Retro Sunday: 1

Sundays are so pleasantly laid back. I've just updated my CVs (general and art), floated around looking at new blogs and the like, and I've decided to add a feature to this blog that will (hopefully) make me post even more regularly. It's called...

and in this corner...

I was doing this illustration when my Photoshop CRASHED and refused to save!

glorified doodle

And so now all I have left of it is this teeny tiny (partly unfinished) screen-capped version of it. I just hope whatever the problem was with Photoshop isn't a recurring one.


I'm going to be quite a busy bee today as I've got a lot to be working on at the moment. Competitions and exhibitions to enter as well as Cardiff's Monthly Boutique Market Day to prepare for and I'm actually really excited about starting third year!
I haven't been able to comment on as many other blogs and things as I'd have liked to recently. There's just so much exciting work coming from people these days. It's very inspiring! And it makes me want to be part of that :)

But it can be a little overwhelming as well...

P.S. don't forget to visit the new shop page!

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Milgi, Northcote Lane

I have been preparing for Cardiff's Monthly Boutique Market Day!

The next one is 3rd October and I will be there with a whole slew of new purses AND (hopefully!) fresh new screen prints! Dan Hamilton will also be there with some goodies, as well as Helen Murdoch and Daf Jones. So if you can make it out, that'd be great!

However, if you can't make it and you want a purse or one of my (currently mysterious) screen prints, no problem. I'm also selling them online*! Screen prints won't be available until October, but purses are ready and waiting to be loved. SO if you want a purse, just scoot on over to the brand new page I made just for them.

*they will be sold at a discounted/promotional price at the market, though!

*click for shop

And I don't know if any of you remember that lovely Toyota sewing machine I wanted so badly, but my cousin and her husband decided to be super awesome and buy it for me for my birthday and it is so good! It just sails through everything(!) and is just generally a joy to be around.

And it looks so at home amongst all my clutter! haha

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Sacrifice in a Time of Recessions

I had a summer brief to do a few posters about the recession. Here's a peek at one of them at 20% original size.

Yes. They are all pirate themed.

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Rationale (boring thinking-behind-the-piece bit)

To me, the more enjoyable a poster – whether that is due to a narrative element, skilful graphics or clever poster concept – the more effective it is. The very idea of the recession is so commonly (and understandably) centred on money, business and general unhappiness; none of which are particularly uplifting. So with seemingly tenuous links, I infused the recession-influenced posters with pirates; fun and adventurous and spontaneous!

Foregoing what could have possibly been an arguably more poignant and serious angle with Somalian pirates or focussing on information piracy, I chose to keep it light-hearted as that type of recession poster seems rare and challenging: speaking about such a topic in such a manner without being inappropriate. Not to mention, doom and gloom is not the best hook for people (particularly not young people).

None of the posters directly reference the recession as I don't think using buzz words (which "recession" has become) is very effective. And each poster has very few words to allow the viewer to concentrate on the image and grasp a big idea in one concise sentence.

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Painfully relevant to my poor self at the moment. Siiigh. Someone find me a job. Or buy stuff from me... Or just give me free money...

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Another year gone by...

'tis my birthday today :)
21 on the 21st. cool.

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apparently I have the same birthdate as Disney animator Bobby Chiu and French illustrator Elodie Vermeulen (aka Lost Fish/Rusty)

Swashbuckling Summer Tales!

I've got a summer brief to work on for uni and am having difficulty getting into it. I have some sketchy ideas, but nothing solid. Then on Tuesday I was doodling one of my characters (my alter-ego, perhaps) as a pirate as a drawing exercise and decided to try to make it fit the brief! Not just because it means less work on my part, but because I'm rather fond of the character and the drawing and haven't really done much in this looser style for uni. This is what I came up with:

I went through several versions trying out different fonts and text positions. I may ad a stamp or something in the top right (to balance it out) saying "Save your doubloons!" or something, but I think this is more or less the final poster to be submitted.

Other than that, I've been trying to get some reading done for my dissertation research. The following books are among those I've been looking at:

Can you guess what my dissertation is about from these books!? (that is to be said in a Dora-the-Explorer-like voice)

But I'm so easily distracted and I don't like wasting my time reading irrelevant things. I just hope I get a decent amount of reading done before uni starts!


edit:

distractions

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Pour les Francais

Fear not, art is coming soon. And here ends the English as this is a message for Francophones.

Hé!
Récemment (ben, pendant les deux années derniers) je n'ai pas eu vraiment l'occasion d'utiliser mon français et ça me dérange. Comme les plus de gens qui apprennent une langue, mon écriture et ma lecture sont probablement comme d'avant (ou proche), mais je sens que ma compétence en parlant et écoutant ont souffert.
Je veux y rectifier! J'avais eu regardant un peu des films et lisant un peu des blogs et écoutant un peu des chansons, tous Français. Alors, si on en* a à recommander, dis-moi les, s'il te plait!
Et, bien sur, si on parle français, je l'apprécierais beaucoup si on ferait des commentaires sur mon blog en français.

*aussi des livres et des series TV

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Strange Beautiful Things

La Jetée

This is the beautiful short film (26.20 mins) that inspired the feature length film 12 Monkeys (below) which I also very highly recommended!


I decided that this clip was better promotion for the film than the trailer (official or otherwise).

Also, I found this curiously beautiful. I don't know precisely why, but I think it has to do with its unabashed realness and innocence.

click the picture to see the entire 9-photo shoot

Selected by me. Brought to you by Vice Style :)

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Things with Stitching!

I've been going crazy with the sewing machine making many many little purses (which are totally for sale if you want any, by the way! But I'm going on vacation for a month and a half on Thursday...).

Of course, this new addiction could not be kept simply to purses. I have made myself a cute little polka dot dress!

I made it from start to finish! As you can see, it started with humble beginnings...

...they grow up so fast :')

 Must say, this is probably one of my proudest moments! haha

 I can't wait to wear it out! :)

Comrade Orlan

Do you remember Jules Verne, my entry to the Mimobot contest? Well, Dan and I have designed an awesome little cosmonaut sporting a variation of the lovely new Russian Orlan space suit!

So please go vote him some love!!

I did the faces and the little replica patch on the left! (Yes, the patch you totally can't see because it's so tiny now, lol! But you better believe it's got epic detail! haha!) And Dan did all the actual work! lol!

And remember: you don't need to be a member of infectious. If you have facebook or twitter, you can also vote!

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If you didn't realise, by the way (because some people didn't), the previous entry had more to it. You have to click "Read more" to see the full entry with review! The full entry will allow you to see the YouTube videos I posted as well (as they don't seem to be showing up on the main page.. Odd.

Also, I hope you all have noticed the nifty little "reactions" I've added to the bottom of each entry! If you can't be bothered to comment, just click one of the three little buttons instead.☺
Feedback is always good. But I know what it's like to be short on time (...or lazy lol).

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