Sunday, September 28, 2008

Viktor & Rolf


        i was reading Weekly Dig (boston's free weekly entertainment mag) and a really short article about eyelashes caught my attention! apparently, dutch fashion design duo Viktor and Rolf have done a collaboration with cosmetic store shu uemura consisting of three pairs of couture false eyelashes.
        one pair is simply long and beautiful, but the other two are pretty unique. one, which consists of upper and lower lashes, has tiny gold rhombus shapes fitted on for a super glam look. my personal favorite pair looks sort of like paper clips, but the way they suggest eyelashes- with empty space and delicateness that in some ways speaks to drawing- is SO interesting to me. they almost seem like something you would see on an odd old mannequin.
        they're really just what you would expect if you heard Viktor & Rolf were doing eyelashes. if you're not familiar with their fashions you should check them out, they do some VERY interesting things.

you can see (or buy, for $95 a pair...) the eyelashes here.


photos: http://www.shuuemura-usa.com/Products/subcategory2.aspx?categoryid=1026

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Daniel Roberts


        i found Daniel Roberts' fashion illustrations a while back and immediately bookmarked them intending to write a post about him, then forgot... so it was a really great surprise for me to stumble back across them in my bookmarks today! i love the way he takes modern fashion imagery and imposes his style on it. i just really love his drawing style... the faces are great, and the exaggerated necks and legs really appeal to me for some reason. fashion and illustrations... so good. i also like his use of color in a few of the pieces that are mostly black and white, with some parts colored in. (he also has a lot of drawings of gemma ward, who is my favorite model!)
        take a good look around his blog (use the site directory on the left) he has some REALLY cool things on there, like layered illustrations and window displays. his fashion illustration style also carries really well into his book illustrations. annnd, he has a whole page of images that have inspired him, which is beautiful in of itself. it's definitely worth taking the time to explore.

Roberts' blog; Igor and Andre
slide show of some of his fashion illustrations
annnd buy his prints! (i wish i could afford one!)




photos: http://www.slide.com/r/M7j79XwG4D-7rpqfCoWBSaL3jpnnDn2k?cy=xa
and http://igorandandre.blogspot.com

Friday, September 26, 2008

John Keating


        one of my first posts was about Dorothy Harvey's dollhouse grave marker, and i have found another one, created by a stone mason named John Keating (of Cincinnati), "to commemorate the deaths of his two children and a niece who died between the years of 1868 and 1878"*. it supposedly even had furniture in it when it was first built.
        i was surprised that Harvey (who died in 1931 at age 5) was not the only (or first) one to have a dollhouse grave marker. it's an interesting idea, a dollhouse a very quiet and lonely thing in a setting like that.

*St. Joseph New Cemetery Association (scroll down to bottom)

photo: http://www.stjoenew.com/history2.html

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Quickie: Sally Kendall


        mosaics are usually not my deal, but while browsing pictures of altered mannequins (i'm working on a few of my own) i stumbled across the site of Sally Kendall, and her BEAUTIFUL mirror mosaic mannequin. i love the way the glass follows the curves of the form, especially along her spine and breasts. i also think the space she left un-mosaic-ed is effective (particularly the way the mirror only creeps up the back of the neck).
        you can see the rest of her work here (it's all 2d, but there's a dia de los muertoes one!).


Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Raquel Aparicio


        i absolutely love these drawings by Raquel Aparicio... her airy and quirky style comes together in a really beautiful way. i'm also extremely jealous of her ability to transform a piece of an image into something different and odd in a way that's so clean and brilliant that it seems normal.
        Aparicio is from Spain (her website is in both english and spanish), and has done work for the The New York Times and various magazines, as well as illustrating multiple books and winning multiple awards. her images have a very narrative quality to them, so it was no surprise find that a group of her illustrations are of Russian fairy tales (one of which i recognized as the story of Baba Yaga!-hint: the one of the house on chicken legs) - there are also multiple references to red riding hood (again, i just can't stay away from wolf imagery lately, i don't know what it is).
        anyway, you should definitely check her out
Aparicio's website



photos: http://www.raquelissima.com

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Sara Lage

        i was browsing through pictures of madrid fashion week and started seeing these bizarre creations by Sara Lage. they're very horror film -esque. anyway, i found them to be very intriguing. she says she is inspired by dada and surrealism, so my attraction to them definitely makes sense. i like the color scheme she is working with as well (black white gray and dark purple).
you can see more here & here
        update:
Lage's myspace
video clip of some of her creations on the runway
two articles (translated from spanish on google, so not perfect, sorry!) 1 2






photos: http://www.reuters.com
and http://lavozdigital.es