Illustrators Drawing Illustrators: The List!!

My Video Message

Drum Roll Please...

It's Dec 29th which means the day has finally arrived to reveal the list for the 'Illustrators Drawing Illustrators' project. I apologize for not getting this post up sooner!! The little video I took of me pulling the names from the jar was too big to be uploaded. I feel awful about that so I'm going to see if I can edit it down. I still included my greeting video though just to say hello.

Paper Bag Princess

Season's Greetings From Daria

Happy Holidays From Kate

Merry Christmas Lovelies,

I suppose I'm a day late on the delivery but better late than never. I hope you're all lazing about in your pajamas recovering from a turkey induced coma. I was pretty well dragging my feet to the computer today. Sometimes you just need a break to be with your family, mostly to be with yourself. I decided to share my very green conscious gift wrapping idea that I delivered yesterday to my loved ones.

I stumbled across some paper bags in my Mum's kitchen and loved the idea of painting some beautiful high fashion images on them. Searching through my old British Vogues I found some gorgeous references of Daria Werbowy and Kate Moss to adorn the bags. Turns out these might be one set of paper bags that don't get tossed in the garbage.

Also, just wanted to thank-you for your emails regarding the 'Illustrators Drawing Illustrators' project posted below. Your feedback has been SO positive and has gotten me really excited for this. For those of you who have not emailed me yet to confirm, please do by Dec 28th!!

Ciao for now,

Meag xx

P.S. Check out the AMAZING illustration Veronika did of my friend Jimmy and I here on Notes To Self. This has got me so pumped for the 'Illustrators Drawing Illustrators' project. Thanks again so much Veronika I absolutely love it!!

Illustrators Drawing Illustrators!!

Carmen Kass

Winona Ryder

Lucy Liu

Hello My Lovely Readers and Fellow Bloggers,

I have a very special announcement to make. I will be hosting the first ever Illustrators Drawing Illustrators project here on Travel Write Draw!! Now before I get into the specifics of how this project will play out, and how all you amazing readers will participate, I would like to explain how this very idea came into fruition. I've been drawing famous people since the tender age of 16 (possibly even younger). The above portraits of Carmen Kass, Winona Ryder, and Lucy Liu stand as a testimony to this statement. In the three months that I've had my blog, I've also come across a lot of brilliant illustrators drawing public figures as well. It sort of occurred to me that illustrators never draw each other and why should we be excluded from all the fun?!

I guess the logical answer would be that we could always draw ourselves. But quite frankly, that gets to be a bit boring lol, at least for me. I would love nothing more than to be drawn by one of the amazing illustrators I follow regularly in this crazy blogosphere. A few days ago the incredible Veronika from Notes to Self left a comment on my post stating that she would love to draw me if I don't draw myself first. That solidified the idea for me, that maybe, just maybe, other illustrators would like to have their portrait drawn too. Hence, Illustrators Drawing Illustrators was born. Basically this will work like a blog crawl, whereby submitting your name you will be assigned a blogger to draw, and on the same day we will all post the portraits we drew and link to that person's blog.

How This Will Work

1. Email your name and blog address to me at meaganmorrison@hotmail.com NO later than Dec 28th, 2010 in order to participate.

2. Please put 'Illustrators Drawing Illustrators' as the subject line so I don't miss you.

3. On Dec 29th, 2010 I will place everyone's name in a hat and the first name I pull will draw the second name, and the very last name I pull will draw the first.

4. On Dec 29th, 2010 I will post on my blog who will be drawing who and it will be YOUR responsibility to ensure you receive a photo from the individual you're assigned to draw. If you don't want to give a photo, an alternative could be a portrait of that person's blog or art style.

5. On January 11th, 2011 each participating individual will post the portrait they drew of the blogger they were assigned and a link to that individual's blog. This way people can crawl from one blog to the next and end up at the first participator all in one go.

6. The portrait idea, concept, is entirely open and up to you. By no means is this project limited to age, skill level. This is open to ALL artists, art lovers, and art dabblers.

Lastly, I ask that if you email me to participate that you be 100% committed to this. I would feel awful if one person didn't hold up and someone didn't get their portrait drawn. Leave any questions and comments below here and I will definitely take everything into consideration. This is an opportunity to be exposed to all the amazing illustrators out there, and develop an even stronger network with people in this incredible field. I look forward to hearing from you.

