I hate to brag, but – oh wait, I forgot who I was for a minute – actually I love to brag. Check out my latest fragrance illustration for Elle magazine! Ink, watercolour, fineliner pen, fyi..
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Aimez-vous magasiner? Oui! Oui beaucoup! Hmm, four years of french lessons and I still had to google how to say that? Whatever the language, yes I love to shop thank you very much. And there’s no finer place to melt your credit cards than Paris. I should know – in my past life as a designer I was paid to fly to Paris (amongst other places) four times a year to… shop. Don’t hate me.
So I did in fact have a couple of favourites to throw into Michi Girl’s pot when this book was being created. Whether or not I threw them in early enough is another matter – times/dates/deadlines/don’t-bore-me-with-such-details. Clearly it didn’t matter because this very adorable perfect-size-for-the-handbag book is packed with every insider’s tip you could need for shopping your way through Paris, peppered of course with the fabulous Michi wit.
The only thing that could make Le Shop Guide better would be some illustrations by the wonderful Kat Macleod. Oh wait – it has those! Jackpot. You can buy it amongst other places from the Michi Girl shop. Or if you have lightning fingers you can write to me and maybe, just maybe, if you say something to me in french (or something that looks like it), I’ll send you one of the two copies the lovely folks at Penguin Books have been kind enough to give to Patsyfox readers. Lickety split kids!
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For absolutely no reason, drawing the beautiful Courtney at our live fashion drawing nights has inspired me to draw in fineliner and ink. Go figure. I used to snatch fineliners from the tender hands of students after watching them ruin one drawing after the next, until one day someone gave me a fineliner so fine only dogs could see it. Or something like that. I was won over by the beautiful, oh-so-fine-scratchy line, and that was that.
A little montage of the first night…
Sunday Sessions at The Drawing Salon have suffered a little this year from lack of attention so for the last two sessions for 2013 I’ll be going all out with some experimental techniques to give illustrators something interesting to take home and put on the wall. This Sunday I’ll be sharing my new love of stencilling paper, mixing it up with a bit of masking and general mess-making. Fashion illustration classes with a difference. Email be to nab a spot, and bring a smock!
Psssst – Turns out The Outsider may not have been lucky in love with his feline dream, but he sure was lucky when he was sat up on the auctioneer’s podium, fetching the highest price of the night at $2150! Feeling very proud to have raised this money for such a wonderful charity, and wildly amused to observe the bidding war for my little doggy. Oh, and really sad to see him go! Check out the rest and the prices they sold for here.
It must be hard being a dog – a French bulldog to be exact – in love with a cat who has no interest in you. Tries a cat mask, alas doesn’t work, his doggy masculinity undeniable. He’s left to wander the streets of Paris without regret, finding solace in existentialist literature. Meet The Outsider.
This little doggy is my contribution to the Dress for Success Melbourne fundraiser auction happening at Smart Artz Gallery in South Melbourne this Wednesday night 23rd October. A bunch of illustrious artists were sent French Bulldogs to do with as they see fit in a French way, and they will be auctioned to raise money for this very worthy cause. Bids are already happening online, and will be finalised at the cocktail party auction on Wednesday. Check them out! Or mine in particular here. There are some very impressive artists such as Archibald Prize winner Lewis Miller, illustrator Jacqueline Gwynne, fashion designer Jenny Bannister, and even Hamish Blake throws his hat into the ring…
My little tattooed existentialist features text from a book that had a massive impact on me at the tender age of 16 – Albert Camus The Outsider (L’Etranger), which is arranged in the format of the Paris street map as it fans out from the wonderful Arc De Triomphe, with my own silhouette once cut in paper by a Parisian street artist, replacing the monument. I confess I was a little sad to hand him over…
What are you doing this Friday night 18th October? If you’re in Melbourne why not come on down to the beautiful Abbotsford Convent, have a drink or ten with me, and maybe even pick up a barganza piece of original artwork from some of our best illustrators?!
The Illustrators Australia annual 9 x 5 exhibition (works produced on a piece of 9 x 5 wood, inspired by the 1890 Heidelberg artists’ exhibition on cigar box lids), this year themed Flourish, has its new home at the Convent, and launches this Friday night with the usual silent auction. Actually, bidding has already commenced online. With the exception of mine of course which is still waiting for the paint to dry… The exhibition will continue for 3 weeks, but Friday night is your chance to bag an original piece from talented artists whose work would normally cost you a lot more… Check it.
Forget that Spring has amnesia and stay cosy with live drawing tomorrow night at The Salon! Places are available in the beautiful setting of the Frankie and Swiss studios. Freestyle, untutored drawing session, drawing the beautiful Courtney of Bil Donovan Masterclass fame. Contact me to save a place! Just $25.
Fact: Buying new make-up makes you feel instantly prettier. Imagine then how pretty AND clever you’d feel if you bought this beautiful M.A.C. make-up featuring the brilliant artwork of Antonio Lopez!
For those of you not familiar with him, Antonio Lopez was one of the hall-of-fame superstars of fashion illustration, producing work from the 60s through to the 80s. Hanging out with the Studio 54 crew, he was great mates with Jerry Hall, Marisa Berenson, and Grace Jones, who’d hang out in his New York studio drinking champagne while he sketched and took photos. Much like my studio here in Northcote (clears throat, looks at cat sitting on chair, causing owner to stand).
When some of my many obsessions start to merge with my work life, which come to think of it is also one of my obsessions, I get very very excited. So knowing that some of the hundreds of magazines that pile up around my walls and down my hallway will have my illustrations in them? Cue excitement-induced insanity.
So hello Elle magazine! Newly launched last week, and featuring not one but two of my illustrations. I may be biased (under-exaggeration), but this is a pretty awesome magazine. It has a creative, arty feel, and lots of little hand-drawn bits, which makes me happy.
Oh and did I mention it had me?
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