The Making of Maps

Illustrated Map of Coney Island. gouache, watercolor, and acrylic 

 This is piece was actually created for a map designing contest. I decided to pick one of my favorite places to make a map of, Coney Island, where cheesy good fun is endless (and so is the funnel cake). While its more of an illustration than a map you can still tell (hopefully) where things are.


  Let me tell you one thing, illustrated map making, or at least like this, is really really really hard. Because there's so many elements I wanted to fit in, well its Coney Island it awesome and you really must include all the awesomeness that you can, I had to make individual little drawings of all the different attractions on tracing paper and keep moving things around to make everything fit before I traced everything onto the final piece of paper that I worked on. The planning out the entire map was the biggest time drain in the world. But the finished product is a pretty cool illustrated map. I'd love to make some more maps like this, preferably on a larger scale. Below are some of the individual sketches that I had to piece together in order to make the map.

Stormy Skies

 Since I caught a terrible cold (in August,just my luck right?) , I decided to work on improving an old project. So I just painted the skyline and installed the lighting in the skyline.

Next I'm going to be adding additional elements and then fitting it into a box.

It also happens to look pretty cool in complete darkness. (below) However it does look like the city is on fire at least in this picture. I really must get a better digital camera.

Tea Party! (not the political party)

This is my next idea for a window display. I was staring at my mother's teapots when I got the idea to use larger than life teapots and cups to display scarves as the tea coming from the spout.  My mom has all these teapots and cute little teacups, it makes me always want to have a little tea party and have crumpets and muffins and dress up like Alice in wonderland... but I digress. I was thinking for the background to use paper doilies, cheap and easy, yet instantly makes you think of a tea party. And not the political party, they've just ruined the whole meaning of tea party. Till next time, have some tea and crumpets.  

Snake Snatcher!

At last, here is the final product of 3 weeks worth of work.  The story is she's a bad ass warrior getting taken into the mouth of a cobra, by it's tongue.  The entire window opening is basically the snake's mouth.

The head of that snake is what took us the longest amount of time, and it was mainly just problem solving. We tried creating it several different ways, until we decided to create it by using all the methods. Foam was carved, metal foil was sculpted, and painted glass ornaments finished the details for the head of the snake and voila! A snake head!  

Some tools and foam materials used in creating the head. 

    The base of the snake head is actually made of that pink foam (photo left) and was carved from that menagerie of saws and tools.

 

  

Model and sketch for final display.

There were 3 steps we took. The first creating the     model and sketch for the window. 

Then of course creating the snake head, which we put aside until we installed the armature for the rest of  the structure and covered it. 

Armature for the sides of the snake.

 The final step was surprisingly tricky, light it. I burnt my fingers more than a few times. 

What Lies Beneath the Water

Display with the blue light behind it

   This is the latest window display I designed and put together with my partner.  The styling I had a blast with. My mom and I are very into collecting seashells and really anything that has to do with the ocean. This gave me a ton of different styling props to play around with. The big blue starfish in her hair actually is from our trip to the US Virgin Islands a couple of years ago. Her dress, a Sue Wong fully beaded gown, I picked up from Loehmann's for my prom dress a couple of years ago. The dress print itself was inspired by coral and underwater. I thought what better than to display the gown as if she was underwater and reaching up onto a fishing net adorned with more starfish. The story I had in my mind for this window was she was in an underwater cave, catching the net and rising to the surface in this gorgeous gown of course. We put lights behind the silhouette of the cave and they changed colors so we have more than one shot of it.

 

Display with a green light behind it 

     The window display I'm currently working on is a mannequin walking into a gigantic snake's mouth. dun, dun, DUN! No I swear its not that scary, we're trying to go for a more a seductive look with it.

   PS. Not a big fan of carving foam, I end up every night with pink foam and glitter all over my clothes,   looks like I got some magical dust from a fairy thrown onto me.

Carving the snake head out of foam for the facade of the window display

Summertime Dreamin'

Here's my latest sketch, I was wishing that summer was already upon us. I've personally been looking for a retro style bikini for the last couple of months and simply can't find one, so I drew a child version of what I wanted for a bikini. If you can't get it, might as well draw it. I also went to Ben and Jerry's free cone day, it helped me ease the pain of not finding the bikini. Its so true about art and life merging, all in one sketch the bikini that I wished I had and the ice cream I actually did get. Haha, well I'll find that suit before summer! Its my goal except for perhaps getting some more artwork done.

Character Study!

So this is another character study of Molly, of In My Mother's Closet.  This one is in gouache, I've never done an image entirely in gouache and I really love the flat quality. It feels very solid. I did another one in watercolor that just didn't feel right and the previous Molly face in just some quick washes which I liked. 