Lots of love,

Meag xx

Christmas Reminiscing

Holiday Card Ideas

Me before my FIT interview (Dec 16th 2008)

Winter time always makes me feel incredibly nostalgic. For better or worse, so much of my time before Christmas is spent thinking about all the people I love, have loved, and lost. It's a time to reevaluate everything we wanted out of the past year and all the things we hope to gain in the new. 2010 certainly wasn't the easiest to live through but by god was it ever one of the most rewarding. Dec 17th marked the two year anniversary of my interview here at FIT. When I think about how much my life has changed since that day I'm nearly brought to tears.

People might find it strange how emotional I feel with regards to my fashion illustration degree. It's just that when I look back and see how close I came to never pursuing my dream, when I think of all the possibilities I could have missed, when I realize that I'm happier now then I've ever been, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I couldn't imagine my life being any other way now and I'm so grateful I took that great big leap of faith. Anyways, in this post I've included two photos from Dec 16th 2008 (the eve of my FIT interview) to coincide with some holiday card ideas. Just goes to show that you never know where life is going to take you. Enjoy!!

Dreaming in Feathers

This post might qualify as the most oddly composed I've ever done here on Travel Write Draw. But to quote Bil Donovan "It's your show. You make the rules." I guess that means I can include a highly rendered nude and my Mad Men Holiday Party photos in the same entry. I've always been a bit skeptical about posting any of my anatomy work on my blog. Perhaps it's my Western upbringing, Catholic guilt complex, that leaves me feeling a bit weary about nudity. To be honest though, this particular life drawing is one of my most favorite I've ever done. To me she quite simply looks like she's dreaming in feathers.

James and I as Don and Betty Draper

To explain my inclusion of the party photos, I guess I would say that they mark the celebratory finish of third semester. Fashion Illustrator extraordinaire James Skarbek and I dressed as none other than Betty and Don Draper. It felt damn good to finally do my hair, wear a pretty dress, make-up, and heels after three weeks of final projects. I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas cheer. Happy Saturday and enjoy!!

Chocolat

Happy Holidays Lovelies,

I'm so beyond thrilled to share my last project of the semester!! This week has been absolutely crazy. It felt like I accomplished everything and nothing all at the same time. Not exactly sure how that is even possible. Oh wait, I am. Painkillers for my leg and working like a machine make for a warped, alternate universe. The good news is my leg has finally healed in time for the Christmas festivities. I won't have to miss out on any dancing with family and friends. I feel like I've been away from my (blog) life for so long, even though it has only been a few days.

Anyways, here are my movie poster designs for the film Chocolat. It felt like the perfect choice of film to work on during the winter season. I loved the idea of designing a typeface out of a fluid like hot chocolate. Something about the natural swirls, created through the movement of liquid, lent itself beautifully to the movie title. I also fell madly in love with Juliette Binoche's face while painting her portrait. Her features are so unbelievably stunning, a painter's dream. Now I can finally begin to celebrate Christmas' imminent arrival. Can't wait to fly home to the snowy countryside. Happy almost weekend everyone and enjoy!!

IT MAY BE EASY BEING GREEN, BUT IS IT CHEAP ENOUGH?

The sun may have set on the Cancun Green Summit, but the green debate remains very much alive in the business travel industry. As the proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say, the Business Travel & Meetings Show is also doing its bit for keeping green on the agenda by confirming sustainability expert Niclas Svenningsen to speak at our conference in February.

Niclas is head of Sustainable United Nations (SUN) at the United Nations Environment Programme and he‘ll be contributing to the opening industry round table at midday on Tuesday 8 February. The round table’s called ‘Cost-Cutting VS Carbon Cutting - assessing the practical and economic considerations for making greener travel choices.’ During and following the recession the pressure to cut costs and stay in business certainly seemed to (naturally) take precedent over being green and doing the right thing for many organisations. It will be interesting to hear from Niclas – and his fellow panellists consultant Jon Green and Environmental Journalist of the Year, Jenny Southan from Business Traveller – whether this has now passed and money is once again being channelled into being environmentally friendly.

