vincent van gogh @ CF, art update, and some lists

February already?

I still remember last February so well: finally braving wearing heels on a regular basis, getting really into Elementary's first season, allowing myself to pick up drawing again, and listening to some great songs from The National, Barbarossa, and The Raveonettes.

What will come from February this time around and what will I associate with it a year later? Hmm. Well, hopefully if I update here regularly enough I'll have something to look back at. At the very least I'll be here every other week since that's when my posts over at College Fashion are put up! Speaking of that...

My third article over at the Fashion Inspired by Art column was published today, and this week I've featured one of my favorite painters as well as my favorite painting, ever: Vincent van Gogh's "Almond Blossoms".

 

Read on to learn more about the notable Van Gogh,
and to see three outfits inspired by these iconic blossoms.

Looking for transition pieces for that article and New York Fashion Week starting tomorrow reminded me of something I realize every year: that I never know how to dress myself in the springtime. And don't even get me started on summer. I love my skirts, but I've come to love them paired with fleece leggings and boots.

Personally, my wardrobe and my taste align better with the colder months (going to university in San Francisco pretty much means it's always going to be chilly to some degree), so when I start seeing racks and racks of sheer tops it's a bit bewildering. Might be easier this time around since I've warmed up to brighter colors at last, but there's something about fall/winter fashion (and season) that will always beat spring/summer for me. (Then again, I live in California. If you're in an area where it's snowing and storming right now, feel free to tune me out.)

Oh, and speaking of spring, I'm in my second week of my spring semester right now. As much as I love sleeping in and staying up too late, it's nice to be back in some sort of routine. I'm only on campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays so it's less exhausting than my previous semesters -- so far, at least. It looks like just enough work to keep me busy without interfering with internship stuff and working towards other personal goals. What are those goals, anyway?

I don't know. I feel like I'm on the cusp of something, something I can't quite pin down, and it's been leading me to do (or consider doing) a variety of things:

• Open commissions for my art? Being on Society6 is nice, but I still don't make enough. We'll see.
• Start doing outfit posts? The themed one for #JoanWatsonAppreciationWeek was fun so I might do more. Plus, my webcam is finally working more often than it isn't.
• Write things that combine my interests in fashion and music and social justice? I'm always talking about at least one of those things, and one of the best ingredients for any project is passion. What could I turn that into?
• Start an all-girl band like HAIM (even though I can't play an instument)? Alright, I'm kidding. (Or am I?) But I can't stop listening to them lately; Days Are Gone is such a fun album! Take a look at them playing live below -- I dare you to keep still during Danielle's guitar solo and not to smile at bassist Este:

Band lifestyle daydreams aside (something my friends and I never shut up about) -- who knows where I'm heading or what's ahead, really? I just need to make sure that I handle whatever's approaching and that I handle it well, so that it doesn't overwhelm me. Two days on campus might not be a lot of time, but the work that comes out of it is another matter entirely. It will inevitably push back a number of things.

I'm still drawing now and then to keep in touch with my current creative streak. Here are some drawings I've done since my last update: two of Joan Watson and one of model Suki Waterhouse. Click on the thumbnails to view the larger images on their original posts on Tumblr:

 

Anyway, that more or less sums up what's been going on. I'll be back soon.

To end this post, I've come up with a sort of summary to close most of my updates with.

Till next time!

What I've been wearing: these heeled chelsea boots, faux leather jackets (I already had one, but I couldn't resist buying another when it was only $7!), BITE BEAUTY's high pigment lip pencil in Rhubarb. Also, I'm trying to go back to wearing jeans after months of alternating between skirts and black jeggings.

What I've been inspired by: various shades of blue (particularly navy), Este Haim's skater dresses, Hana Haley's photography, Liu Wen's street style, and especially Alexa Chung's hair. I'm thinking about changing my super dark brown hair to a slightly lighter chocolate brown in time for spring. My hairstyle has grown to resemble Alexa's so I've been drawing ideas from her, and I'm awfully tempted. (I've even started wearing my hair wavy. Maybe if I'm lucky some Charlotte Olypmia kitty flats will pop up in my closet overnight.)

