SHE'S A GOLDEN GIRL, SHE'S AN APHRODITE

I AM FINALLY SETTLED INTO A NEW APARTMENT, GOT MY INTERNET UP AND RUNNING, NOW LET'S TALK KYLIE MINOGUE'S APHRODITE TOUR! I SAW THE SHOW ON MAY 3rd AT THE HAMMERSMITH BALLROOM HERE IN NYC, AND LET ME TELL YOU, THIS SHOW WAS PHENOMENAL!!! HER VOICE, THE COSTUMES, THE DANCERS, EVERYTHING WAS TOP NOTCH! NO ONE CAN DO A SHOW LIKE KYLIE.

MY FAV LOOK FROM THE TOUR WAS HER OPENING 'APHRODITE' COSTUME, WHICH I HAVE ILLUSTRATED HERE. MIZ MINOGUE APPEARS ON STAGE ATOP A GIANT GOLD CLAM SHELL ALA' THE VENUS De MILO. THE COSTUMES BY DOLCE&GABBANA WERE FLAWLESS (though i'm not a fan of the act 7 'Brazil Funk' look, it didn't really march the other, more ethereal looks). THERE WERE A FEW OTHER GODDESS WORTHY GOWNS IN THE SHOW THAT I WILL TRY TO MAKE TIME TO DRAW AND POST HERE SOON.

CHECKERED PAST

ONCE A YEAR I DRAG OUT MY HUGE COLLECTION (A.K.A. PILE!) OF FASHION MAGS AND LOOK THROUGH THEM TO SEE WHICH ISSUES I SHOULD KEEP AND WHICH WILL WIND UP IN THE RECYCLING BIN. AS I'M DOING THIS I AM USUALLY REMINDED THAT MOST MAGAZINES HAVE JUST CRAP AND BAD ADS AND LAME PHOTO SHOOTS IN THEM. I CHUCKED OUT 14 MAGAZINES YESTERDAY AND OUT OF THOSE I TORE OUT 6 PAGES. HONEY, THAT IS NOT A GOOD RATIO!!! NO WONDER PRINT MEDIA IS DYING.

THIS ILLUSTRATION IS BASED ON ONE OF THE IMAGES I TORE OUT. I JUST DID A QUICK SKETCH OF A GIRL FROM AN AD, I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER NOW WHAT LINE IT WAS FOR, AND CHANGED HER COLORING TO BE KIND'A COLD AND WINTERY.

I GUESS ONE MAN'S TRASH IS THE SAME MAN'S TREASURE? DEEEEEEP!

LiL' RED IN DAH HOOD

I DREW THIS IMAGE OF A COURREGES KNIT SHORTS AND CAPE ENSEMBLE ALMOST A YEAR AGO, IN BLACK AND WHITE, TO BE INCLUDED IN A FASHION COLORING BOOK I WAS/AM WORKING ON. IT'S DEFINITELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE IMAGES FROM THE COLORING-COLLECTION, SO I DECIDED TO COLOR IT IN MYSELF!

I'M REALLY HAPPY WITH THE WAY IT TURNED OUT. I FEEL THE CROSS HATCHING OVER THE TREES GIVES IT THAT OLD WORLD FAIRY TALE FEEL, WHERE AS THE MOD-FUTURISTIC COURREGES CLOTHING (TAKEN FROM A 'EBONY' MAGAZINE SPREAD FROM THE LATE 60'S. HELLO!) REALLY PUT OUR LiL' RED RIDING HOOD INTO A WHOLE NEW PERSPECTIVE.

IT'S JUST A SHAME THAT BIG BAD WOLF IS GONNA WIND UP EATING ALL THAT FRENCH COUTURE! TSK TSK.

THE ART OF A CASANOVA

I RECENTLY HAD THE OPPERTUNITY TO DO A FUN MINI FASHION ILLUSTRATION LAYOUT FOR DESIGNER CARLOS CASANOVA.

Mr. CASANOVA WAS ONE OF THE STARS OF PROJECT RUNWAY SEASON 8 AND HAS NOW MADE THE LEAP TO FULL FLEDGED FASHION DESIGNER, WITH 2 COLLECTIONS UNDER HIS BELT AND HOSTING DUTIES FOR FASHION SEGMENTS ON MIAMI MORNING TV.

THE ARTWORK SHOWN HERE REPRESENTS HIS MOST CURRENT COLLECTION UNDER THE LABEL CasanovaNYC. YOU CAN CHECK OUT HIS LINE AND MORE INFO ABOUT HIM (AS WELL AS SEE MY ARTWORK) BY CLICKING RIGHT HERE!!! ---> http://site.casanovanyc.com/en/

PARIS JE T'AIME!!!