They will assess how cost cutting is effecting traveller behaviour and the utilisation of less traditional transport options; what the industry can do to make less expensive forms of business transport greener; the potential for a European framework for ensuring greener transport options; and whether the recent cost-cutting climate has prevented travel managers from making green travel choices.   

I genuinely think this will be a timely, interesting and popular session at BTMS and I will certainly be taking a seat for it. If you fancy joining me (and do forgive me the blatant plug) simply register www.businesstravelshow.com.

Posted by David Chapple, event director of Business Travel & Meetings Show

Everybody Dance

18 x 24 Final Poster

Do-do-do, clap your hands, clap your hands - Chic

For those of you who have been following my blog, you will likely remember my 70's themed posts from a few weeks ago titled 'Oh So 70's' and 'Disco In Repeat'. They were all done in preparation for our final Joe Denaro poster project. When I was searching through my multitude of references, I fell in love with this image of a beautiful woman and her gigantic hair. It became the foundation of my poster design and the afro turned into my disco ball dance scene.

I love how the color took to the paper. It gives off that smokey studio 54 vibe I was desperately trying to achieve. I thought I would share that this was the first painting in a long while where I actually stopped and savoured how much I love doing what I'm doing. Sometimes the pressure of delivering completely erodes my innate passion for producing art. But being able to share this with all of you has brought new meaning to my work. I'm reminded that there is room for all of us. Enjoy!!

Fashion Anatomy

The Embryo Pose

Making Yoga Fashionable

The amazing Russell Simmons (as in co-founder of Def Jam, creator of Phat Farm, and passionate philanthropist) asked my anatomy professor, Karen Santry, an intriguing question. 'Would our FIT fashion illustration block be willing to draw fashionable yoga figures, for an awareness fundraiser he hosted at his home this past weekend?'

As I'm sure you can pretty well guess, our group answered with a collective YES!!!! Russell is a yoga enthusiast involved quite extensively with the Integral Yoga Institute here in New York. While our block is anxiously awaiting our individual certificates of participation, I wanted to post my embryo pose drawn for the party. I'm so pleased to say that, according to Karen, he just loved it. Namaste everyone and enjoy!!

Mermaid Jane

Jane Aldridge and her Sea of (Fish) Shoes

Color Rough

Pencil Rough

Concept Thumbnails

I owe the lovely Miss Jane Aldridge from Sea of Shoes a BIG thank-you. On September 28th, 2010 she called out to her readers for their artistic interpretations of their favorite Spring 2011 look. When I read this, my heart stopped. I submitted my entry on October 2nd and within hours my blog jumped from obscurity to the number one up-and-coming art blog on bloglovin. Surely this is a testimony to just how influential Madam Aldridge is. Later that week, when the brilliant Bil Donovan asked us to choose our favorite style icon for a conceptual portrait project, naturally I chose Jane.

Capturing Jane in a conceptual portrait proved to be no easy feat!! For one, some of the most incredible illustrators have already drawn her ie. Danny Roberts of Igor & Andre. I just really wanted to do something different. My first thought was to turn Jane into a shoe. After several attempts (as my classmates will attest) the shoe idea was just not coming together. Alas it was put to rest. I decided instead to explore the concept of Jane as a mermaid with her own sea of (fish) shoes. She has such a fresh, ethereal quality to her that lent itself perfectly to an underwater mermaid theme.

Nearly two months of preparation, ten color roughs, and one nervously painted final later, I'm relieved to say it's finished. More than anything I hope it stands as a token of my deepest gratitude to Jane. 5,200 people have viewed my entry to date and there is no telling the opportunities that can come from said exposure. I think it takes someone of amazing character to offer their readers a platform such as this. Jane, if you're reading, thank-you again for giving your readers such a wonderful opportunity to showcase their talents. I just really hope you like it. Enjoy!!

P.S. Just heard from her and she was thrilled!! Yay so happy to hear :)

All In The Frame

Bil Donovan introduced the novel concept of drawing a series of boxes on our sketch paper for class in order to strengthen our compositional skills. At first it felt so constricting. He was making us think, really think, hard about where the figures were best suited in the frame. On top of that he wanted us working in brush and ink only!! But by golly, did his little frames work.