What I've been listening to: HAIM, London Grammar, The Last Shadow Puppets, St. Vincent. St. Vincent's coming here in March, to the Fox Theater in Oakland -- maybe I'll see you there?

What I've been reading: For pleasure? So far, nothing. I've yet to pick up my reading habit again. I'm taking two literature classes at the moment so books from there are all I'll be reading until I come across something I just have to pick up. I have a Goodreads account where I keep track of my books, though.

piet mondrian @ CF, january art roundup and #JoanWatsonAppreciationWeek

Hello! Since the month's coming to an end (and before my spring semester starts next week), I figured I'd write a post on what I've been up to since I've been here last.

As the title suggests, I have several points to cover in this blog post, so I apologize if it's a bit sloppy.

First things first -- my second post over at the Fashion Inspired by Art column of College Fashion is up.

Read it here to learn more about the featured artist, Piet Mondrian,
and for three outfit sets inspired by his color-blocking technique.

So far the internship is very fun -- I have a list of artists I'm definitely featuring for my semester at College Fashion, and I'm excited to see what I can come up with. If there's an artist whose work you'd like to see incorporated into an outfit, feel free to let me know via email or in the comments section.

Alright, now I'll be moving on to matters adjacent to television. If you follow me on Tumblr, you already know how much I adore Elementary on CBS (and how madly in love I am with Lucy Liu). I tend to say it's one of my favorite shows, but let's be honest -- it's probably my favorite show, period.

That being said, the rest of this post will be Elementary adjacent -- if you haven't watched it yet or are still waiting for a sign to orient you towards it, this is your sign. (If you've been hesitant because you feel that Watson being a woman of color is ~*~blasphemy~*~ or ~*~a bastardization of the Sherlock Holmes canon~*~, I recommend you start unlearning this harmful mindset, and understand not only why characters like Joan Watson are important, but why representation seriously matters.)

Anyway, moving along to avoid a potential rant (and there have been many since the show's inception): I've done quite a lot of fanart of the show, and after a while of not tending to my drawings, with the new year came a flood of creative energy. I've drawn more than I expected to this month, actually. Little else inspires me to draw more than my favorite Sherlock Holmes adaptation -- not to mention Joan Watson, who stands as my go-to character to draw when I need to warm up my artistic side.

Click the thumbnails below to go to their original posts on Tumblr, which also include links to view larger versions and pages for their respective collection of products at my Society6 store. Fair warning: if you're not caught up with season 2, you might want to scroll past this if you don't want to get spoiled.

 

            

   

Relevant links: my art blog, art tags, and an ongoing project I have (Panel Project: Elementary).

(There's still a bit of January to go, so I'll include any pieces completed after this entry in my next post.)

That last piece took me a particularly long time to finish, but it was worth it! If you follow the Elementary writers on Twitter you might have already seen their retweet of my portrait recreation alongside the hashtag, #JoanWatsonAppreciationWeek -- which is what I'll be talking about next.

Read about #JoanWatsonAppreciationWeek here, and look through its tag on Twitter and Tumblr to see everyone's contributions. What could make me happier than a week dedicated to the leading lady in my heart? My favorite part of it so far has been those channeling their inner consulting detective and dressing up in Watson-esque outfits. Did I hop on that bandwagon?

You bet I did (of course I did). I put together a total of five outfits.

  

(Have I gone overboard with my Watson love? Probably not. Hardly enough to express how much I appreciate Joan Watson and everything she does and stands for.) Joan Watson has been monumental in helping me develop my personal style. Without her I'd have never gotten over my strange aversion to wearing skirts and heels. I never knew how to wear them, and Watson taught me how to rock both in one outfit. And if there's a valuable lesson Watson has taught, it's that it's never too late to try something new, and that it's perfectly okay to partake in something later than what you or others might expect. 

Go here to see the rest of them and for links to the original outfits I aimed to recreate.

Right, well, that's all I have for now! I'll be back soon. I only have a few days of winter break left so I'll be spending them wisely. And by 'wisely' I mean drawing things, window shopping, having coffee with friends...and yeah, okay, marathoning Elementary as usual.