AND SO WE FINALLY COME TO THE END OF MY FASHION WEEK COVERAGE. DID U EVER THINK I'D FINISH? 'CAUSE I SURE AS HELL DIDN'T! WHO HAS TIME TO LOOK AT ALLLLL THOSE SHOWS??? (besides every fashion editor, blogger, fashionista, teen queen, unemployed people, well, u get the drift)

OVERALL I'D SAY THE PARIS SHOWS WERE PRETTY GOOD THIS YEAR. I DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO DRAW LOOKS FROM EVERY SHOW I LOVED, BUT THOSE WILL PROBABLY TURN UP ON THIS BLOG IN THEIR OWN ART PIECES AT SOME POINT ANYWAY. PERFECT EXAMPLE: I LOVED THE JC de CASTELBAJAC SHOW, WITH THOSE WEIRD/AWESOME FELTED WOOL SKULL SHAPED COWBOY HATS! AVANT-REALNESS!

I WAS ALSO PLEASANTLY SURPRISED WITH THE GUY LAROCHE SHOW. YET ANOTHER BRAND I HAVEN'T TAKEN NOTICE OF IN YEARS, AND THEY TURNED OUT ONE OF MY FAV PARIS SHOWS! RICK OWENS' MOD SHAPES WERE FAB AND THE WESTWOOD GLAM ZOMBIES REALLY WORKED FOR ME. I'M NOT ALWAYS A FAN OF MODERN WESTWOOD COLLECTIONS BUT I APPLAUD THIS YEAR'S SHOW.

IN CLOSING, I'M SO GLAD I TOOK TIME TO LOOK AT, REVIEW AND ILLUSTRATE FASHION WEEK THIS YEAR. IT'S SOMETHING I'LL MOST LIKELY DO AGAIN NEXT FASHION WEEK!!! ALWAYS NICE TO REACH A GOAL YOU SET FOR YOURSELF.

P.S. - THE STELLA McCARTNEY SHOW WAS SOOOOO BLAH! I MEAN, IT LOOKED LIKE A BAD 80'S JAPANESE FASHION SHOW. GO BACK TO DESIGNING SWIM SUITS W/ PINEAPPLE'S ON THE COOTCH STELLA DARLING! M'KAY!!!

ITALIANS DO IT BETTER

OK, I MAY BE A MONTH LATE ON THIS, BUT HERE IS MY MINI REVIEW OF MILAN FASHION WEEK A/W 2011. I'VE PICKED SOME OF MY FAVORITE LOOKS FROM THE ITALIAN DESIGNERS TO SKETCH AND SHOWCASE HERE. I NOTICED A BIG TREND TOWARDS FUR AND FEATHERS AS AN ADORNMENT ON CLOTHING FROM THE ITALIANS THIS SEASON. FUR IS ALWAYS FUN TO DRAW!

THE CLOTHING ALSO SEEMED A LOT LESS SEXY THEN NORMAL, AND A BIT MORE FUNCTIONAL. THERE WERE DEFINITELY SOME NODS TO ERAS GONE BY, LIKE THE 60'S MOD-DOLLY-BIRDS AND 70'S DISCO-COKE-DIVA. PLUS THAT CHICKEN HAT AT MOSCHINO STOLE THE DAMN SHOW, HELLO!!!

AND DIDN'T KRIZIA COME OUTTA LEFT FIELD!!? I LOVED IT! I HAVEN'T TAKEN NOTICE OF THAT LABEL IN YEARS. TO BE HONEST I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS AN ITALIAN BRAND! I THOUGHT IT WAS JAPANESE! OOPS! THE SHOW WAS SO FRESH AND MODERN AND AWESOME! THE HAIR AND THE COLORS AND THE TECHIE FABRICS. J'ADORE! IT WAS BY FAR MY FAVORITE SHOW THUS FAR (granted, i haven't looked at paris fashion week yet. i DO have a job you know!!!)

NOW BE PATIENT WITH ME KIDDIES AND I WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO LOOK AT THE FRESH LOOKS FROM FRANCE AND GIVE ANOTHER ILLUSTRATED REVIEW . . .

LOCO-MOTION: REMIXED!!!

THIS PIECE MAY LOOK FAMILIAR TO SOME OF YOU FOR MANY REASONS:
1) IT WAS WORN BY THE AMAZING MIZ KYLIE MINOGUE DURING HER FEVER TOUR IN 2002.
2) IT WAS DESIGNED BY DOLCE&GABBANA.
3) I ALREADY DID A DRAWING OF KYLIE WEARING THIS OUTFIT BEFORE!!!

AFTER I FINISHED AND POSTED THE LAST LOCO-MOTION ARTWORK I REALLY DIDN'T CARE FOR IT TOO MUCH. IT JUST DIDN'T TURN OUT THE WAY I HAD WANTED IT TO. (see the original here --> http://bryanhollingsworth.blogspot.com/2010/01/bar-dello.html)

SOOOO, CUT TO TODAY, AND I HAVE A BAR-DELLO/LOCO-MOTION KYLIE THAT I AM IN LOVE WITH! I THINK SHE TURNED OUT SO CUTE. I ALSO REALLY LIKE MY BLOCK OF OLD-TIMEY LETTERING, WHICH I THOUGHT WOULD BE A GOOD MATCH TO THE STYLE OF THE FIGURE. THE FONT IS CALLED 'CIRCUS'. J'ADORE!!!