So much so that by the end of the semester, I was still drawing them on the paper. When he told me I no longer had to, I insisted that my results were better with them. So here are a few brush and ink's in the frame. Just goes to show you that sometimes being pushed out of your comfort zone forces you to grow even greater within yourself. Happy Sunday everyone and enjoy!!

Are you a SME? Are you losing £50,000 a year buying travel badly?

Picture this, you have to travel to Denver on business in four weeks and you’ve never travelled there before. You don’t know which carriers fly there, where to stay or even what part of town the meeting is in. What do you do? Call your travel agent and get them to sort everything; or put the kettle on and spend the morning searching online? After all, you book the family holidays just fine, right – how hard can it be?

I’m guessing the latter, but whether this is you or not, the truth is it happens. And it happens too often in SMEs where business travel is, understandably, an after-thought. By adopting such an unstructured and chaotic approach to buying business travel, travellers are almost certainly wasting the company unnecessary time. And time, of course, means money. Let’s assume the guy travelling to Denver, for example, earns £60,000. That morning’s searching just cost £128. Now let’s say there are 20 travellers in the office making 20 trips a year, all booking independently. That’s the equivalent of over £51,000 of billable hours wasted.

So what’s the alternative for SMEs operating in a price-driven environment? They may not have the buying power to negotiate discounts, but they can certainly buy smarter, save the company time and effort, and enjoy increased benefits and rewards from suppliers. For more tips, read on:

1          Get your house in order. Appoint a member of your management support team to take responsibility for buying business travel and work with them to introduce a company-wide travel policy to control spending and reporting.  

2          Avoid online leisure travel agents. They eat up time and charge hidden fees. If you know what you want to book, go direct – you’ll get better service and equally good prices. Otherwise...

3          ... ask the experts. If the majority of your business travel is domestic, use rail and hotel booking agents. They will save you time, and HBAs don’t even charge. They also have access to a much wider choice of accommodation to suit all budgets. If you buy flights, use a local business travel agent like Advantage Business Travel or Uniglobe to deal with the more complex itineraries. For a small fee, they will save you hours.

3         Book ahead. Planning ahead can help you buy quality services for less.  Fly mid- week or out of season, purchase a multi-city ticket rather than a round trip fare, bundle your flights and accommodation, buy a restricted ticket and stick to your plan rather than fork out for a fully flexible fare! And for rail travel – never buy tickets at the station, it will cost you 30-40 per cent more.

5         Be brand loyal. Price is always king, but if you can be loyal it pays. By signing up for programmes that reward companies AND travellers, you can use kickbacks – such as free upgrades – to get more for your money. Most major airlines and hotel groups operate reward schemes and the good news is that, thanks to the recession, they are on the rise.

6         Look at the complete picture. Booking the cheapest but not the nearest hotel room, for example, may end up costing you more when you factor in extras such as cab fares, parking fees, airport transfers, internet charges and the time and hassle it takes to get to your meeting.

               

7         Seeing is believing: If you’d like to see how much money you could be saving by  using specialist business travel supplier and implementing a travel policy check out the travel savings calculator in the Visitor Zone of www.businesstravelshow.com and see if that can persuade you to stop doing it yourself!

Posted by David Chapple, event director BTMS

Redesigning Vogue

Illustrated Cover Above

Fall Shoes Pencil Rough

Spring Sandals Pencil Rough

Vogue Cover 1946

Our absolute, grand finale, last project ever ever ever in Adobe Illustrator was to redesign American Vogue's November issue. Obviously we had great big shoes to fill with this one. We were asked to reference as many former covers as possible in order to understand the evolution of the magazine. Naturally, I fell in love with the old illustrated covers from the 40's, 50's, and 60's. I took the above cover from 1946 as my inspiration point of departure. It coincided perfectly with Vogue's article on Giuseppe Zanotti's repurposed flat for Spring.

I really admired how this particular cover used one single accessory, yet achieved so much dynamism in the illustration. If the focus is strong in a design, the end result reflects that, so I wanted to be very specific about my cover's direction. In order to stay true to the November issue's text, every shoe I illustrated was from Zanotti's Fall 2010 collection. Even though the article referenced the Spring collection, I illustrated Fall given the season. Thank goodness for all these flats. After injuring my ankle in tennis yesterday, I won't be wearing heels for a long while. Enjoy!!