WAVY HAIRED SUMMER WITH ROSES

Yes, here's another one. I finished colouring this on Christmas eve to show you guys how versatile she can turn out with a small colour palette (pink, purple, yellow). Anyhow I decided to change the roses to yellow from pink to match her dress. Maybe spunky Blondie music has got something to do with it ahaha. This piece is the same as the others, it is a black-white blank digi stamp for anyone who likes to make use of shoujo lineart for your crafts.

I am creating themed linearts in sets of three, so there will be one more floral shoujo illustration to go before two 1980s pop style to match my girl in the pink cardigan. And perhaps some cutesy small chibi characters or mermaids or fairies if I work quick enough. If you love these stamps for crafting, they are available as a digital download in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/173394754/digi-stamp-shoujo-roses-sweet-lolita

Here's wishing everyone a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2014 ahead!

BEEHIVE & ROSES DIGI STAMP

Another new lineart, am productive art-wise and in shoujo mode lately! The strange thing about the coloured version is the main colour came out totally different from intended. It was originally blue, but with a filter layer the pink rose came out in the intensity which I was looking for and so stuck.

The digi stamp/ colouring page is available as a digital download in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/172933209/digi-stamp-shoujo-floral-beehive-girl

SHOUJO FASHION PAPER DOLLS

The paper dolls which I've been working on since Oct 2012 are finally done!! More than one year in the making but I was occupied with other things like launching of a revamped website (vintage jewellery one) so procrastination took over. What matters is, better late than never. My hand cramps when using the mouse or wacom for long periods of time so am not too into digital colouring. On the other 'hand', I've been practicing a quicker way to digital colour my art, so maybe more graphics to come? Then I can also blog regularly hahaha....

Paper dolls are something I have tried creating since I was... 10? A few of the pouffy dresses are direct inspirations of old paper dolls with design modifications so as to keep close to the retro shoujo style, some of the designs are inspired by the 1950s-60s. Hope you like them!

There are 15 outfits for 2 paper dolls, some of the dresses can be used for both dolls. The hair accessories goes into the slits on the hair. It took me about 3 hours to cut them all out - so patience is required, but it is worth it!

The digital files can be downloaded from my Etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/171915416/shoujo-fashion-paper-dolls-set-digital

STARRY GIRL LINEART DIGI STAMP

After a long hiatus, I am finally back to drawing! On a shoujo whim lately, this is my latest coloring page/ digi stamp inspired by 1980s shoujo anime. My first love is still 1960s-70s shoujo hehe. I coloured her in Photoshop as an example and she turned out rather Jem-looking!

The lineart is available in my Etsy shop as a digital download for your crafting & scrapbooking, hope you like it.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/172377091/digi-stamp-starry-girl-digital-retro

1950s PHOTOS OF MY DAD

 

Hallo folks it is a nice sunny day today and not hazy from the crazy forest fires in Indonesia, it's been raining for a few days and that has helped settle the dust. Here's a friendly little shout-out to Joanne Loo from DeviantArt & Facebook who commented (on Facebook) that my blog was quiet for some time lol... I thought no one was reading anymore but I'm gladly wrong. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook links are somewhere on my side bar if you'd like to add me.

My sister wanted me to scan some of my dad's old photos so she can compile a memento album of sorts. Today is my dad's birthday and I missed posting this on Father's day. Above is a scan of my favourite photo out of the lot, taken in the mid-1950s in Egypt. I've been intrigued by the mysteries of the pyramids and Sphinx since a wee child! He had nothing to say about that visit only that the camels were uncomfortable to sit on... a typical response from my dad. Egypt was probably not as developed then, so there was nothing to see? He went on a short world tour (France, Germany, Sri Lanka, Egypt) by ship whilst he was still studying in Italy.

Does Paris still look like this?

His music teacher. I don't know his name unfortunately. This will be interesting to investigate.

WONDERCON 2013 ANAHEIM

Went to the Wondercon on Easter Sunday held at Anaheim Convention Center, California. We wanted to go on Saturday but tickets had sold out. Parking was expensive! It was a cloudy day.

My freebies.

Filming a show. It looks to be 'Toy Hunter'.

Maneki Neko Android toys

These R2s do move and bleep.

Fat tony.

One of those haunted hologram Victorian images.

Below are a few of the cosplayers I photographed, I think there were not as many of them on Sunday compared to Saturday but it was a good cosplay event nonetheless.

