unique as their favourite screen sirens, Marilyn, Audrey and Grace. In 1947 Dior gave it to them. And for the first time, mass production placed his ‘New Look’ within reach. Now everyone could be a movie star.
My Nana and I have shared some great times watching Bill Collins : ‘The Golden Years of Hollywood’; admiring sassy heroines with teeny tiny waists and voluminous skirts. Watching them dance in winklepickers, brilliant gloves and flower pot hats. Loving the bubble lamps above their heads and marshmallow sofas on which they were perched. Adoring the mid-century fashion fairy tale.
I guess I’ve always been fascinated with fashion that resculpts the body and this is one of the modern eras that really plays with it. I find it endlessly inspiring. The best news is I’ve discovered another place to indulge, My Vintage Vogue. Jessica’s wonderful collection spans the twenties through to the sixties, and includes vintage magazine covers, fashion illustrations and advertising. I can’t wait to show Nana. Do take a look, it’s truly fab!
You can buy vintage images from Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle and Charm magazines. Check the Conde Nast store for availability. And if you want to know more about this era, try here, here, here and here.
Into the blue
September 26th, 2009 § 4 Comments
Recently I bought some new indigo Sennelier ink; it’s so lush to play with I feel decidedly spoilt. Sennelier inks are wonderful anyway but this particular colour manages to achieve both intensity and delicacy. Inspiring me to absorb all that is blue and white, crisp and cool, around me. Big blue Australian skies, patterns on Vietnamese ceramics, ink swirls through clear water… and all of that, in turn, inspires me to sketch in loose flowing indigo lines. Bringing me full circle.
Aside from all that, my blog was thirsty after that big red dust storm. Poor blog!
Breakfast on Mars
September 23rd, 2009 § 6 Comments
This morning we awoke to find our Sydney neighbourhood completely engulfed in what looked like a thick, blood-red fog. As it grew lighter, every window filtered in an unearthly glow so eerie that it was easy to imagine a whole foaming herd of apocalyptic horses.
I love these images captured by Tom Hide because they are so true to the intense colour and pea soup nature of the dust storm. It was like the atmosphere of another world.
Hooray for cameras because it is only hours since and it has all blown away. Even now, but for these shots, it could just be a tall tale or an urban myth. I’d say it’s proof that truth truly is stranger than fiction.
Images | Sydney dust storm images, Tom Hind | Mars atmosphere, NASA’s Viking Orbiter Image Archive via Wikipedia | The Galle ‘Smiley’ Crater can be seen to the left.|
Umbrella wrangling in colour
September 21st, 2009 § 11 Comments
Yay! I finally finished my Windy Day illustration, despite my runny nose. I’m starting to wonder if I manifested the snots myself, out of pure sympathy for these poor umbrella wranglers.
The colours are actually brighter than what they appear here. They always seem to lose a bit of ‘oompf’ when I download them. Compensating for it in Photoshop sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Still puzzled about that one. Also, I couldn’t settle on the final colour scheme, so thought I’d post both options to see which gets the audience tick of approval. I’d really love to know, then maybe I can stop noticing (or obsessing over) these colour schemes absolutely everywhere I go. Funny, I thought I only did that with shoes.
Edited to add : I have reloaded the two full size images and left the detail as it was so you get some idea of the colour difference between them. It turns out that merely checking that the document was switched from CMYK to RGB mode in Photoshop was a big part of the muddy colour issue. Apparently the umbrella peeps aren’t the only ones doing some wrangling.
A wicked wind
September 11th, 2009 § 18 Comments
This is as far as I’ve managed to get on my illustration for this weeks Illustration Friday theme, STRONG. I must admit it feels kinda strange posting a pencil drawing rather than a full colour image. But there was a quite a bit of work with all those wind tousled tresses. Anyway I should finish it this weekend, fingers crossed.
Pear shaped
September 10th, 2009 § 12 Comments
In my creative space this week I have a tale to tell; a tale of betrayal.
So there I was setting up some reference for a drawing when my pint size (and over-eager) assistant asked if she could help. Naturally I didn’t hesitate. Help is always seized, smothered in kisses and promptly married around here. Anyway, I placed the bowl in her hands and got busy with all the gazillions of fiddley knobs and buttons on the camera… Big mistake!!
(insert Jaws theme tune here)
I am now wearing a pendant of a tooth I found wedged in the core!
No, she didn’t scoff all three pears, thankfully, although it was a close. Thus endth my career as a still life painter. And the moral?! Never underestimate the sheer stretch of a pre-schooler’s stomach, even after lunch. And never ever underestimate the power of a ripe pear or two.
Head on over to Kirsty’s to peek into lots of other creative spaces, tis great fun.
