April 2008
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April 2008.
Got soaking wet trying to find this place and got there a little late. The place, called the Salon Gallery, was farther than I thought, but the model was well worth it. It was cozy, intimate and they offered complimentary teas and biscuits. Probably won’t make it there in bad weather because I would rather walk there so I might pop in more at the ones held at Bar Kick. Then some at the Intrepid Fox with a beer ;)
The Life Drawing Society holds various life drawing session per week around the London area.
The necklace and bracelet were a nice touch.
Tags: art, Drawing, female, gallery, Illustration, life, london, model, salon, sketch, society
Now I know why it’s so exciting to be working in secret. I can’t wait to get this batch of sock monkeys out the door! I had a great response from my last sock monkey, Eriko, and I hope that these little guys will be enjoyed just as much.
These new Mars Sock Monkeys, which I named Lulu, Frankie, Stella, Ben and Sheena, were half-raised in Seattle and London because I bought the socks in Seattle before I moved and put them together here in London. They are international jet setter sock monkeys!
I should be finished with all five this week (four of which will go for sale) and hopefully do a photo shoot by the end of the week if weather permits. I’ve been thinking of a theme and will need a few props. I also have a few other unveilings. One being the new sweater design below, which I modeled after a polo shirt. This is Lulu’s puffy short sleeve hoodie. The rest you’ll have to wait and see!!
Here are some London raised next generation monkeys to be…
Tags: animal, ben, design, frankie, generation, hoodie, knit, london, lulu, mars, monkey, new, next, polo, puffy, raised, seattle, sheena, shirt, sleeve, sock, stealth, stella, sweater, tennis, wip
Entry to the 2nd Annual Softie Awards officially closed last Friday and I got there just in time to enter Jebby the Whale under the CUTEST FACE category. Other categories included: PICNIC FOOD, ELEPHANT TRIBUTE, PINK OR PLAID and EMBROIDERED TO DEATH. So what would my chances of winning be if there are 482 entries in this category?
Softies Central - A Handmade Hip Experience
2nd Annual Softie Awards Flickr group pool
Jebby the Whale is for sale on Etsy and DaWanda.
Tags: animal, cathodon, cotton, cute, edition, felt, jebby, kawai, limited, mammal, physeter, plush, print, purple, satin, Scalamandré, silk, soft, sperm, stuffed, toy, vintage, whale, white
I never would have thought I’d be making sock monkeys, let alone selling them online or let alone knitting them sweaters! It’s a weird and funky combination I have grown to love. I remember as a child sewing clothes for my dolls so it’s not that surprising to me that I would do the same as an adult.
And how did this come about? I knew how to do basic knitting because my mom taught me a very long time ago. Ah yes, even before the knitting revolution took hold and everyone (including myself) started going to Stitch ‘n Bitch groups to yap (or bitch) about how you and your knitting were better than everybody else. Well I wasn’t the best knitter and I didn’t care for such nonsense, but I did always want to learn to knit something that would fit a human being. The only problem was that I’m not the type of person that can knit for very long periods of time; I get bored easily doing the same thing over and over, but then it hit me!
These sock monkeys looked naked and cold (because I care very much about inanimate objects) so they would make perfect test subjects (de cariño) because they have tiny torsos! My dilemma was solved and now I’m learning how to properly make knitted clothes that on a large scale could potentially be made for a human, but are actually fit for a sock monkey. Did that make sense.
That is how Mars Sock Monkeys came to be. Now I have to complete the part of the equation where Mars Sock Monkeys equal a sort of living, but that’s what I’m looking into now. Did I mention I love designing them? It’s so much fun picking out colors and giving each monkey a distinctly different look and personality, not to mention giving them a name! As one of my cyberspace friends said (because that is where I live)…they are my “hijos.”
See the Mars Sock Monkey Collections:
Spring 2008
Summer 2008
Tags: animal, design, experiment, experimentation, funky, hijo, knit, knitted, mars, monkey, product, pullover, scale, shop, small, sock, stuffed, subject, sweater, toy, yarn
Two weeks ago, I began life drawing sessions held by The Life Drawing Society. The sessions range from £6-£8 for 2-3 1/5 hours and are held at various locations around town, including pubs and bars. In these locations, you sit in a stool or a chair as opposed to a work bench, making it a little uncomfortable. It works if you draw on a small sketch pad though.
The first session I went to was held at the Intrepid Fox and the model, Miss Britain Kitten, was to wear clothing. The theme was burlesque so I thought it would be neat to draw someone in this type of clothes. As it turned it out, it was alot harder than I thought. My proportions came out wrong and by the end of the night I was a bit frustrated about not having produced something to my liking. This is the best drawing I did that night.