The Khaleesi and Trekkies combo

TMNT

Harley Quinn & Paul Stanley from KISS (he has crazy silver platform boots)

Star Wars obviously

Walkers!

Biters!

This demon slipped my mind, can someone tell me his name?

Ghostbusters

Joker and Riddler

Anti-Venom and Spidey

Link

Sailor Mars

Assassin's Creed II

Um... a collective

Bison

Chun Li and Cammi

Pocahontas and John Smith

Mecha robot. Not too sure exactly which...

Mr. Beetlejuice

BOOKS AND KAY NIELSEN

Bought a few books recently, four are impulse buys from a library book sale (Riverside Library in California, folks) and the other two are for my art book reference collection. 

I already have a copy of this but in a different cover! 1977 edition, 'All Things Wise and Wonderful' by James Herriot, I plan to read this on the plane back home. If you like animals, want some funny or heartwarming animal stories, I highly recommend his books. He was a country vet based in Yorkshire during the war period and mid-century, so this is semi autobiographical. This cost me a dime! 

I think I read this 'James Herriot's Cat Stories' a long time ago. It's hardcover and 75 cents. The book contains short stories which are excerpts from his other books so it is suitable for younger readers. 1994 edition. 

Beautiful cover, though the book is a little bashed up. Love the pink and I love the illustrations by E.H. Shepard. The Wind in the Willows stop-motion animation by Cosgrove Hall back in the 1980s is my favouritest animation ever! 1961 edition. I think I paid a quarter for this.

Don't know how I found this treasure since it was on its side, I only touched it because of the title in YELLOW on the binder lol. And surprise it is a cookbook illustrated by Peter Max (one of my fave artist)! 'Teen Cuisine: A Beginner's Guide to French Cooking' by Abby Gail Kirsch & Sandra Bangilsdorf Klein, 1969 edition. There are some food stains on the pages; and the illustrations are mostly small page decors on a few pages but that's ok. A buck!

Kay Nielsen, edited by David Larkin, 1975 edition. 40 plates of my favourite illustrator who belongs to the Golden Age of Book and Illustration. This compilation I read has a better quality printing than other art books of Kay Nielsen's work, so I bought it on Ebay although it was more expensive. I have known of his work for some time now but only digital images so this was going to be purchased sooner or later. 

A page in the book.

The Unknown Paintings of Kay Nielsen, edited by David Larkin, 1977 edition. This art book features 42 of Kay Nielsen's unpublished illustrations for 'One Thousand and One Nights'. I also bought this on Ebay.

A page in the book, he does some very elaborate and beautiful motif designs in the borders for this collection.

LACMA NOV 2012

A trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art last year in November 2012. The current featured exhibition is Stanley Kubrick, it runs till 30 June 2013. 'The Shining' is one of my favouritest film, so I was delighted the exhibition was just what interested me (had obtained a free pass too).

These were some proposed cover art that were rejected.

Love the twins!

2001: A Space Odyssey

Designed by Georg Jensen for the film

A Clockwork Orange

Barry Lyndon perhaps? Haven't seen this film yet.

There was a small feature on Expressionism in films. LOVE Metropolis (and the poster). I just saw a 'Giorgio Moroder presents' version with a remix of the soundtrack with 80s music, unfortunately it kinda bombed, sorry.

I watched Dr Caligari after this exhibit lol.

Paul Kelpe, Signs (1925)

El Lissitzky, Proun 3A (1920)

Wassily Kandinsky, Signs (1925)

Wassily Kandinsky, Three Free Circles (1923) and Study for 'Circles in the Circle' (1923) 

Wassily Kandinsky, Melodious (1924)

Claes Oldenburg, Giant Pool Balls (1967)

Roy Lichtenstein, Cold Shoulder (1963)

Pablo Palazuelo, Diferencias XII (1987)

Picasso

Egyptian coffin

Ashurnasirpal II and a Winged Deity, from Nimrud, 9th century B.C.

Deity Performing Ritual Purification, from Nimrud, 9th century B.C.

Christ and the 12 Disciples, c.1450-1500

Archangel Raphael from Italy Naples, c.1600s

Francesco Picano, Saint Michael casting Satan into Hell (1705)

Jan van Huysum, Bouquet of Flowers in an urn (1724)

Claude Monet, In the woods of Giverny: Blanche Hoschede at her easel with Suzanne Hoschede reading (1887)

Claude Monet

Maurice Denis, Motif Romanesque (1890)