Gouache turns out to be a medium I really like. The problem is if you want flat solid color you have to mix it prior and then fill it in and make sure you don't overlap with another color otherwise it will mix with the other color. Hence there is no painting over gouache, but that is only a small con for me. It is still much easier than watercolor which is very unforgiving.  Anyways, I think I will try doing an entire piece in gouache this time and post later. 

Molly, the mischievous and the fashionable

  So, I was trying to come up with a new character to play around with. It was originally intended as a character for a fashion blog I was working on, but maybe I'll do a book as well. I wanted a character that was sort of like me as a child. I was very mischievous and would love to go through all the closets and drawers in my apartment to find cool things. A majority of the time I found really cool stuff, like old long embroidered hand gloves, neat rhinestone jewelry, and long printed scarves. Occasionally I would find a hidden christmas present my mom was hiding which was always awesome. All of it was vintage and I'd love to play dress up and then my mom would see the mess I had made and would then scold me. Then I'd do it all over again the next day. So Molly had to be very mischievous and of course loves fashion. So here's the first Molly portrait.

And so, the lawyer did his song and dance.

 So, the long train rides continue. And more animal sketches ensue. I have no idea why I named the judge, Hon. Judge Bunnicula, but hey, now maybe he is a vampire too, like in the children's books. Oh but lawyers are more vampire-like than judges. I could have made the lawyer a fox (the sly fox), but I thought a raccoon was more appropriate, they look like bandits and masked creatures.

Bunnies in the Burrow

Lately, I've been trying to draw entirely out of my head. I've also been taking long train rides lately. I also have a tendency to be late for said trains, so this equals lots of sketches. So what is coming out of my head, but animals and bunnies acting like people and having crumpets and tea in their burrows that just happen to look like an english cottage. I was going to put in carrot wallpaper, but the awesome band playing beatles tunes in penn station distracted me and then my train came so that just killed that horse. Oh well, either way I think it looks good.

Getting into Gear

Sketch of the day!
So I'm starting to work on a series of 3-dimensional boxes, and I started this layout design for it and then got a little carried away drawing in the sketchbook. But everything in the main circle is going to be made 3-dimensional with many layers. I haven't decided whether to make it out of paper or just go all out on it yet. Anyways, stay tuned for the final product!

Whimsical Walks on 5th Ave- Part 2

Tiffany Window

So here's part 2, there were just too many good windows to show in one post. Tiffany's windows this year were really cool, and of course animated, but I only have photos. The photo above they actually moved like a real merry-go-round. Their theme was based off the carousel in central park. The little windows were inset in a mirrored display which had over the entire outside a old fashioned carousel facade. Very dramatic. Yet the windows, were as delicate and as beautiful as the jewelry.

Carousel facade on Tiffany's windows

All the animals on the bridge were moving across it. 

Cool angle over the city.

Merry-go-round was animated.

  Meanwhile, across the street Bergdorf Goodman's windows had a slight circus theme in a few of their windows.

Now that is an awesome circus ringleader, I mean come on check out that gorgeous dress, enough of those red jackets.

There was a lot of use of animals, which I loved especially the horses. Below is also animals in tapestry.

This window below was all this copper metal sculpture, however they didn't photograph very well.

  

And of course, the best for last, well I think it personally was my favorite window, or at least the damn cutest one. What was so cool about it were all these animals that were made of chunky knits that look like sweaters or beading that would go on dresses. However, the best part is that it was so whimsical, the polar bear chef, and the wolves having cake and the seal having tea. Ultimate favorite the monkey with the champagne bottle. How can you resist that?

Love that monkey, now didn't I tell you he was the cutest. Oh and the polar bear is made out of fringe, how cool is that? I want to get my glue gun out and start crafting now. Might as well do something from my buckets of random stuff.

                         

Whimsical Walks on 5th Ave- Part 1

Bergdoff Goodman- Mosaic Underwater Window

  A few weeks back I went on a long walk down 5th ave to view all of the holiday window displays, which I hope you have at least taken a peek at. I'm really in love with beautiful window displays and honestly a lot of them are just art installations as far as I'm concerned. Oh that and most of them were created by artists. Hopefully, I'll get to do some window displays, but till then I'm going to have fun viewing and taking photographs of them. But I wanted to share some of my favorite windows. By the way, hands down, Bergdoff Goodman had the best windows. The attention to detail is amazing!

Mosaic Detail

In between bigger windows, Bergdoff Goodman also had a wonderful paper sculpture display done by Jay Soonthornsawad. I'm absolutely in love with paper sculpture, pop up books, and tunnel books. I was fascinated at the way it looks like a combination of the 3. The depth in the piece is incredible.

Jay Soonthornsawad's Paper Sculpture

 He also did a very large window display for them, entirely made out of paper. In it he transforms books into magical little tunnels for mice and forests for chameleons. I think my favorite though is the porcupine.

Transformed Books, detail

Mice Tunnels!

Aren't these great? There are a few more that I'd like to post, so my next post will be part 2 with more window displays.