The following week I attended a regular life drawing session and I’d have to say that was more enjoyable, but it doesn’t mean I’ll give up on the clothed human form just yet ;)
Tags: art, bar, burlesge, Drawing, form, group, human, Illustration, life, london, rock, sketch, venue
Last month I finished an illustration I was pretty excited about. I decided to work on something not entirely of my own and pay some homage to one of my favorite forms of entertainment, ANIME! I get so much out of watching anime, or any animation in general, because I love to draw. It’s like looking at art every cel of the way and having studied animation, I know the ton of work that is put behind such efforts. It makes my admiration for such advanced drawing techniques that much stronger. I also enjoy the complexity of the story lines and characters, which can be developed very well across continuous episodes, transforming the series into a perfect soap opera!
This illustration is based on an anime called Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi. The male character in the image is a feminine looking, but very powerful demon named Sesshomaru, an antagonist who turns from evil to semi-good and is constantly fighting his half-demon brother Inuyasha, the protagonist, while both try to defeat the main antagonist and villain, Naraku. The female character, Rin, is a human girl whom Sesshomaru resurrected and allows her to travel with him even though he despises humans.
In the actual series, Rin is a girl of about 12 years of age and wears a cream and orange kimono with green tones, which I tried to carry through to her older counterpart. I certainly learned quite a bit about kimonos while choosing colors and style, which can depend on age, occasion and status. In Japan, teenagers enter adulthood at the age of 20 and celebrate by having a Coming of Age ceremony or Seijin shiki. The equivalent being a Quinceañera in Mexico for a 15 year old girl, Sweet 16 in the US or a Bar and Bat Mitzvah in Judaism.
What made this piece exciting was that I wasn’t sure how it would exactly turn out since I didn’t work from a finished line art piece, but rather a pretty rough sketch, which I scanned. From there I worked digitally on the line art for the guy, then after some coloring I made line art for the girl. Once I colored both characters and was pretty happy with both, I focused on the background, doing the sky first and finally the mountains. So much fun! ^_^
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. For my first big digital drawing I would say it’s not too shabby ;) Oh and it’s pretty big. It measures 32 x 33 inches, making it the biggest thing I’ve ever done (illustration wise)! It took me three weeks to complete.
I’m currently working on a piece of my own. It’s inspired by a little bit of my culture, my likes and some nature, which I’m so out of touch with…i’m still thinking of a name for it.
Tags: animation, anime, ceremony, culture, Drawing, homage, Illustration, inuyasha, japan, japanese, kimono, preview, rin, rumiko, saga, seijin, series, sesshomaru, shiki, soap, takahashi
I just learned a new knitting stitch, which I have to say is awesome! I came across it while knitting sweaters for my sock monkeys (i know, bizarre). I use it to join the two side pieces of the hood together at the top.
The nice thing about this seam is that it appears seamless! The bad part about it is that you have to pay close attention to the instructions and to which step you are on because it can be very confusing. The best thing to do is memorize the steps or what I do is make a smaller cheat sheet of the instructions. For example: *1st Needle: 1st stitch, K (knit), D (drop), 2nd stitch, P (purl), S (stay), 2nd Needle: 1st stitch, P (purl), D (drop), 2nd stitch, K (knit), S (stay)*, repeat between * until you run out of stiches on both needles.
Well that makes sense to me, but maybe not to you. That’s why I included a scan from the book. I know Debbie Stoller and the Workman Publishing Company will appreciate this (or not?) because I’m totally promoting their fabulous book, Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook, which is my bible when it come to knitting so please don’t sue me!!
p.s. the seam along the back of the hood (not mentioned here) is called the mattress stitch, which I may post about later because it’s pretty neat too. Good luck!
Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook - Stitch-bystitch instructions, 40 fresh patterns, how to start your own knitting group, and everything you need to know to get your knit on by Debbie Stoller
Eriko Sock Monkey is for sale on Etsy and DaWanda.
Tags: animal, bitch, book, craft, diy, handbook, howto, kitchener, knit, knitting, mattress, monkey, seam, seamless, shop, sock, stitch, stoller, stuffed, sweater, toy
.
DandyID
CafePress
Delicious
deviantART
Etsy
Facebook
Flickr
Friendfeed
last.fm
Linkedin
MySpace
Picasa
Tumblr
Twitter
YouTube
Zazzle
Recent Comments